Critical review pushes bath to reorganise departments and cut admin staff

The University of Bath is to restructure its academic departments after a cost-cutting exercise in which 19 support staff have been made redundant.

An internal performance review found that academics in small departments were spending too much time on administrative tasks, that half of all departments were in deficit and that a department-based approach had encouraged a "silo mentality".

A consultation identified a "number of serious weaknesses" in areas including research grant generation, growth in research student numbers and teaching.

The university is considering merging its professional and technical services, sharing administrative support or stripping such functions from departments, instead focusing on schools as the institution's basic academic unit.

Bath's senate is due to approve a preferred option next month.