Many of you will have seen the University's announcement regarding the significant staffing cuts being proposed.
Whilst we recongise the serious financial situation the University is in, we will continue to lobby the senior management to ensure that the impact on students and the student experience is minimised wherever possible.
We will also seek assurances that the staff are treated with the respect and compassion that they deserve.
If you have any questions or concerns regaring this news, please do get in touch with us.
We are having regular meetings with the University throughout this period to ensure that your concerns are being addressed and questions answered.
You can email us at helloBSU@brighton.ac.uk
Update - Since this announcement we have organised a number of meetings with the University for students to directly question University senior management:
- A meeting with Brighton SU Super Reps took place on Wednesday 10th May.
- A meeting with undergraduate students was held on Monday 22nd May.
- A meeting with postgraduate students was held on Wednesday 24th May.
- A meeting for all students was held on Thursday 8th June.
While these meeting were not recorded due to requests from students present at the meeting the following issues were discussed:
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Course restructuring and integration: The potential closure of courses and integration of certain programs were discussed and how that might impact students..
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Maintaining course quality: Students asked how the University could implement redundancies without compromising the quality of courses and learning outcomes were discussed.
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Impact on small courses: The students raised the likelihood of smaller courses being more susceptible to closure and the consequences of such decisions were discussed.
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Student concerns and continuity: Worries of students about completing their current courses and ensuring the promised learning outcomes are still met were discussed.
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Supervisor Support: PGR students raised the issues or having their supervisor change and the impact this would have on their studies. They also questions the University's ability to provide a replacement supervisor with the necessary subject knowledge.
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Compliance with consumer law: Measures to ensure that changes made do not violate consumer law or mislead students were discussed.
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Importance of humanities degrees: The implications of the decision on the perception of humanities degrees and the impact of job cuts in this area were discussed.
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Impact on student support services: Potential changes to the availability and accessibility of support services for students due to redundancies were discussed.
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Mental health and well-being of students: Concerns regarding the potential impact on students' and staffs' mental health were discussed and students asked what measures to mitigate negative effects would be put in place.
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Timing and administration: The potential effect of redundancies on academic processes, such as marking release dates, was discussed.
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Future plans and vision: The university's long-term vision, its commitment to traditional academic values, and potential shift was discussed.
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Student involvement and action: Students asked how they could potentially halt redundancies and what action they could take to get the University to change their mind.
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Final decisions and communication: A timeline for making final redundancy decisions and how and when students will be informed of the outcomes was discussed.
If you are still concerned about how these changes might effect your studies going forward please contact your school offices to help you understand how this situation will affect you individually.