Cambridge University’s wealthiest college is facing a crucial vote that could keep it on a collision course with academics and unions over its decision to abandon the national university pension scheme.

Trinity College said at the end of May it was pulling out of the university superannuation scheme (USS), citing a “remote but existential risk” that it could be forced to help bail out the scheme in the event of a collapse of the UK’s higher education sector.

The decision sparked controversy inside and outside the college, which is estimated to hold £1.4bn in assets. One of the internal opponents is Amartya Sen, a Nobel prize-winning economist and former master of Trinity.

A group of fellows demanded a vote on the council’s decision, and this will take place on Friday morning. There have been warnings that if Trinity goes ahead with the withdrawal it could jeopardise the future pensions of hundred of thousands of university staff across the UK and provoke boycotts by academics locally and nationally. ﻿

Sam James, the president of Cambridge’s University and College Union (UCU) branch, said the union was urging Trinity’s fellows to attend the emergency meeting and vote to overturn the withdrawal.

“The college’s decision undermines confidence in a mutual pension scheme on which more than 400,000 people rely, all to remove a risk that even their college council concedes is vanishingly small,” James said. “The decision to leave USS reflects a narrow view of Trinity’s interests, prioritising a questionable set of financial calculations over the college’s interdependence with the wider academic community.”

Since the decision in May, nearly 500 academics at Cambridge have signed a letter declaring that they will not do discretionary work for Trinity or supervise its students, meaning the college will struggle to offer several courses.

The open letter to Trinity accuses the college of acting “in the narrow terms of its own balance sheet” rather than supporting UK education and research. “If Trinity chooses to adopt such an attitude, it cannot expect the continued support of other institutions and staff for its own activities,” the letter states.

Trinity’s council defended its decision, pointing out that fewer than 20 of the college’s staff were members of the national pension scheme, compared with 200,000 working at more than 340 institutions nationally. It said it had been advised that Trinity’s departure would not by itself undermine the USS’s covenant, the measure of its financial stability. The college said it would spend £30m in withdrawing from the USS and setting up its own pension scheme for staff.

“This is not a decision taken lightly by the college council. Following substantial legal and actuarial advice, and bearing in mind our responsibilities as charity trustees of Trinity, we believe leaving USS is in the best interests of the college. This decision also helps to ensure Trinity’s continued and substantial financial support to the whole of collegiate Cambridge,” said Rory Landman, Trinity’s senior bursar.

However, a letter to other USS employers from the scheme’s chief executive, obtained by Varsity, Cambridge’s student newspaper, said that “should one more strong employer withdraw from the scheme then the covenant would be downgraded” from its current rating of strong.

UCU’s higher education section has backed formal UK-wide censure and boycott, a rarely invoked “grey listing” that would bar UCU members from applying for jobs at Trinity or attending conferences, conducting research or teaching students at the college.

UCU’s higher education committee will hold an emergency meeting on Friday, which is likely to give the go-ahead for the national boycott unless Trinity’s fellows achieve the two-thirds majority needed to rescind withdrawal.

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The USS was the subject of widespread campus strikes last year that halted plans to scrap guaranteed benefits, which would have meant lower pensions for its members.

Jo Grady, the general secretary-elect of UCU, said: “I hope Trinity’s fellows realise what’s at stake here. USS have threatened to downgrade the covenant if another strong employer leaves. That will put the future of a £64bn pension scheme at risk. That is why the union voted to apply a boycott to Trinity if it refuses to stop or reverse its decision.

“Trinity’s departure is not just financially wasteful for the college, it could also do immense damage to the whole sector. UCU members, including many of Trinity’s fellows, went on strike last year to prevent the closure of our guaranteed pension. The fellows know that the union is preparing for another strike ballot in the autumn in order to force our employers to make proper commitments to its longer-term viability. It would make that struggle easier for all of us if Trinity’s fellows could do the right thing and vote to stay in the scheme.”