UCL Management Breaks Its Side Of The Bargain
Yesterday morning UCL occupation met with university management, represented by Rex Knight, to negotiate a final agreement regarding our demands and the end of the occupation ahead of the parliamentary vote on tuition fees on Thursday evening.
We discussed the wording of a draft statement to be issued by UCL management condemning the reforms to higher education and the rise in tuition fees – one of our key demands (UCL Occupation) (Slade Occupation)
During the meeting, it was agreed that management would issue the statement as a press release and publish it on the UCL website on Wednesday afternoon and that it would not impose legal costs on the two students representing the occupation in court. In exchange, the occupation would agree to peacefully vacate the occupied space by 4pm on Friday.
We are disappointed that management used, what can only be construed as, deliberate stalling tactics and misinformation to avoid keeping their side of the agreement.
We were surprised to see such behaviour on the part of senior figures within the university, having entered into negotiations in good faith.
This was the statement to be released, as proposed by management – the tracked changes are our proposed amendments along with their comments.
For the full text… Statement on Funding The Government, as part of this year’s Comprehensive Spending Review, has removed the bulk of teaching funding from English universities, meeting the resultant gap through increasing tuition fees. If the new policy is introduced England will be in the unique position in the UK and the world of having no universities in receipt of a substantial element of public grant to support teaching, with the exception of funds to offset the higher costs of teaching laboratory based and clinical subjects. This removal of funding is unprecedented, as is the lack of significant public debate. At best it takes a huge risk with higher education institutions in the UK, the teaching activities of which make a vital contribution to society and to the economy. Higher education teaching is in effect taken out of the domain of public policy and becomes an entirely private matter between individuals and institutions. The implications for subject mix, the range of institutions in the sector, participation in higher education, and many other issues have not been adequately considered. Although funding is withdrawn from all subjects, the fact that funding is withdrawn in totality from arts, humanities, social sciences and other classroom based subjects gives the impression that these areas which are so vital to the wellbeing of society are not valued by Government, and it is essential that the Government makes a clear statement that this is not the case. From its very beginnings, UCL has seen the provision of a full range of subjects as being central to the essence of the institution, and this has always included arts, humanities and social sciences. UCL reaffirms its absolute commitment to maintaining excellence in the current full range of disciplines and will ensure that they are appropriately resourced. We urge the Government to reconsider these drastic proposals that present a serious threat to the future of higher education and society as a whole.
