UCU threatens strike action over Sheffield archaeology closure

Union members are to ballot for strike action over the closure of the University of Sheffield’s archaeology department.

Members of Sheffield’s University and College Union branch threatened “sustained industrial action” during the autumn semester if the institution does not reverse the decision to close the archaeology department, ranked as the seventh best in the UK.

Sheffield’s council voted on 12 July to support a recommendation from the university executive board to close the department, retaining only the osteoarchaeology and cultural heritage units, which will become part of other departments.

Academics have warned that the decision represents “the unequivocal end of archaeology” at Sheffield, and the closure has been criticised by the Council for British Archaeology, the Society of Antiquaries, and the European Association of Archaeologists.

Robyn Orfitelli, a UCU branch officer at Sheffield, said the closure would “harm students, staff and the global study of archaeology”.

“At Monday’s meeting, the university council voted to support [the executive board’s] proposals, despite the serious ethical and procedural concerns that have been raised about how the review was conducted, and further governance concerns that have been raised about every step of the process, including senate being denied the opportunity to vote on the proposal,” she said.

The university has cited the low numbers of firm undergraduate places – fewer than 10 for 2021-22 – as a reason for closure. But staff say they believe the downward trend in undergraduate applications is at least partly due to the university’s increased A-level tariff.

A recent report in local newspaper The Star quoted a student’s account of a meeting on the archaeology plans between staff, students and Gill Valentine, the university’s deputy vice-chancellor, in which Professor Valentine allegedly said that the department could not drop its entry standards because “We need to protect our brand. If you shop at Marks & Spencers, and then Marks & Spencers brings in Aldi-level products, then people won’t want to shop with you any more.”

Times Higher Education previously reported that Sheffield had pulled a 2018 bid for £10 million funding from city region leaders to expand apprenticeship training, which prompted the UCU to express concern about the university’s “new focus on cultivating an elite brand above all else”.

However, others in the university argued that the AMRC training centre expansion plan was withdrawn because it had not gone through the necessary approval via the university’s governance structures.

THE also reported that staff and students at Sheffield felt misled over the possible outcomes of a review of the archaeology department.

Koen Lamberts, Sheffield’s vice-chancellor, said that the university was “determined to secure the future of archaeology in Sheffield in the face of a very challenging external environment which has seen a significant decline in the number of students choosing to read archaeology, as has been experienced by many other leading universities”.

“The decision by university council to ratify the board’s recommended course of action, following a review of the department of archaeology, does not alter the outcome that archaeology will continue to be taught and researched in Sheffield,” Professor Lamberts said.

“Not only will we maintain and support archaeology at the university, we will work with our colleagues and partners to ensure it thrives through focusing on postgraduate studies and investing in key areas of excellence which have contributed to Sheffield’s reputation as a top 100 global university with world-leading research and innovation.”

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com