Category Archives: General

Glad to see that the haemorrhaging of staff has been noted. What happened in the KSA Student Office lately seems to be typical. I’m told it went something like this: The roly mophead managerObserved her team and said“Can’t stand these … Continue reading →

KU’s obsession with management-speak and big managerial heroes can also take other sick-making forms, including naive decisions about awarding Honorary Doctorates to controversial private sector bankers. Last July, members of staff had to desperately suppress their laughter on stage at … Continue reading →

The bullying culture in universities would appear to be ingrained. There have been several articles by anonymous academics in the Guardian on the subject. This not unfamiliar tale of an aggressive overbearing supervisor ensures that the future of research in … Continue reading →

How’s this for management speak: Domains are intended to personalise careers, by creating a flexible matrix of possibilities that aid both staff and their managers navigate through some of the traditional career tensions encountered in academic life to support and … Continue reading →

One thing you can say about Kingston, the chaos and obscuration are consistent. The recent nonsense from the VC about “personalising” careers (how can they be anything but personal?), yet another structural review in the offing, no clarity on the … Continue reading →

‘Twas a cold Winter’s day in November, in a House in Olde Kingstone Towne. Ye old King Steven (for it was he) lounged on his shiny new office sofa and surveyed what was left of his rapidly diminishing Kingdom. He … Continue reading →