Some good news on Lloyd Pietersen

There is some good news on the Lloyd Pietersen situation at the University of Gloucestershire. The university has decided to keep him on on 0.6 contract until February with a view then. The hearing on Friday is cancelled. This is excellent news for the time being. Let's hope for more good news to come in February. (News via Facebook. Also spotted on Jim West's blog).

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New Save University of Gloucestershire website

There is an helpful new campaigning website that gives details, links, contacts and calls for action on the situation at the University of Gloucestershire:

saveuog.com

Previous posts on Lloyd Pietersen and the University of Gloucestershire are here.

Sign the University of Gloucestershire UCU Petition

Many of us have been concerned about the situation at the University of Gloucestershire, and especially the threat to Lloyd Pietersen's job. You can now sign the UCU petition to Save the University of Gloucestershire. 436 signatures and counting. (Thanks to Jim West for alerting).

All NT Blog posts on this topic here.

Lloyd Pietersen: the VC's response

Jim West carries a post on the Vice Chancellor's response to his email concerning Lloyd Pietersen. I received the same email this morning too. Although, naturally, she is reproducing the same email to those of us who have written to support Lloyd, it is nevertheless encouraging to see the tone of the email, which affirms Lloyd's academic calibre (hey, I used the word "calibre" in my email to her!) and concludes with the statement, "However we are, of course, continuing to seek ways of sustaining Dr Pietersen’s post as we recognise the value to the University of his significant academic reputation." Could there be a light at the end of the tunnel? Please consider writing to the Vice Chancellor to show your support for Lloyd if you have not already done so.

All NT Blog posts on this topic here.

Lloyd Pietersen and the University of Gloucestershire: Updates

Because I have been on the road, I haven't had the chance to post here on the latest developments at the University of Gloucestershire. But Jim West has the latest troubling news, that Lloyd has been given notice for 31 December, and has an appeal hearing next week, 10 December. I hear via Facebook that the appeal hearing is with a certain Paul Drake, Executive Director (External Relations). I have written again this morning to the Vice Chancellor, Patricia Broadfoot (vc@glos.ac.uk), and have written also to the Chair of Council, Revd Canon Malcolm Herbert (mherbert@glos.ac.uk) and I urge you strongly to do the same and to show your support for Lloyd.

Update: Express your concern to Paul Drake (pdrake@glos.ac.uk) who will be chairing the appeal on 10 December.

All NT Blog posts on this topic here.

Lloyd Pietersen and the University of Gloucestershire: updates

(1) Jim West reproduces a helpful summary from Lloyd Pietersen about What's Going on at Gloucestershire.

(2) I wrote to Paul Bowler (pbowler@glos.ac.uk) and Patricia Broadfoot (vc@glos.ac.uk) last night and received a formal reply this morning. If you have not done so already, please write your letter as soon as possible. Although you too will probably only get a formalized reply, there is strength in numbers. Let them know just how strongly we feel about this mismanagement.

(3) Show your support by blogging on this and encouraging others to write. Many have already done so.

(4) Show your support and keep up to date by joining the Facebook group, Save Wil, Lloyd and Other FCH Staff.

All NT Blog posts on this topic here.

More on the University of Gloucestershire and related

(1) Join the Facebook group, Save Wil, Lloyd and Other FCH Staff Being Cut and Our Money. It's the place to go for information on what's going on at the University of Gloucestershire, and Lloyd Pietersen provides some helpful background information so that you can make sure that your letters are informed.

(2) Read Helen Ingram's eloquent reflections in The Death of Biblical Studies over on The Geek Muse.

(3) Don't forget to write your letters to Paul Bowler (pbowler@glos.ac.uk) and Patricia Broadfoot (vc@glos.ac.uk) to express your concern about Lloyd's appointment.

Lloyd Pietersen and the University of Gloucestershire: Action needed

It's only a matter of weeks since the University of Sheffield's administration moved to close down its internationally renowned Department of Biblical Studies. Due to a concerted campaign on the ground at Sheffield, and with support all over the world, that decision was reversed. Well, now another British university department is similarly under threat from the university's own administration, and one of our good friends has heard today that his post has been terminated.

Lloyd Pietersen is Senior Lecturer and Research Coordinator in New Testament Studies in the Department of Humanities at the University of Gloucestershire. For those who do don't know him, Lloyd is a first class scholar, a fine teacher, and a delightful person, a massive asset to the university. It is unthinkable that they would let someone like Lloyd go.

So what can we do? To begin with, we can pull out all the stops and inundate both Paul Bowler (pbowler@glos.ac.uk) and Patricia Broadfoot (vc@glos.ac.uk) with notice of the damage to research and the university's reputation.

Tweet it, facebook it and fellow bloggers, let's get the word out.