Cranfield said it had briefed the University and Colleges Union (UCU) on the merger.A spokesperson for UCU said: “Staff and students from both institutions will rightly be concerned about future provision, and the universities now need to provide guarantees that no jobs or courses will be cut.”The BBC also spoke to Frances Miles, regional organiser with union UNISON, shortly after the merger was announced.She said staff were “worried” about what it would mean for them.”Generally, there are risks in any merger that staffing will be cut to save money, and we need reassurance that this isn’t a smokescreen for more cuts and that the jobs are secure,” she added.However, Holford said that staff and unions did not need to be alarmed.”We don’t anticipate job losses – the merger is not predicated on job losses, so people should feel secure in that,” she said.Holford pointed out that the university had previously made a series of staffing cuts.She added: “Cranfield has already been through an exercise where we focused on our core strengths. We cut some courses, and we did have to have some job losses along with that.”We’re hoping to recruit more people, and actually, the five-year plan is for growth in the number of people, not for shrinkage.”
What does Cranfield University merger mean for students and staff?
