Sheffield Hallam is in trouble. Insiders say the university has prioritised ‘vanity projects over people’

Good morning, readers — and welcome to the last members-only story of this year!

A little over a week ago, The Tribune broke the news that Sheffield Hallam University had offered all 1,700 of its academic staff the opportunity to show themselves the door. Staff whose applications for voluntary severance are accepted will, by and large, have to pack their bags by the end of February.

The reaction from many, including academics from up and down the country, was swift. “All I want for Christmas is a system for funding UK Higher Education that doesn't guarantee carnage and ruination,” wrote Professor David Higgins, from the University of Leeds. “So-called civic universities throwing all pretence into the wind,” wrote Minesh Parekh, Labour councillor for Crookes and Crosspool. “This would be devastating and must be opposed.”

To academic staff within Hallam, it seems almost inevitable that this offer is an omen of far more involuntary redundancies to come, not to mention a sign of serious financial problems. According to the University and College Union, the university is facing an approximately £9 million hole in its budget this academic year — and has also borrowed huge sums. How on earth did Hallam get to this point? And where can it hope to go from here?

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Your Tribune briefing

🏏 The “driving force” behind the Sheffield Caribbean Sports Club was named this year’s Unsung Hero by BBC Sport on Tuesday. Des Smith, 70, has volunteered for the club since 1986 and credits getting involved in sports with helping him integrate after moving to the UK from Jamaica in 1966. As well as encouraging young black people to play football, cricket, netball and hockey, the club also educates them about race relations and the Windrush generation. 

🔎 Earlier this week, our sister paper the Liverpool Post published this close analysis of the government’s long-awaited response to calls for a Hillsborough Law. In the decades since the fatal crush at the stadium, grieving families and campaigners have called for a new law which would force public bodies like the police to tell the truth. What the government has agreed, however, is a Hillsborough charter — which wields “no stick” to punish officials who mislead the public. 

🍺 The Market Tavern in Castlegate is being demolished after it was discovered that the empty building has deteriorated to the point that it’s unsafe. Sean McClean, director of regeneration and development at Sheffield City Council, said: “Safety must be our number one priority when it comes to buildings and, unfortunately, we have been left with no option but to demolish.” Contractors have already removed chimneys and further work will start within weeks.

Things to do

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🎹 Also on Friday night, the “piano man’s piano man” is bringing New Orleans-inspired jazz to the Greystones pub — for only £12.50 a head. Blues in Britain magazine said: “If there is a better New Orleans-style pianist in the UK than the outrageously talented Dale Storr, please point me in his or her direction because he or she must be very, very special”. Get your tickets here. 

🪩 On Christmas Eve, Seven by 7 will celebrate 22 years of “open decks” fun with a party at the Dorothy Pax pub at Victoria Quays. Local DJs are invited to get in touch with organisers, who will then pick seven to have a go behind the booth. Find out more on Facebook here. The same pub also has a special event tonight when a traditional “mummers’ play” will be performed followed by Christmas carols.

Sheffield Hallam is in trouble. Insiders say the university has prioritised ‘vanity projects over people’

“I thought long and hard about my decision to leave,” wrote Sir Chris Husbands on his personal blog earlier this week, “and I’m sure this is the right time for me and for the University.” Husbands has spent the last seven years as the vice-chancellor for Sheffield Hallam University and, though he’s in his 60s, his departure took many staff by surprise. Still, as he looks back on all the “projects coming to completion and some just getting going” at the end of his tenure, it must be a comfort to know he’s leaving his beloved institution in the hands of “gifted leaders and staff[...] and a fabulous successor.”

But, like a pharoah being buried with his servants, it seems Sir Chris wanted to see at least some of these gifted staff go with him. His final blog post – the third of a trilogy of emotional farewells – came exactly a week after The Tribune broke the news that all 1,700 of Hallam’s academic staff had been offered voluntary severance. As far as many staff are concerned, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s not a question of if involuntary redundancies are coming down the line, it’s a question of how thick and how fast. 

Sheffield Hallam hasn’t indicated exactly how many academics it is trying to shed, although the University and College Union (UCU) claims its deficit for this year is around £9 million. Its plans for next academic year, however, indicate this is not just about ushering the odd professor into a well-earned retirement. Students across the university have been told to expect bigger classes and far more lessons being delivered purely online. Academics – those that don’t decide to cut and run – have been warned that their hours per module will be cut.

Which makes it slightly infuriating, a UCU spokesperson told The Tribune, to have to sit through misty-eyed reminiscences from their departing vice-chancellor. “Not once,” they tell me, “has he apologised for the state that he left the university in.” In a matter of years, they claim, Hallam has gone from a healthy financial position to having to shove its own staff out the door. “The university always puts out a narrative that it’s not their fault, it’s because of the wider circumstances. But Sheffield Hallam is facing extreme difficulties because of their choices.”

Choices, for example, like agreeing to open a swanky new campus in Brent Cross, an area of London best known – really only known – for a shopping centre from the 1970s and a major traffic interchange. Choices like borrowing large sums to fund shiny new buildings in Sheffield city centre, due to open next year. “Choices have been made,” they insist, “to invest in vanity projects over people” and, wherever it isn’t yet too late, those choices should be reversed.

The university was keen to let us know how much it disagrees with this interpretation – so keen, in fact, that its PR manager didn’t wait for us to ask. “As you may be aware,” she told The Tribune, “financial issues are affecting a number of institutions across the country and are not unique to Sheffield Hallam.” The so-called “vanity projects” maligned by UCU are actually vital parts of a “strategy to diversify and grow income,” and thus secure the university’s future for generations of students to come. 

Other than a boilerplate statement, however, all of my specific questions went unanswered. Which is a shame because, after speaking to a number of alternately furious and dejected staff, all of whom asked to be anonymous to protect their jobs, I had quite a few questions.