Wednesday 30 November 2011

Press Release: 23:57 - Response to Paul Layzell

We had a meeting with the Principal and the senior management to discuss the demands. They went to great lengths to make themselves sound sympathetic to our demands but in fact made no attempt to offer concessions. Sympathetic noises and empty platitudes are not enough.
Professor Layzell made two claims regarding the cuts. Firstly, he made it quite clear he would not guarantee the prevention of course closures, claiming they “happen all the time in all institutions”. Secondly, he spoke about the financial instability of the university.

The proposed cuts could mean a loss of seminar time, a reduced course portfolio, restructuring of whole departments, and the slow death of entire subjects. Additionally, the cuts would affect our lecturers and other support staff, who would see their pay and conditions attacked, union officials victimised, and jobs lost. This comes on the back of the news that students from 2012 onwards will pay £9000 tuition fees. Plans for privatisation have been granted on campus, with three companies, including publishing company Pearsons being given degree awarding power. Privatisation allows companies which don’t care about students, staff, and critical thinking, and just about profit, to use our facilities and teach students.

The cuts are not necessary financially, as Royal Holloway makes a considerable surplus. We have made a surplus of over £1 million a year since 2002. Since 2006, we have made a surplus over 2.2% of our budget, which is the HEFCE recommended target. Currently, our surplus stands at £6 million a year, which is 4.4% of our budget: double the HEFCE recommendation.

All departments at Royal Holloway cover their direct costs (the costs of running a degree program). It’s the cost of management – their huge salaries and the ever-increasing number - that is causing departments to run high costs. Ten members of the senior management team earn over £100,000 a year, which 9 times the wage of an employee on the lowest pay grade. This doesn’t include their other benefits – housing, company cars and other expenses – and the huge wastage that occurs in management. It is telling that more money was spent on senior management than the whole of the library budget this year.

Clearly the proposed cuts are neither part of the natural change that occurs in universities (as new research leads to different academic focuses), nor based on a financial necessity. The management is not forced to make these decisions, but is willingly choosing to. Layzell himself suggested that “calling for the withdrawal of the White Paper would put us in a weaker position”, and pointed to some elements of the White Paper, such as provisions for part time students, that we should support. We do not think we should be grateful for these breadcrumbs – the White Paper as a whole is corrosive to public education.

We are committed to a view of the university as a public good, something which should not be privy to the whims of the market, which should be funded by taxing the rich, and which offers courses because of an academic commitment to knowledge and research, not because some subjects make more money than others. If management refused to implement cuts and called for the withdrawal of the White Paper, and this happened at every university in the country, it would send an unstoppable message to the government.

Yet the management have refused to do this. Their negotiations with the UCU over cuts and privatisation were conducted over too short a period of time, and arguments made by staff and students were ignored. The UCU was denied the opportunity to present a case against the cuts at College Council, and the management has not engaged with our analyses of their own statistics. Management were not prepared to listen, or to negotiate further. They are committed to their cuts budget.

A General Meeting was held at around 18:00 this evening where it was decided that we would add the following to our demands:
  • -          As College have placed a security officer on the door to the corridor at all times, we demand that they are paid for any overtime they may have to do, are given proper breaks and are entitled to the same pay and conditions as under normal circumstances. We are willing to engage with security by talking to them, giving them food, recognising that their pay, conditions and jobs are also under threat.


In their offices, management plan to make cuts, and have not and will not listen to us. We are not consumers, not passive receptors of an education system, but a critical collective which is prepared to take direct action to stop the cuts. We will be outside their offices singing, chanting, playing music, performing theatre and spoken word, and so on.

It has been decided that for the duration of our occupation, the Principal’s Meeting Room has been allocated a silent study space. We will run a series of events during the occupation to educate people on the exact reasons we are here and ways in which we can progress from the point we are at. There will be guest lectures and workshops throughout the day, and a variety of entertainments (music, drama, spoken word and many other things) in the evening, as well as a communal evening meal.

Come join us!

Study Room & Events set up at OccupyRHUL

Since occupying we have established 3 main areas:


(1) A quiet study room (Principal's Meeting Room), where students can get on with their work, as we have said we pose no disruption to students.
(2) We also have a sleeping area (the Principal's office)
and (3) a main area (management corridor) where we will have talks, film screenings and more


Please drop in and find out what this is all about.

