Dundee University must scrap its plans to cut almost 200 jobs, according to the union representing academic staff.
The University and College Union (UCU) thinks a strategic review drawn up by university bosses is “dead” and will soon be overtaken by public spending cuts that will harm higher education across Scotland.
It is not known if its members will be prepared to take industrial action if the job losses go ahead, but the union said it will fight any compulsory redundancies.
A total of 75 support service jobs are under threat, plus another 118 from various departments. The latter includes 13 posts in medicine, 13 in nursing and 18 in the college of life sciences.
Losses in double figures in other departments include 10 in engineering, physics and maths and 16 at Duncan of Jordanstone college of art.
A total of 14 departments would be affected and the pay bill would be cut by £8 million a year, with another £1.5 million saved in non-pay costs.
The university this week said it hopes to reduce staff numbers through voluntary severance and natural wastage around 150 staff left that way under a previous round of cuts but it has not ruled out compulsory redundancies as a last resort.
Dundee University has an annual budget of around £200 million, but it could see its block grant from the Scottish Funding Council slashed by as much as £18 million.
Last week the independent Browne report into higher education in England recommended allowing universities to charge higher fees and make students pay them back after they graduate.
Education is a devolved matter and the Scottish Government has yet to decide how it will share the pain of the coming cuts, but the UCU fears the impact could be severe.
Dr Carlo Morelli, president of the Dundee branch of the UCU, said, “The Browne review announced major cuts for higher education. The head of Universities UK, Professor Steve Smith, said higher education was staring into the valley of death and I think he’s right.”
He added, “For Dundee University to try to have a strategic review in the face of that makes no sense whatsoever. I think they should withdraw it and they should withdraw the threat of redundancies.”