University of Stirling - Charter plans draw union's fire

A Scottish university is pressing ahead with plans that the University and College Union Scotland fears could undermine academics' employment rights. The University of Stirling court has agreed to continue with plans to amend its charter and statutes, and will consider a special resolution in October. But UCU Scotland has been holding discussions on governance reforms with a consortium of Scotland's eight pre-1992 universities and has criticised Stirling for failing to await the outcome. David Bleiman, UCU assistant general secretary for Scotland, said it was unclear whether Stirling's role in the consortium was "as voyeur or participant". The university said that its aim was to modernise its governance framework, and that the employment statute was only one aspect of the review. A spokesman said that its current statutes did not comply with employment legislation and that the university would be strengthening its commitment to academic freedom.