On the “Leadership” of Nottingham University
As we prepare for Wednesday’s one-day strike, I am reminded that academics at Nottingham University are participating in industrial action for the whole term. The “strategy” the “leadership” there is pursuing targets particle physics, theoretical physics and astronomy for job cuts. Why this is the case I have no idea. I don’t think the “leadership” at Nottingham knows either, as the plan was not written by them by a disreputable company called PA Consulting.
For the full story, see this blog post by Philip Moriarty:
And if you thought that is bad, then watch this short video by Phil Moriarty exposing the lack of accountability at Nottingham University:
This complete abdication of responsibility makes me wonder (a) where they find these people and (b) why they pay them so much if they can’t think for themselves? It’s terrible that Nottingham University is suffering from this level of maladministration, but the really shocking thing is that it is not an isolated phenomenon, but typical of university management, and not only in the UK…
October 12, 2026 at 9:57 pm
Nowadays AI can write management waffle for free. The real purpose of hiring consultants is to avoid taking responsibility for possibly contentious decisions.
Am I right in supposing that once upon a time authority lay with a committee of department heads, i.e. senior academics? If so, when and how did they lose that authority to non-academic adminstrators?
October 13, 2026 at 8:03 pm
I believe that in the past universities were indeed much more closely controlled by academics. But somehow we were persuaded that ‘professionals’ would do a better job of complex management tasks. So we allowed our institutions to be captured by an alien culture that views them as just another business. We are to blame for this loss of control, and I have no idea how we get it back.
October 13, 2026 at 10:22 pm
You can trace the roots of the present situation in the UK to the Jarratt Report (1985)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarratt_report
This recommended, amongst other things, a shift toward toward professional managers and central leadership, and the development and implementation of performance metrics to monitor institutional “efficiency”.
October 14, 2026 at 7:33 am
Yes, but at some point actual power to make major decisions went from a senior committee of academics to a senior committee of administrators in each university, and I am interested in how and why.
October 14, 2026 at 9:01 am
Most senior leaders in universities are former academics, who decided to move into management.
October 13, 2026 at 11:31 am
That video of the Q&A was both amazing and completely predictable at the same time.
October 17, 2026 at 8:46 am
Is it possible those topics are being targeted because the government has put their STFC funding in a steep downward trajectory?
October 17, 2026 at 10:29 am
Possible and indeed likely.
October 25, 2026 at 10:32 am
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