Dear Members of the University Court,

You will be aware that the staff-led Standing Group for the Future of Modern Languages has compiled a robust set of proposals in response to the MLTI Consultation. This includes undergraduate and postgraduate programme innovation, plans for revenue growth, research, and procedural improvements. Your community of students and staff calls upon you to accept this set of proposals, which will protect our language programmes for future generations, and ensure that our valuable staff in Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting all retain their positions.

In light of these proposals, we call upon Court to request that the ongoing threat of compulsory redundancies for staff in Modern Languages be lifted with all due haste. Students, in particular, would like to note that a full cohort of teaching staff is needed to deliver quality education. Students are vehemently opposed to any decrease in teaching contact hours or oral classes, which are already seen as minimally sufficient. We would also like to note that online content is in no way whatsoever acceptable as a replacement for in-person teaching, particularly for the teaching of languages. We also recognise the detrimental impact removing native language teaching assistants from the budget will have on the quality of education. We request that you consider how severely student satisfaction will suffer should you decide to decrease any in-person teaching for language courses.

We make a further call that you ensure the presence of academic members of the Standing Group so that they can present their report at the meeting of Court on the 28th of February. This is the only way to guarantee a fair hearing of their recommendations, and to adequately address any questions. It is vital that the Standing Group has the opportunity to fully represent their proposals at Court, on the same basis as the Steering Group.

As a university community, we are deeply disappointed in Court’s decision to discontinue recruitment to single honours degrees for AY 24/25 before the end of the consultation (originally 15 January, extended to 15 February – Court decision was made on 12 December). We were appalled that this consultation process was not stopped to allow for meaningful engagement. To expect an entire department of staff to work overtime to save their jobs and degrees within one month after the holidays is cruel and demonstrates a lack of willingness from the Steering Group to engage constructively. This has had an extremely harmful impact on the mental well-being of all staff and students in Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting.

The Steering Group’s proposal is at odds with the 2040 strategic vision, the new Scottish Languages Bill, and the University’s own Gaelic Language Plan. Students have threatened to sabotage NSS scores and have considered plans to transfer for a better education at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. We continue to have no confidence in the Steering Group to act in the interests of the University, its staff, or its students. The manner in which they have continued to frame and conduct this consultation is a clear indication that they have presupposed the outcome. They have been clear that no matter how robust the Standing Group’s proposals, these plans will not be used to offset their savings target, and that redundancies are still on the table. The reputation of the University of Aberdeen is at stake. Strikes, protests, and negative media coverage are set to continue and intensify should compulsory redundancies go forward, or should single honours not be reinstated.

Another point of contention is that we are aiming at a moving target. This consultation has ploughed forward whilst talks about reconciling disputed data were ongoing. It has become clear in the past month that the Directorate of Planning was not consulted on data prior to launching this consultation. That is extremely concerning when this process has put so many careers at risk. Staff have been left fearing for their livelihoods and a Voluntary Severance Scheme is not truly voluntary when staff are under threat of redundancy.

Furthermore, Senior Management has repeatedly rejected requests for sufficient representation on the decision-making group. It is entirely inappropriate that there has been no student or staff union representation on the Steering Group, despite calls for this from Graeme Dey, Minister for Higher and Further Education. Decisions are being made without key stakeholders in the room. When Dey communicated this to the Principal, the Principal’s response did not provide a direct answer to this point. He instead cited engagement via a student focus group. This meeting was held online, despite repeated requests for an in-person meeting. Disability requests were not sufficiently addressed, and the meeting ended in controversy. Requests for future focus groups were not honoured. Additionally, the right to record student and staff focus groups and meetings was refused, which is in direct breach of ACAS principles for redundancy consultation. That is what representation has looked like throughout this process.

However, the dedicated work of the Standing Group has provided us an escape from this downward spiral. Their strong set of proposals will allow for sustainability and innovation within the School of LLMVC and will strengthen programmes for future generations. We reaffirm our call for you to accept these proposals.

As a University Community, we would also like to remind all Court Members of the University’s statutory and moral obligations to the Gaelic language and community. And reduction in Gaelic staff, degrees, teaching, or research will be considered an attack on an already endangered language, and unacceptable from an EDI perspective. As one of only four institutions in the country which offer a degree in the language, the University has a responsibility to maintain and increase its Gaelic teaching. The consultation has continued to avoid any commitment to its obligations under our Gaelic Language Plan. Our plan, cannot, as the original consultation document states, be adapted to reflect the outcome of the consultation. The purpose of a Gaelic Language Plan is to hold the University accountable in difficult situations such as the one we find ourselves in. If the University wishes to make a commitment to ‘decolonising the curriculum’ but will not commit to supporting its own national minority language, we see this commitment as an empty promise.

We are grateful for the fact that at the December Court meeting, the two most harmful options were removed from the MLTI consultation, and that you provided us with an extra month to generate ideas. We are very excited to see the innovative and sustainable future for our Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting programmes, envisioned and planned by experts in the field. Please take control of process and heed the work of the Standing Group.

The University community urges you to action the following:

• ensure a presentation by the Standing Group at the meeting of Court on the 28th of February;
• accept the full proposals of the Standing Group; 
• immediately rescind all notices of risk of redundancy in Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting;
• reinstate single honours degrees in French, Gaelic, German, and Spanish for AY 2025/26 and beyond;
• consider the attached Standing Group Consultation Response dated 19th of February. We would like to highlight Section 10, Governance Issues, which is not included in the 14th of February document you received.

Your students and staff need you.

Sincerely,

The Students’ Union
Aberdeen UCU Branch
Unite the Union, Aberdeen Educational Branch
UNISON, Aberdeen Universities Branch
The National Union of Students Scotland 

Standing Group Consultation Response, 19th Feb.