Staff at the universities of Kent and Greenwich have voiced unease over the scarcity of concrete information on the forthcoming multi-university group, according to accounts gathered as the 1 August legal establishment date draws near.
The two institutions formally committed to the arrangement on 4 February. The new entity, to be known as the London and South East University Group, will function as a single legal body with one vice-chancellor, one board of governors and one executive team. Individual universities will nevertheless continue to operate as distinct academic divisions, keeping their names, identities and brands. Students will still apply to, study at and graduate from their chosen university.
All staff will transfer to employment by the new group, though contracts and terms and conditions, including existing trade union agreements, are set to remain unchanged in the immediate term. A consultation on the proposed high-level leadership model and TUPE transfer process, which opened in June, drew 62 responses.
Times Higher Education has reported that staff say they still have hundreds of questions and many unknowns about how the institutions will operate after the merger. Ruth Ballardie, co-chair of the Greenwich University and College Union branch, told the publication that the consultation process was disrespectful and risky for the institution's survival. She described it as a complete top-down process that does not follow the literature on change management, especially given the merger of two universities with very different cultures.
Staff contracts and terms and conditions, including current trade union agreements, will remain the same immediately after the merger.
Charlie Hall, chair of the Kent University and College Union branch, told Times Higher Education there are a hundred different things staff do not know about how things will look once merged. He noted that the process has been designed to merge without huge change initially, with gradual implementation of changes to follow, and that the union must ensure nothing is slipped through the back door after the merger.
The universities have maintained that they have taken an open and transparent approach from the start, engaging early with staff and unions and sharing responses to consultations. They have also stated that no decisions have been made on future structural changes and that integration teams are being established.
