GUARD thrown lifeline against closure

[BAJR]

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?Time Team? university centre is thrown a lifeline against closure

A closure-threatened archaeology service at a Scots university, responsible for hit TV shows such as Channel 4?s Time Team, has been given a reprieve.

The ruling court of Glasgow University is to set up a committee to look at the finances of the centre, rather than moving straight to closure.


The move comes after The Herald highlighted the plight of the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (Guard).
Established in 1989, Guard is a commercial enterprise run by university academics which provides archaeological services to businesses and public bodies across Scotland.


It is best known for its work on Time Team, presented by Tony Robinson, and BBC2?s Two Men in a Trench, co-presented by Neil Oliver and Tony Pollard, head of Guard?s Centre for Battlefield Archaeology.


The university had proposed closing the division, claiming it was not meeting financial targets. However, supporters of Guard, which employs some 30 staff, argued it was a viable concern which generates hundreds of thousands of pounds for the university every year.


Read on >>

That was close! :0

[trowelmonkey]

I gather they're not out of the woods yet, but very relieved to hear that there's been a reprieve. Losing Guard would be a terrible blow to the health of Scottish archaeology. Universities are so good at shooting themselves in the foot. "Pearls before swine," comes to mind.

[kevin wooldridge]

When will this lunacy end......? If GUARD were running at a loss and in doing so hindering the universities potential to provide other facilities one could feel saddened but recognise the economic expediency of cutbacks or closure. In this instance that is not the case. GUARD seems to be more than breaking even, but still faces closure because it is not realising (what are in the face of a general recession) clearly unrealistic financial targets.

GUARD is a very good archaeological unit and plays a central role in the Scottish archaeological set-up. If it were to go (after the demise of SUAT) I think it would be an extreme blow to Scottish archaeological practice. I'd like to extend my best wishes to everyone at GUARD and I hope you manage to keep the beancounters at bay for many years to come....

[BAJR]

Amen to that.
It is shocking to have even thought about it. The University Unit provides excellent training opportunities as well, mixeses research and commercial.. Entertains and informs... so next time the Uni thinks it can ditch it ... as it is not maing enough... well... be prepared for a big fight.! !

[Windbag]

We're all rooting for you GUARD!
It would be real shame to lose a Scottish-based unit that isn't centred on Edinburgh (it seems like all the others are!), and is attached to a university archaeology department.

[Weegie]

I'm shocked to hear that closure of GUARD was a possibility. Glad that it's been averted, and long may it continue.

[Manuport]

I do not wish any archaeologists to lose their job, the GUARD staff are excellent archaeologists. However, the retention of GUARD within the University is not the sole means by which these individuals (or group(s) of them) can continue their good work. Other former university units such as CFA Archaeology have shown the success they achieve after liberation from the restraints of a University. Indeed given the assurances we have heard of their profitability, even in the midst of a recession, they should find any transition to pure commercial footings (through say a management buyout much like AOC Archaeology leaving Historic Scotland) relatively straightforward. Perhaps, as with the two other examples from the big four in Scotland, their time has come to seize their independence and rid themselves of the arbitrary decisions of others.

I would also take issue with Windbag’s perception of Scottish archaeology; while I accept there are three big units headquartered in and around Edinburgh there are a growing number of archaeological concerns in Strathclyde (e.g. Rathmell Archaeology, Argyll Archaeology, Firat Archaeological Services) and more broadly spread across Scotland (e.g. Alder Archaeology, Murray Associates, Scotia, Alba (Highland), Highland Archaeological Services). Headland Archaeology has also long since taken the plunge of opening a permanent and substantive Glasgow office. The traditional pattern of employment opportunities has been changing for a long time, to the benefit of archaeologists not based in Edinburgh.

[Manuport]

so next time the Uni thinks it can ditch it ... as it is not maing enough... well... be prepared for a big fight.! !

I understand that the University of Glasgow Court will reconvene on the 23rd June at which time they will receive the report on the activities and finance of GUARD requested at the last session of the Court ... so you had better act briskly if you wish to register your support.

[alisdair]

Well said Manuport!

[Windbag]

There's further news on this story today in the Herald:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/educa...-1.1029053

Although it's not clear if this is "new" news about GUARD's future.