It is no secret that the University has reported serious financial cutbacks in the last year, as have several other higher education institutions across the UK. In the midst of staff and budget cuts, Nouse spoke to students, including those involved in college leadership, to learn how these changes are affecting the University’s collegiate system.
All students who spoke to Nouse have been kept anonymous.
The University of York’s Annual Report and Financial Statements 2023 revealed a deficit of £14 million, which the Report attributed primarily to “flat tuition fee income for the year, combined with the impact of high inflation on both staff costs and other operating expenses”.
In the academic year 2022/23, the University’s staff costs increased by £39 million following a 9% increase in staff numbers. Academic staff increased by 7% whilst support staff increased by 10%.
In May 2024, the University announced the opening of the Voluntary Severance Package 2024. A voluntary severance scheme offers members of staff the option of volunteering for redundancy. In the case of the University’s scheme, a payment of “six months’ pay payable as a fixed lump sum irrespective of length of service or age” was offered to staff members. Nouse understands that 272 members of staff have already left their jobs.
The University’s online terms of the Voluntary Severance Package 2024 state “the expectation is that where VS/VSER is supported, these posts will be completely removed. Meaning any posts that need to be replaced are also unlikely to be supported.” In other words, staff members who take the Voluntary Severance Scheme will leave their positions, and those positions will then cease to exist. The terms also stated that “there will be no financial enhancement to backfill roles removed as a result of this VS/VSER scheme”.
Nouse spoke to several students who are previous or current members of college committees to understand how these staff cuts were affecting college communities. Multiple students confirmed that the College Managers for both Alcuin College and James College took the Voluntary Severance Scheme and left the University last month. In line with the terms of the VS Package, the vacant roles of Manager in each of these colleges have not been filled.
Nouse understands that the College Managers of Vanbrugh College and Derwent College will take over the responsibilities of managing James College and Alcuin College respectively, alongside their original responsibilities. Speaking to several student members of college committees, it was clear that students are unhappy about these changes.
One college committee member said “student support is significantly reduced as college staff are spending less time in-office as they’re split between colleges. There are also no plans to rehire these roles to replenish college staffing”. The student added “it feels as if this is a step towards the university’s attempt to decrease college autonomy and identity. There is a complete lack of regard for the student experience in the midst of these cuts”.
In response to this, a University spokesperson told Nouse:
“We understand the value students place on the unique identity and autonomy of each college.”
“The decision to have some College Managers oversee multiple colleges was made to ensure essential support and activities continue despite staffing reductions.”
“The colleges have lost 4 members of staff due to voluntary severance, and where this means staffing levels in a college have fallen below the threshold needed for independent operation, we have paired colleges teams to maintain consistent support for students across all colleges.”
Another anonymous source informed Nouse that as a result of the James College manager’s departure, the college is down to only one fulltime member of staff. This has resulted in the Lodge, a main hub for James students, being closed on Wednesdays due to a lack of staff. When asked how they felt about the Lodge closing on Wednesdays, a James student said “closing the Lodge on Wednesdays is such a shame, as it is a great place to hang out on campus”.
Additionally, Nouse understands that James College’s Wellbeing drop-in sessions have had to change location, as they were previously held in the Lodge on a Wednesday. These sessions are a great way for students who are struggling to ask for support from staff and student wellbeing officers.
Over the summer of 2024, the University announced that the receptions at Wentworth, Alcuin, Derwent and James would be closing. Halifax and Vanbrugh would remain open, with Vanbrugh College reception, or the Information Centre, being the reception for all students in colleges on Campus West.
Nouse asked college committee members if they felt their college had been affected by the receptions closing. One student said “yes absolutely, our reception closed which was the main point of contact for a lot of students. The reception helped act as a buffer for the small team of college staff too, who are now under even more pressure to try and fix accommodation/services/post issues, as students have been poorly signposted to who to go to since reception is no longer there.”
This sentiment was shared by committee members of other Campus West colleges. A Derwent committee member said “my college has absolutely been affected by the closure of its reception. […] There is no disputing the fact that closing college receptions will negatively impact student experience, and I feel really sorry for the freshers especially as they will feel the effects the most.”
Nouse has heard from College staff members that they were given short notice of the closure of campus receptions. A University spokesperson said “Reception staff directly affected by the alterations were engaged in discussions early on in the decision making process."
“Staff indirectly affected and other key stakeholders were made aware of the alterations as soon as the new process had been agreed and reception closures decided.”
“As soon as those affected were informed we then cascaded the message out to staff overall across the University.”
