This motion was passed at GUCU Branch meeting on 10/11/2023
This branch notes:
- After forecasting a small surplus for this academic year in June, Goldsmiths’ senior management have announced a predicted deficit of £16 million, caused by a shortfall in student recruitment
- This deficit increased from £6 million to £16 million in a matter of days
- Thus far senior management have not provided campus unions with management accounts, and instead have shared only slideshows of forecasts and potential plans with our branch’s executive committee
This branch believes:
- The financial position of the College is indeed serious, but our current problems were in no way caused by the actions of staff or students
- For any proposals and solutions to be effective, senior management must seek to engage – through active consultation, participation and input – all stakeholders across the Goldsmiths community. Engagement is contingent upon clear and consistent communication at all stages (particularly ‘high level’ preliminary stages) of proposal development
- Greater transparency around the College’s finances is necessary for there to be meaningful discussions with campus unions
This branch resolves:
- To continue to push management on the following red lines of our branch:
- A formal commitment to no redundancies over the coming 12 months
- SMT to provide data on all Fixed Term Contracts (FTCs) and Associate Lecturer (AL) contracts expiring in the next 12 months, as well as the length of continuous service related to each staff member on an expiring FTC and equalities data relating to these contracts
- Management accounts for the last two years, and the prompt sharing of financial information as it is produced. This includes the November management report, re-forecast and submission to the OfS, so we can have a clear and accurate picture of the evolving financial situation
- Academic autonomy over curriculum changes, module deletion and departmental mergers, with noncompliance until a plan is drafted that emerges from meaningful consultation with all academic staff involved
- No implementation of any curriculum changes until 2024/25
- Halt any further centralisation pending a review of the 2022/23 administrative restructure, to include a workload risk assessment and Equalities Impact Assessment
- That any restructuring programme implemented is shaped by extensive consultation with the entire Goldsmiths community
- Accountability for management oversight of administrative errors and lack of budget oversight that has resulted in the £16 million deficit
- No outsourcing and an end to zero hours contracts
- To issue the College with a Failure to Agree Notice (FTA) on Friday 17 November 2023, a first step towards launching an industrial dispute, if the above red lines are not agreed to by senior management