University of Durham slides in global rankings
The University of Durham’s ranking took a hit in The Times’ annual subject World University Rankings 2024, released on October 26, 2023.
Despite providing “education that challenges boundaries,” according to the University, the rankings marked Durham down in Law (ranked at 60 out of 329 entries), Education (92/703), Physical Science (126-150/13700, and Arts & Humanities (39/691).
On average these subjects have dropped 16 points in comparison to 2023’s rankings.
The top scorers for the World University Rankings 2024 by subject are predominantly taken up by US Ivy League colleges.
The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford secured the top spots for subjects in the UK.
According to Palatinate, Durham’s student paper, this is the third consecutive year that Durham has slid down the list in these subject areas.
However, The Times Higher Education still describes Durham as a “globally outstanding centre for teaching, learning and research excellence,” adding “Durham is a university like no other.”
University of Aberdeen faces budget cuts due to a fall in admissions
The University of Aberdeen is facing budget cuts, impacted by a fall in international student admissions.
Despite boasting of a “diverse community” with over 130 nationalities within its institution, the University has found that its international post-graduate student admissions have failed to increase to its expected target.
The 15% rise in revenue hoped to be brought in by this target increase was £111 million – all from international post-grad tuition fees.
Aberdeen’s Principal George Boyne stated the University is “5% short of the revenue this year that we expected to have.”
The head of Aberdeen’s finances, CFO Mark White, continued to explain that the shortfall has put Aberdeen “in the position of having a much larger deficit than we expected.”
A financial recovery plan has been suggested by Boyne, which includes: early retirement of staff, voluntary severance, continuing the University’s recruitment freeze, and cutting underperforming university courses.
University College, Isle of Man, introduces sustainable fashion courses
The Isle of Man’s local university has made national headlines for introducing sustainability courses for its students.
As of March 2024, ‘Transformation Challenge: Jeans/Denims Jackets‘ and ‘Transformation Challenge: Shirts‘ have been added to the available curriculum for students on the Isle of Man.
Students are expected to pay a fee of £43.50 per course and will learn “the art of upcycling [by transforming] discarded materials into new treasures that contribute to a sustainable future,” according to Education Minister Julie Edge.
The new course is part of the Isle of Man’s ‘Just for Fun’ adult learning courses. The University College states that these courses are focused on providing “lifelong educational goals of our community,” such as “adopting sustainable practice.”
Cardiff University hassled student to pay tuition fees
Trigger Warning: mentions of sexual assault
A University of Cardiff student received continuous letters and emails from the University ordering her to pay the £9,000 tuition fee she owed, despite falling behind with deadlines after being raped in March 2021.
Upon returning to University in 2022, Lily (false name) began to receive “letters saying ‘we’re going to kick you off your course if you don’t pay.'”
The student reported that the University was more concerned about receiving the tuition fees than providing support for her: “It was probably the worst time of my life and instead of getting any kind of support from uni, I was just getting more and more harassment about paying fees.”
Lily stated that the persistent demands for payment forced her to “relive her traumatic experiences to the finance team.”
Lily explained, “When you’ve just been sexually assaulted, your brain is like a puddle of mush,” adding that “if the University does offer support, it is not advertised well.”
The Disclosure Response Team (DRT), responsible for Cardiff’s student support, states that they have received 691 sexual misconduct reports from 2017-2021.
Less than five students per year have been expelled from Cardiff as a result of sexual violence between 2017-2023.
Emily Carr was the University of Cardiff’s Students’ Union women’s officer from 2022-2023. Carr reports that she witnessed “a dismissal of rape culture that continues to fester throughout the University.”
As of November 11, 2023, Lily had not received an apology from the University.
University of Oxford suspends their Students’ Union President due to pornography allegations
On October 31, 2023, the University of Oxford suspended its Students’ Union President, Danial Hussain, after pornographic content was found on a Google Drive folder.
In an investigation conducted by The Oxford Student, one of Oxford’s student newspapers, reporters found Hussain used the SU’s drive to store and share pornographic videos with fellow SU staff.
Hussain responded to these allegations, stating, “At the start of this term I shared a Google Drive of videos for editing. I was horrified to subsequently learn that the material included a two-second pornographic video that was sandwiched alongside various videos for SU use. I have since discovered that the material was recorded by friends who intended it as a prank and I had no knowledge this material was on my phone.”
The two friends responsible for saving the video footage to the SU drive have admitted to their actions and claimed that Hussain was unaware of its existence or the fact other SU staff had access to it.
As well as these allegations, Hussain was suspended in the summer of 2023 due to a serious misconduct complaint. This complaint was eventually dismissed.
The Oxford Student further reported that Hussain forced through a policy reducing Student Council meetings, making him unpopular amongst students.
The Student argues, “It could take a number of months for a No-Confidence motion to be brought against [Hussain] if students chose to do so. […] As there are now only two meetings a term, the process is significantly extended in comparison to previous years.”
The Student Council responded to Hussain’s changes by reverting the policy at the first Student Council meeting of the 2023/24 term.
Hussain concludes his statement to the University of Oxford, its SU, and its students by stating that, “I look forward to having the opportunity to explain these circumstances in detail, where I am confident that a thorough and fair examination will clear me of any wrongdoing. I firmly believe in the importance of due process and the need to allow this investigation to reach its conclusion in a comprehensive and unbiased manner.”
