Staff at a Kent university have voted to strike over courses being cut and in defence of jobs.

It comes as president and vice-chancellor Karen Cox, who is in charge of the cuts, announced she will be resigning next month – before they are implemented.

The institution has had a turbulent year, with the announcement that six courses are set to be axed, following protests from students and staff over the plans.

85% of UCU members who voted said yes to strike action in a ballot with a turnout of 57%.

The vote comes after 58 staff were placed at risk of redundancy as part of a programme that would see courses closed across the university.

Courses cut include art, history, music and audio technology, philosophy, religious studies, anthropology, health and social care, and journalism.

A petition was set up to save the courses, and has more than 16k signatures.

Bosses also plan to cut the amount of time staff have allocated to research from 40% to as low as 20%.

The university, which is based in Canterbury with a campus in Medway, says it needs to make the cuts to “focus on core growth areas” and “achieve a sustainable financial model”.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Vice-chancellor Karen Cox looks like an arsonist trying to flee the scene now that her resignation has been announced.

“These cuts amount to a bonfire of undergraduate courses, they will have devastating consequences on the university and its local community and must now be halted immediately.

“Staff and students urgently need a new senior leadership team that will work with us to build a sustainable future for the university.

“If management refuses to listen to staff and instead tries to push ahead with its cuts agenda, our members have made it clear they are prepared to strike”.

The university has previously stated it was looking to phase out courses where numbers have been decreasing and fewer people are looking to study them.

A spokesman said: “This is not a reflection on the quality, value or teaching of any particular course, and under the proposals we will keep a broad portfolio across areas - there are just some courses where student numbers mean we no longer think we can be competitive in the future.”

The spokesman added: “Having recently shared decisions with staff and students on future course changes at Kent we are currently working with affected staff to talk through their options as a result.

“In doing this we will be doing all we can to ensure any staff reduction can be realised through voluntary means.

“We regret the decision by UCU members to vote for industrial action and remain fully committed to doing all we can in our discussions with them to find a way forward in this dispute.

“If strike action is confirmed, we have plans in place to ensure that any potential impact on our students is minimised as far as possible.

“As always, their education and academic progression will remain our priority throughout.”