The recommendation from FLT will be made to Senate and Board of Governors by Keith Brown, Vice-President and Dean, to merge the Schools of Law and Social Sciences. 

The recommendation is subject to approval and will now be progressed through the University’s Policy and Resources Committee on 5 February, Senate (13 February) and the Board of Governors (20 February).  

Updates will be provided to staff in both schools once a final decision has been made.

The School of Law is disproportionately small compared to other Schools in the emerging University structure, and SoSS is the most appropriate partner. This is due to the Schools' natural synergies, which include:

• overlapping interests for research and teaching
• responding to the challenges of managing large programmes
• unique offers for teaching experience and widening participation.

It is believed that there is some potential for better and more efficiently deploying the combined resources of the two Schools.

Membership of the working group includes the:

• Head of School (Law/SoSS)
• Head of School Admin (Law/SoSS)
• Deputy Head of School (Law)
• Director of Research (Law/SoSS)
• Director of Teaching and Learning (Law/SoSS)
• Chair of School Board (Law/SoSS)
• Director of Faculty Operations (Humanities)
• Vice-President and Dean (Humanities)

We have seen all of the Faculties move to larger, more evenly sized Schools; FSE is moving from nine Schools to two, while FBMH has three schools. This raises the question of the alignment of the Faculty of Humanities to that structure and, in particular, draws attention to the very small size of the School of Law.

We want to ensure that we have all the facts so that we can have an informed debate and make an informed decision.

No decision has been taken to merge the Schools. The final decision would be made by the Board of Governors on the recommendation of Senate.

Changes to structures such as Schools need to be presented to Senate as the academic governance vehicle when a formal proposal has been made, outlining the risks and benefits of the suggested change.

We are at the step before that process and are asking for staff input into an assessment of the risks and benefits in proposing a merger so that they help to shape what is, if anything, presented to Senate.

The working group will direct the consultation to have as little as possible impact on the planned activities of staff over this period.

If a decision is made to merge the Schools, we don’t anticipate that it would have a major impact on the day-to-day work which staff are doing in these areas.

This consultation is about identifying the reasons for and against a merger of the Schools. There are no plans for any discussion of voluntary or compulsory redundancy, though one PSS fixed-term contract would not be renewed (that being a HoSA role). 

If the Schools do merge, we would not require both Heads of School and Heads of School Administration (HoSA). The roles of Director of Teaching and Learning, Director of Research and Director of Social Responsibility would also need to be considered. It should be noted, however, that the Heads of School and Directors all hold substantive academic roles, which would continue.

The Dean has given a clear direction that this should be the only direct impact on headcount in the event of a merger.

For your information, the staff (headcount) members as of 7 June 2018 (including permanent, fixed-term and Institute staff), are as follows:

This is the start of an engagement process and it will need to be considered alongside other projects such as the Student Lifecycle Project (SLP), which could lead to changes in roles across the University.

Collaborative consultation and engagement sessions will run in the Schools from now until September. You will be fully involved in this process, which will look at the benefits and risks before making recommendations.

We know that it is important to have a strong brand to attract students and staff. 

FLT has recommended that ‘School of Law’ external branding would be maintained.

A working group would be set up to consider these details and staff would be involved in these discussions. 

These are the details that the working group will consider. It is likely that if there is a merger that staff would be based across three locations.

The trade unions were notified on Thursday 24 May of the plans to engage extensively with staff to inform any decision about the possibility of a merger.

They have also been informed of the FLT recommendation.

Yes, the Director of Faculty Operations met with the Students Union on 23 May 2018 to tell them about this. Students were involved in the engagement process.