Union members have entered a formal dispute and threatened strike action at Birmingham City University after it told staff to leave if they do not agree with its transformation plan.

Thirty-six academic leadership positions are set to go by the end of July, the University and College Union (UCU) branch said, and the union called on the university to work with staff to find an alternative plan and rule out compulsory redundancies, 鈥渙r face the prospect of industrial action鈥�.聽聽聽

David Mba, vice-chancellor at BCU, wrote to staff outlining that the university will be opening a voluntary severance scheme, which will be open until the end of March, as part of the university鈥檚 鈥溾€� plans announced last year to move towards a greater focus on teaching, rather than research.

In a聽聽seen by聽Birmingham Live, which reported that staff who take up the offer could receive a payout of up to six months of their salary, he wrote: 鈥淎s we move into the next academic year it is imperative that everyone at BCU is wholly committed to our direction.鈥�

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But he conceded that the university鈥檚 new strategy 鈥渕ay not align with all colleagues鈥� views, or their professional aspirations鈥�.

鈥淭o anyone who has doubts about the way we need to work 鈥� focused on the highest standards and, arising from this, a necessary culture of accountability 鈥� I want to acknowledge your contribution to BCU up until now and respectfully encourage you to consider this scheme very carefully, as a positive opportunity,鈥� he wrote.

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The union said it feared that the university鈥檚 proposals would result in job losses, increased workload for remaining staff members, and lower research status of the university.聽

UCU regional official Anne O鈥橲ullivan said that the plans would impact the national and international reputation of the university, and said the proposals 鈥渨ill impact the careers of staff whose skills and employability will suffer鈥�.

She added: 鈥淭he university must negotiate meaningfully with us or face the possibility of industrial action ballots.鈥�

Jo Grady, general secretary at UCU, said: 鈥淭he university must urgently stop its attack on jobs, which risks doing irreparable damage to the institution鈥檚 research capabilities. It is shocking that staff have to declare a dispute to try to push the employer to do the right thing. Management needs to rule out all compulsory redundancies and work with us so we can avoid any industrial unrest.鈥�

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The news follows a raft of cuts announced across the UK higher education sector in the past month.聽The University of Edinburgh听蝉补颈诲听颈迟 intends to make cuts of 拢140 million聽to fill a financial black hole, and last month alone more than 1,000 job cuts were announced across Newcastle, Durham and Cardiff universities.

A BCU spokesman said that the changes were 鈥渁imed at prioritising students in everything we do鈥�.

鈥淭he proposals would reduce the number of senior management posts and put our teaching community closer to decision making 鈥� this is not about reducing teaching or support staff,鈥� he said.

The spokesman added: 鈥淲e expect the proposals will impact around 1 per cent of the university鈥檚 staff, at a time when a growing number of universities are unfortunately announcing significant compulsory job losses.

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鈥淲e received UCU鈥檚 notification of dispute three days before the formal launch of the consultation process, despite the union having been given a clear commitment from the university that we will engage in meaningful consultation between now and 3 April, as part of an overall five-month process.

鈥淲e will continue to engage closely with the small number of staff whose roles are being reviewed to offer alternative opportunities wherever appropriate, if the plans are implemented.鈥�

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com