A Vanbrugh committee member added “All the West colleges have now merged to our reception. This meant that life was a bit more chaotic over Freshers Week as we had five times the students crowding the reception, and it’s still pretty busy now. However, as far as I am aware, the building of a centralised “East” and “West” reception was always part of the Uni’s plan so it isn’t the end of the world, but it would have been better if there was more preparation.”
In response, a University spokesperson said “Signs and notices have been installed directing students to alternative Reception areas and who to call for assistance, we also feature the updated information on the website.”
“The new hub based reception model now enables reception staff to be able to move more flexibly across campus to meet demand, and to be more mobile in general, helping to support members of the community with accessibility issues or safety concerns.”
Several college committee members suggested that funding for colleges has also declined in recent years. One said “since COVID-19, funding for colleges has been decreasing each year. When I volunteered there it was in a dire state and funding is extremely low”. They added “it always felt that colleges were bottom of the barrel and so obviously not a priority to the university- which is a shame because I feel with more funding and support the college system could achieve its full potential, being a wonderful place of community for students.”
Another student had a similar story: “colleges play a huge part in assisting students in the cost of living crisis, providing free food events, etcetera, and so cutting their budgets limits the resources and events they can provide to students.”
A third student alleged that some food events in their college had been scaled down because of budgets.
Nouse also uncovered a rumour that college funding was dramatically cut this year. When presented with these claims, a university spokesperson said: “Although staffing has reduced we are still committed to supporting community building and college sports. We are allocating additional staff to support College Sport this semester.”
It appeared that students on college committees are deeply concerned about the effect of University cuts on their colleges. An anonymous college committee chair told Nouse that the college chairs and presidents are in the process of drafting an open letter about the issues to “hopefully draw a lot of attention to the situation”. This was published on 11 November, and co-signed by College Chairs and Presidents, who felt that “their strategic importance to the University is being devalued.”
The open letter has three key demands: “a statement demonstrating that the University still considers its Colleges to be a priority”; a “commitment to better communication” between key University decision makers and College members; and “better and fairer representation in decision making processes” concerning future changes to the College system.
Vice-Chancellor Charlie Jeffery responded promptly to their statement. College chairs and presidents are now working with University staff members to address their concerns.
In order to understand the perspective of the student body, alongside committee members, Nouse conducted a survey asking students what they thought about the college system at York. Initially, 31 students were asked if the university’s collegiate system was an incentive or a deterrent when they applied to York. 93.5% said that it was an incentive, whilst only 6.5% said it was a deterrent.
Next, Nouse asked students what they liked about the college system at York. The overwhelming consensus was the sense of community fostered by the collegiate system. Students commented “an immediate sense of community”, “it made me feel part of a family” and “I like how it allows people to make friends and brings people together”. One student even said “the college system is without doubt the best part of York”, whilst another added “my college staff have been nothing but wonderful”.
Nouse asked students what they disliked about the college system at York. Students replied light-heartedly, with comments such as “do not really understand people identifying strongly with the colleges” and “separates you a little from other college students”.
However, a common theme in other responses was that the college system feels underappreciated. One student said “college sport doesn’t seem to be as prioritised as it used to be, and it feels like less effort is being put into the college system which is a shame.” Another added: “It feels like the university, despite selling it as a point of difference, does not put enough money into the collegiate system at York”. Several other students said they would prefer the collegiate system to be expanded, so that it resembles those of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham universities.
Finally, Nouse asked students how they would feel if the college system at York was scrapped. Out of 31 responses, 24 students expressed sadness or negativity if this were to happen. One stated (of the college system) “it’s part of the DNA at York, it wouldn’t feel the same at all!” Others said it would be “sad”, “devastating” and “heartbreaking”. The remaining seven students were neutral on the issue and said they would not mind either way.
From this survey, it is evident that the majority of York students surveyed cherish the collegiate system and would be devastated if it was erased. It is also apparent that students in general, as well as college committee members, believe that the University does not appreciate or value the system enough. As one student who spoke to Nouse put it, “I don’t think enough students appreciate the work done by college teams, and so are less likely to care about the university’s blatant disregard to colleges. The truth of it is, the students that college teams do the most work for are those in student leadership, helping put on fun events, and students in the most desperate need. For example, they help homesick students after moving in, those who are considering dropping out, and students with more complex needs. Most students don’t need this extra support, and so have less interaction. The University trying to undermine colleges has national impacts (standings and reputation) but it also has a very targeted and specific effect on a small number of students who rely on support from their college teams.”
