Staff at Sheffield Hallam University are voting on strike action as part of a dispute over the organisation’s financial decision making.

The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) Hallam Branch announced that the statutory ballot for industrial action at Sheffield Hallam University had opened today in response to “poor financial decisions” by the administration. 

In a statement, the UCU mentioned that the university had a “worrying” budget deficit of £9million for this financial year.

The UCU also accused the university of excessive spending on new buildings, costing over £200million.

Sheffield Hallam University also plans to open a new satellite campus in north-west London, as a part of the Brent Cross Town development project. 

The UCU suggested that this is a “risky venture” which is costing the university money before students can be recruited in 2025.

A spokesperson said: “Management have prioritised buildings over people, overcommitted SHU’s budget, and we are all paying the price for their poor decision making.”

In the past few months, the university has also provoked controversy by issuing over 120 “risk of redundancy” letters to staff and introducing a voluntary severance scheme which has resulted in over 140 staff leaving.

At the same time, the UCU accused the management for breaching the national framework agreement by removing the grade 9 Principal Lecturer role and introducing a grade 6 Academic Tutor role.

The UCU claimed that the Grade 6 Academic Tutor role had been identified by management as a way of back-filling any potential gaps in staffing and is a “degradation of teaching standards”.

Sheffield Hallam University was contacted for a statement, but has not yet responded.

The strike ballot will be open until Monday, 22 May.