gair rhydd y Monday May 18th 2015 | freeword | Issue 1054
In this week’s issue: why we need electoral reform, why we need to rethink paying for sex, making the most of revision breaks, and why the shape of your glass effects how much beer you drink
MEDIC Forward: a step backwards for students t Students set to lose PhD supervisors and seminar leaders in wave of redundancies t Student: “I will have wasted a year of my life with nothing to show for it”
EXCLUSIVE Michael O’ConnellDavidson
U
p to 69 members of staff are set to be made redundant as part of a restructure of the Medical School, Gair Rhydd can reveal. MEDIC Forward, a project “which aims to ensure that we have a School of Medicine that is fit for the future,” will see the university disinvest from entire departments. It is reported that opportunities for redeployment within the organisation will be limited, and it is reported that there are set to be further redundancies for technical and support staff. These revelations come following an “institute meeting” at the Institute of Molecular and Experimental Med-
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icine. The meeting, described by Institute Director Colin Dayan as “very important”, was held to “discuss recent developments, hear advice from those involved with the process and show support for the large number of IMEM staff and students impacted.” In the meeting, it was revealed that 69 staff had received letters notifying them that their area of research faced disinvestment. While the University has promised that there would be “short term pain,” a large number of students are entirely disillusioned by the proposals. Those who have spoken to Gair Rhydd have offered wide-ranging
testimony. One said that the “lack of communication has been disgusting”. Another said that they were considering quitting their PhD: “Part of me realises I will have wasted a year of my life with nothing to show for it.” Further complaints suggest that the School of Medicine is failing those to whom it owes a duty of care: “[The school] is supposed to have a duty of care to its students - right now I feel like a second-class student who is not a priority.” Another student, who acts as a seminar leader at the Heath, said that they “contribute to teaching of undergraduate students,” but that their “contributions to the school
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have not even been considered.” The University and College Union has also come out against the plans. Cardiff University UCU Representative Chris Graves spoke to Gair Rhydd, and said: “The UCU will speak to council on Monday 18th in order to make sure that MEDIC Forward is constructed more holistically, not just narrowly framed in achieving results for REF 2020.” REF, or Research Excellent Framework, is the process by which the volume and quality research output of Higher Education Institutions is judged. Gair Rhydd has seen UCU proposals and other materials submitted to
Pictured: MEDIC Forward news, one of many documents setting out the proposed future of the medical school.
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