Specialist pharmacy school in battle to maintain independence

UCU opposes plans to merge the 168-year old institution with the much larger University College London (UCL).
 
The union has highlighted the institution's 100% employment record for graduates and the fact that there are eight applicants chasing each undergraduate place. The school enjoys a proud reputation for research excellence. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, 90% of its research was deemed internationally competitive and 25% internationally leading.

Staff have been told the rationale behind the merger is financial, following planned funding cuts in the recent spending review. However, the school's finances are healthy and the school has no debt, unlike UCL. Staff have devised an alternative plan, called 'Independence for Growth', which they will present to the school's council and governing body ahead of the merger decision on 8 December.  

Ijeoma Uchegbu, UCU branch chair and professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, said: 'The business case for the proposed merger has not been made to staff and the academic case for the proposed merger has not been made to staff.  
 
'As the only dedicated pharmacy school in the UK we have a unique approach to teaching as we have physiologists, pharmacologists, chemists and social pharmacists all working together on one degree programme. This is an integrated and holistic approach that we should cherish and develop."
 
UCU London official, Barry Jones, said: 'It is very clear that staff at the school feel strongly about the independence of their institution and are fiercely proud of its achievements. They are worried that merger with a larger institution will dilute and deflect from their work, to the detriment of scientific progress. It will, of course, also place question marks over job security.
 
'Specialist institutions like the School of Pharmacy create our diverse economy of higher education. We have seen this landscape flattened out as several have merged over recent years. We do not want to lose another.'