“An Ulster University lecturer has criticised the institution’s ‘galling’ spending after it emerged 65 staff were paid at least £100,000 each year. Right-wing pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) announced the finding after submitting Freedom of Information requests to 120 universities across the UK …” (more)
[Allan Preston, Belfast Telegraph, 3 October]
“Sinn Féin MP Elisha McCallion has reiterated the need for sign off on the Medical School at Magee University. Speaking after attending a cross-party meeting with Sinn Féin Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill and the Head of the Civil Service, the Foyle MP said: …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 23 September]
“Queen’s University remains the best university in Northern Ireland, according to an influential list. It has climbed three places to stay within the top 40 in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020. Ulster University has also climbed in the national rankings to joint 58th place …” (more)
[Gillian Halliday, Belfast Telegraph, 20 September]
“Holyland residents have described ‘total chaos’ as hundreds of young people partied on the streets of the south Belfast neighbourhood overnight. Chair of College Park Avenue Residents’ Association Brid Ruddy told the Belfast Telegraph that the trouble started at lunchtime on Sunday when students began drinking on the streets …” (more)
[Mark Edwards, Belfast Telegraph, 16 September]
“The flaws with college rankings are well documented. They are produced by commercial organisations which sell their expertise on how to perform better. They ignore key aspects of college life such as the quality of teaching and learning. And the science behind some of the indicators is suspect, at best. But there is no denying their influence …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 11 September]
“The Provost of Ulster University’s Magee campus Malachy O’Neill said he understands and shares the frustration locally over the decades-long delay to securing a major expansion that would see Derry become a university city …” (more)
[Brendan McDaid, Derry Journal, 8 September]
“The head of the Civil Service has poured cold water on hopes that Ulster University (UU) will deliver on plans for a medical school at its Londonderry campus. In a letter to the chief executive of Derry and Strabane Council, David Sterling said the business case submitted by the UU makes no provision on funding the medical school from its budget …” (more)
[Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 4 September]
“Sinn Féin MP Elisha McCallion has said the Department of Health needs to complete its business case for the medical school in Derry as soon as possible. The Foyle MP said: ‘I met today with the permanent secretary of the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, and discussed progress on delivering a medical school for Derry …'” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 14 August]
“Northern Ireland’s universities generated more than £400,000 in student library fines over the last five years, the BBC has learned. Figures show that Ulster University and Queen’s University in Belfast amassed a total of £423,000 since 2013 …” (more)
[BBC News, 12 August]
“Once again, there is a drive to establish a new university in the Northern Irish city of Derry – a city, because of its integral role in Ireland’s peace process, that has become regarded as an exemplar of real-world conflict resolution and a haven for free discussion …” (more)
[Garbhan Downey, Wonkhe, 9 August]
“A former Stormont minister who had responsibility for higher education has said he supports the expansion of university provision in Derry. Lord Reg Empey said the sense that Derry had ‘lost out’ when Coleraine was selected as the location for the University of Ulster needed to be remedied through an ‘incremental increase’ in the number of higher education courses in the city …” (more)
[Irish News, 17 July]
“We have started a Petition in relation to the Review of the Industrial Tribunal which ruled that Ulster University had breached the Employment Rights Order (NI) by failing to consult the University and College Union (UCU) over staff cuts …” (more)
[UCU, 4 July]
“Here is a link to the ‘Independent Review of the Circumstances Leading up to the Employment Tribunal Judgement in the Case of University and College Union v Ulster University‘ …” (more)
[UCU, 2 July]
“The Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University has apologised to staff following an independent review into a botched redundancy process. The 2016 process resulted in the exit of 143 employees – and has already cost the university £1.6m. In an email to all staff sent yesterday, Professor Paddy Nixon said he wanted to offer a full and wholehearted apology …” (more)
[Belfast Telegraph, 29 June]
“Senior leaders at Ulster University (UU) were guilty of a ‘disturbing lack of governance’ during a staff redundancy process in 2016. Refusing to accept a redundancy settlement offer from a staff union also cost UU an extra £1.4m. Those are among a litany of failings identified by a UU commissioned independent review into the process …” (more)
[Robbie Meredith, BBC News NI, 28 June]
“Sir, – Trinity College Dublin deserves credit for its long-running access programme’s foundation course for higher education (‘Trinity access graduates celebrate second chance at education’, News, June 15th). Courses like these provide a lifeline to adults who, for whatever reasons, failed to complete their secondary education …” (more)
[Peter Pyne, Irish Times, 24 June]
“Mayor of Derry and Strabane Colr. Michaela Boyle, has called on party leaders in Northern Ireland to pledge their strong support to the campaign to get Derry’s medical school over the line. Mayor Boyle was speaking following last week’s cross-party meeting in the Guildhall to discuss growing concern over the fact that the doctor training facility Ulster University plans to open in Derry has not yet been signed off …” (more)
[Brendan McDaid, Derry Journal, 21 June]
“Sinead O’Shea’s documentary, A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot, released in cinemas last September, provides a harrowing vision of Creggan, a working-class area in Derry city. Filmed over the course of five years, the documentary is a longitudinal observation of a family, the O’Donnells, who live in an area that is alarmingly disaffected by the post-Troubles political reality in Northern Ireland …” (more)
[Maurice Fitzpatrick, Irish Times, 2 June]
“Scholars voice outrage at Ulster University’s plans to confine ‘impartial’ records of conflict to history. It is one of the most important sources of information about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a historical memory bank of data, stories and images used by scholars around the world. The Conflict Archive on the Internet (Cain) website, based in Derry, has taken two decades to build up an unrivalled encyclopaedic digital record of the conflict …” (more)
[Rory Carroll, Guardian, 30 April]
“Ulster University spent £226k on settlements to staff that included ‘gagging clauses’ in the past two years, it has been revealed. The BBC has reported the figure was made up of six separate payments to staff, which included non-disclosure agreements (NDA) …” (more)
[Belfast Telegraph, 18 April]
