More than 250 jobs in professional services at the University of Nottingham are set to be cut, with the institution¡¯s vice-chancellor warning that UK universities face a ¡°critical moment¡±.

Staff at the East Midlands university were informed on 8 April that a 90-day consultation has begun on plans to ¡°resize and reshape¡± the university, focusing initially on its administrative teams.

Proposals currently on the table would see 258 full-time equivalent roles removed from professional services, with a further 98 vacant posts not being filled.

This represents about 7 per cent of the university¡¯s 5,000-strong professional services workforce. A voluntary redundancy programme will open later in the month, with staff affected being offered an ¡°enhanced package¡±.

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Nottingham has said it needs to focus on its ¡°areas of excellence¡± and cut costs elsewhere after recording a ?17 million deficit in its latest financial accounts.

It said it had already removed ?40 million from planned spend over the past 18 months, ¡°significantly¡± reduced travel and put in motion plans to reduce the size of its estate by 20 per cent, initially by selling off its King¡¯s Meadow Campus.

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¡°This is a critical moment for universities across the UK,¡± Jane Norman, Nottingham¡¯s vice-chancellor, said.

¡°As well as being ambitious about our future, we also need to be realistic about the financial environment in which we are operating.

¡°The sector is grappling with significant financial challenges and like most universities, we have been seriously affected by a fall in revenues across the sector, worsened by a fall in the number of international students and the ongoing effect of the rising cost of living. Our staff numbers have increased significantly faster than our student numbers.¡±

Norman said that she recognised change was ¡°a difficult and painful process and we fully appreciate that this announcement will cause uncertainty for many of our colleagues¡±.

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The proposals were ¡°in no way a reflection of the dedication, hard work and ability of our staff, but the current financial picture means we must focus our efforts on where we are best positioned to thrive¡±, Norman added.

¡°We have done everything we can to avoid reaching this position but these proposals are aimed at giving us the financial headroom we need so that we have the means to adapt to our current and future environments and ensure an excellent staff and student experience.¡±

Lopa Leach, president of?Nottingham¡¯s University and College Union branch, said the branch was ¡°devastated to hear the news about so many redundancies at Nottingham¡±.?

She said the university had created its own that ¡°self-inflicted challenges¡± that went beyond the financial problems being experienced by the whole sector, pointing to what she said was a ?91 million investment in a city centre campus that was ¡°educationally unusable¡±.

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The union will fight the redundancies, she added. ¡°This loss, beyond loss of livelihoods, will yet again affect staff morale, increase anxiety, and increase the workload of those remaining¡­Staff deserve better, they deserve honesty, and they deserve to be put before expensive vanity projects.¡±

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com