If you are a Goldsmiths Post-Graduate Researcher (MRes, MPhil, PhD), you can sign the open letter.
25 March 2024
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross, London SE14 6NW
Dear Frances Corner, SMT and Goldsmiths Council,
We are writing as part of Goldsmiths’ postgraduate research community to express our concern about the ‘Transformation Programme’. Even though we are aware of the financial difficulties the university is facing, this plan seems to be imposed on and operating at a troubling speed without properly informing and consulting everyone affected, including the students and researchers.
Many of us PhD candidates have been witnesses to the damage caused by the Recovery Programme and the previous restructuring of 2022. We have faced increasing difficulties with accessing basic administrative services, unanswered emails, and overstretched, centralised ‘support’. We have limited time with staff, who are completely overwhelmed by the disastrous consequences of one failed restructure.
We now risk losing even more invaluable staff, including supervisors, who are, to a large extent, the reason why we chose Goldsmiths to conduct our research. Given our experiences of the past restructures, and lack of accountability on your end, we believe that your administrative efforts will unquestionably fail to get PGRs assigned new supervisors who will hold expertise in a given topic, thus further undermining the overall level of doctoral research at Goldsmiths. That is, if there are enough academic staff members left to cover the quantity of these roles at all. At best, some PGRs may be forced to relocate to new institutions. At worst, as we have seen in the past, several PGRs will be forced to quit their studies altogether.
Moreover, we foresee our academic and professional development being seriously undermined. So far, AL positions have played a pivotal role in: a) being at the front line of teaching, b) precariously sustaining many self-funded PGRs, and c) albeit limited, offering a chance for academic experience and career development for PGRs. We have seen a steady decrease in opportunities to pursue GTT and AL positions in recent years, and further cutting the AL budget – essentially erasing all opportunities for teaching training and career development – makes Goldsmiths an unappealing option when choosing where to do our PhDs. For these reasons, we have already stopped recommending Goldsmiths to potential students and encourage them to actively seek elsewhere for their studies.
Given all these concerns and objections:
- We demand that specific measures are put in place to mitigate the impact of the Transformation Programme on PGRs, and that this is explicitly communicated through the Graduate School.
- We demand that an Equality Impact Assessment and a PGR-specific Impact Assessment are both conducted immediately, as a matter of high priority.
- We demand the enactment of an official consultation with students on how to deal with the financial situation SMT has put the College in, and how our fees are being used.
- We demand that all plans for the Transformation Programme be halted immediately, and that a commitment to no compulsory redundancies is made.
We have not seen any assessment of the failures of past restructures, and we do not believe that the content of the Transformation Programme will resolve these. On the contrary, the magnitude of the proposed changes, the pace at which it is being undertaken, and the completely predictable disastrous effect it will have on students and the Goldsmiths community as a whole make us question your capacity to lead this institution.
We chose Goldsmiths for its history and legacy of the departments, programmes, and staff you continuously attack. You have neglected to think about and consult us, the students and researchers who ultimately pay fees and thus demand to know how our money is being spent. We refuse to be at an institution where the redundancy of over a quarter of the staff will further impact severely damaged departments and our student experience. We see you marginalizing Arts and Humanities in favour of a political STEM agenda. We do not want the college to be rendered into a faceless corporate machine – a ‘trap’ of academic exploitation only labelled as ‘progressive studies’.
Regards,
Goldsmiths PGRs
This letter has been signed by more than 200 Goldsmiths Post-Graduate Researchers, as well as received support from MA and BA students and Goldsmiths Alumni. You can see an updated list of signatories here.