An open letter to Debra Humphris,

On May the 5th it was announced that there would be mass lecturer redundancies at the university of Brighton.

The University of Brighton’s diverse range of courses, taught by experts in their field, is the main motivation for most students' attendance. Taking this into account, it naturally follows that in times of ‘financial hardship’ cutting said lecturers and courses, whilst simultaneously pursuing growth in attendance, would be a remarkably short sighted and cruel solution. We use air quotes when discussing the university’s finances, because it is not the bureaucrats making these decisions who face redundancies. Once again those being paid disproportionately more than those who fulfil the educating role within the education sector are safe from these cost cutting manoeuvres.

Some departments will be losing up to 50% of staff. The humanities department for example, will lose almost half of the principal lecturers. Whilst the official university line is that it will not affect the existing structure, in reality these cuts will mean fewer modules, and far less variety in lecturers.

With the University's pledge to increase student numbers, it is unfeasible to continue to delivery TEF Quality teaching under these new constraints. This move will significantly hamper efforts by staff, and will only serve to cause more stress upon staff.

This move will also make recruiting postgraduate students more difficult, as the number of courses will be reduced greatly. This will mean PG Students, especially PhD students, will be forced to look elsewhere for employment.

The students of this university stand in solidarity with their lecturers. A lack of student funding is a problem which will only escalate should these cuts be made.

The students of UoB