Goldsmiths Fine Art Students Want Pay-Back for Lost Teaching
Fine art students at Goldsmiths, a south-east London university, are asking the university for compensation for lost learning. A strike by University and College Union (UCU) staff has entered its 21st week, and on the master of fine art (MFA) course 10 of the 12 usual tutors are out.
The dispute began with a staff marking boycott in April over proposed job cuts. Management responded by deducting 100% of pay from those involved. The union said that amounted to a lockout, a formal ballot followed, and since early June a group of UCU members has been on indefinite strike. It is the longest such action in living memory in British higher education.
What students say
A student named Sweeney said the disruption had been a financial drain. Sweeney said the cohort is distressed and anxious, and some students are depressed.
An international student told the Guardian that induction sessions kept turning into discussions about the strike. John Carver, a part-time second-year student, decided to suspend his studies after what he called a "dismal" departmental meeting at the start of term. James Evans, an international student from the US, said visa and funding restrictions meant he had to stay on the course. He said he never received marks last year and still has no feedback on projects from then.
Replacement tutors have been brought in, but Carver said they do not know the students.
Union and university
Joe Newman, co-president of the Goldsmiths UCU branch, said the action responds to the "unprecedented scale and speed" of the cuts management is pursuing. He said students are largely supportive.
The university said only around 8.5% of its staff are on strike, so most students are unaffected. It said it had offered significant compromises, including a pause on compulsory redundancies, but would not scrap the 100% pay deductions for the marking boycott.
A spokesperson said Goldsmiths faces significant financial challenges, as many UK institutions do, and is monitoring and mitigating disruption. Goldsmiths has been squeezed by falling applications in core humanities subjects and the erosion of domestic tuition fees.
Source: The Guardian