Paul Layzell's response to our proposals

We love this college, and we hope to be here more than year or two and do the best for the college. Just over 18 months ago there was talk of cuts, 30-35% [cuts] in funding would have devestating effect on the college. It would have resulting in the failure of the university. We do the job to make them better. Love it or hate it, the white paper is an alternative the coalition paper put forward, there is a lot in the white paper and last year we made representation about it. There are lots of things that are good in the white paper such as the repayment options, and for part-time students who now have support. We have some real concerns about the damage the white paper is doing. The policy of creating an open market policy is chaotic. There is a direct threat to the university with a 9% reduction in the amount of students attending. 1 in 4 of [candidates of your grade] may not be here in four or five years time as a result of the white paper. We will continue to make representations about the paper, it can make progarmmes unsustainable and may result in us considering some programme closures. We do not want to do this. We support the broad thrust that there is a lot of things wrong with the white paper. Calling for the withdrawal of the white paper will result in more damage. Implementation of the white paper needs to be addressed. There are some good things in the white paper and there are some really bad things and we are committed to voicing our thoughts about the negatives of its implementation. We do not want any course closures. 
It doesn't make sense to say we are not going to close programmes as it depends upon students needs. We want to retain the academic shape of the university. We cannot do this by sustaining unpopular programmes. In terms of job cuts we cannot guarantee that, we are unsure of funding for next year and are in a period of great uncertainty. We have meaningful talks with the unions. 
Within the money we have available we are committed to bursaries and raising funds through donors, we have taken the clear view that students prefer bursaries over loans, and from next year students can choose to take funding as a bursary or a fee waiver. The student experience is important and we have been tring to persuade colleagues our first and foremost is the ensuring a good student experience. 
We have the money to expand Bedford Library and in two years we hope to have this. We want to put more money into books and expanding the WIFI library. We have identified 10 rooms that need refurbishment, so that when people come back in January teaching rooms will be improved and the library will be expanded.
Let's do the things that have the biggest impact on the largest amount of students. We are happy to hear other views. We believe that there are lots of people who can benefit from RHUL, the government limits the number of students, we go by grades, we are committed to empowering women and widening access to the group. We are committed to running foundation and access courses.
We do work with for-profit people all the time and all universities that have international students do, as for example, in India, you have to go through an international agent, they are for-profit orgs, we have also chosen to work with Pearsons, as the proposal they have to offer a top up tio the BTEC means someone can graduate with a RHUL degree when under other circumstances they will not be able to come to this college because of fees or the government only allows us to recruit a fixed number of students. 
We have students on council already and independent members have to be the majority. The college council believes two is a good number. There are many ways students can get representation and lobby college council. 
We have a legal duty when looking at restructuring we have to tell them that is the case, we are seeoking to do that through voluntary means and negotiations with the unions. We are happy to give access to occupiers and as long as people can go along with their normal duties, and health and safety. Some staff do find this sort of thing intimidating so their is mutual respect. Victimisation has not happened in the past, we don't vicitmise people based upon what is legally and rightly proper, as long as there is debate and we find a conclusion to this.

Royal Holloway Enters Occupation!

Royal Holloway Students Occupy Management Corridor:

At 1.18 pm on Tuesday 30th November, around 30 students from Royal Holloway University of London entered occupation of the management corridor at Royal Holloway University. This action takes place on a day that 3 million public sector workers have taken strike action over unjustified and politically motivated pension reforms. Students have entered occupation in protest against cuts to education and public services. The university education of students in under attack as a result of the Higher Education White Paper entitled; “Students at the Heart of the System”, when the report in fact goes as far away from this concept as possible.

The reforms can be broadly understood as a hurried and jumbled attempt at opening a market in the higher education sector; remodelling students as consumers and universities as service providers. The Higher Education White Paper is one of the most drastic and far reaching reforms proposed to any public service for decades. The White Paper strikes a significant blow to access and social mobility. Their potential to impact on the most under-represented groups is overwhelming and cannot be ignored; the proposals threaten to strengthen a systemic bias and will reinforce a university education as a positional good reserved for the elite in society.

A pledge has been issued to the Principal of Royal Holloway University, Professor Paul Layzell demanding the following points which can be found here; 

http://www.su.rhul.ac.uk/news/article/6001/343/

A number of demand’s have also been issued;
• Senior Management Team withdraw staff redundancy notices and end the restructuring plans
• Free access in and out of the occupation for all students and lecturers
• No victimization of student occupiers or lecturers supporting the occupation

We urge all students, lecturers and staff on campus to join the occupation in protest against the Education White Paper and all it stands for. The protest will be peaceful and will provide a forum for students to discuss the issues of the changes proposed to the education system. The occupation has been aimed in order to have minimum impact against the education of students on campus.

So Now What?

Students intend to remain in occupation until the pledge has been accepted by the Principal. We urge all students, lecturers and staff to attend the occupation. We are unsure at this time how long the occupation will last, which means that we need YOU, students of the university to join in, in order to apply pressure to the University Management. If you want to attend then all are welcome. Bring some food and drink, music, and yes you can even bring your WORK with you to do whilst in occupation! If you want to stay during the night then please bring a sleeping bag and pillow with you.

Please join and share this group with others and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to post them and they will be answered promptly. Or of course you can come along to the occupation and ask them in person! 

Please also like the Facebook Page in order to show your support for this action (www.facebook.com/OccupyRHUL) :, or alternatively, follow us on Twitter with @occupyRHUL and hashtag - #occupyRHUL

We urge everyone to support and get involved with this occupation. 
United We Stand!