An update from YOUR Executive
The Executive Committee met on Friday (22/11/24) to discuss some very pressing issues including the proposal to change our representation structure, the University’s financial position and actions taken by the UCU (University and College Union) in response to staff redundancy proposals.
The Executive Committee consists of your elected officer team and the Union Leadership Team and has a very important role to play; one of the key functions of the Committee is to promote and defend the rights of our members.
Our Vision is that every student thrives at Brunel and one of our core values is Integrity - Doing the right thing for the right reasons and as fee paying beneficiaries we think YOU deserve to know what is going on right now at Brunel.
Current financial challenges
We know Universities across the UK, including Brunel, are facing financial challenges and as a result Brunel is looking to reduce its academic and professional services staff considerably. Whilst we understand that some difficult decisions need to be made, we are greatly concerned about the impact the current plans will have on our students and their experience at Brunel.
We understand these are unsettling times but our aim is to minimise the impact any changes will have on the student experience. This isn’t just a Brunel issue—it’s happening across the UK but that doesn’t make it any less challenging. As elected representatives we are committed to representing the students’ needs and supporting both students and staff as we navigate this together.
The Union have met with UCU and understand their concerns. We are concerned that information shared with us indicates the plan intends for redundancies to come into effect from March 2025, midway through Semester 2 and we know that this will have a dramatic impact on students at a time when their focus is assessment deadlines and exams.
We also recognise that our elected representatives and our members have been absent from any of the detail of the conversation so far and therefore recommendations and decisions are being made without the influence of the students. Our members have paid for, or have been committed to paying for, a service and experience at Brunel University that they compared with alternatives and chose was the best fit for them. That level of service and experience will undoubtably change, and their voice should be considered in all plans that effect that perceived outcome.
Today (25/11/25) we sent a letter to the VC calling for urgent action, which includes:
- An urgent reconsideration of the timeframes that are planned to ensure the Brunel Student Community is not impacted at an integral time of their studies in the academic year.
- A delay to academic redundancies until June or July 2025 as this will have less impact on our members.
- Details of how the figure of £40m that is being estimated as needing to be saved is calculated, in a format that is easily understood by members from all disciplines, not just Economics and Accounting. Included in this detail we would welcome transparency with data about the current financial situation including the current cash position and how that might differ from previous years and details of the ‘banking covenant’ as cited in the business case we have seen.
- Urgent student focused communication outlining what the challenges of the change will be for students and how the leadership plan on minimising the short term impact these changes will have on the services and experiences of students that they signed up to and paid for in good faith.
- A detailed plan with comprehensive rationale confirming how centralisation is the answer to The University’s current challenges and how exactly it will be beneficial to our members in the medium and long term.
Yes, the University sector is facing unprecedented financial difficulties but Brunel’s leadership team, should be committed to navigating these challenges responsibly and transparently. The Union of Brunel Students believe that Students and staff must be prioritised. We expect the University to search for every option of saving money and cutting costs, before resorting to cutting staff jobs on the scale that is proposed.
The Union of Brunel Students is independent of the University, are affiliated to the National Union of Students and our main purpose is to represent the best interests of all students on the issues they may face (whether that's locally on campus or nationally). We are here to make your voices heard! Let’s work together to minimise the impact.
If you believe that the University should reconsider its plan, please contact the Head of Student Support and Representation: ruth.sharma@brunel.ac.uk
The Union will be organising some student led activities alongside UCU, if you would like to get involved then please let Ruth know.
You can also support UCU by:
Further information can be found her Brunel UCU
Emergency General Meeting
We are calling an Emergency General Meeting and we need you to share your voice on some important changes we recommend making to Union Democracy.
Democracy is at the core of why the Union exists but we need to be honest, Union Democracy has been broken for a while and it’s time to make some radical changes.
Currently Union representation is not representative of our wonderfully diverse Brunel Community and as a result we are failing you, we need to take urgent action to address the current barriers that we have to truly being the students voice.
The Voice team have done extensive work in understanding what it is that YOU want from representation and the issues you think that we have. We have listened and now have a suggestion of a representation structure that we believe will truly represent you!
This EGM will be all about student voice, no boring stuff and we need your vote on these changes.
- Date: Thursday 5th December 2024
- Time: 4.30pm – 6.30pm
- Location: Eastern Gateway (Auditorium)
- Teams: Join the meeting now
- Meeting ID: 325 333 920 232
- Passcode: EW3EM9oM
By attending, you will be in with a chance of winning a £100 gift pay voucher (plus 2 x £50 runner up prizes), just in time for the holidays. Gift pay Vouchers are accepted by big UK brands (50+ stores across the UK and online). Stores include: Amazon, google, just eat, Nike and many others, do not miss out! You can find out more about the recommended changes here.
You can register for the free EGM here: Emergency General Meeting
Yours Sincerely,
Executive Committee, Union of Brunel Students