Goldsmiths students threaten legal action after modules axed

More than 400 students at Goldsmiths, University of London have written to the university threatening legal action after mass staff redundancies resulted in courses and modules being axed.

The students claim that the university has breached its contracts with them, and that it was not made clear that advertised modules would be removed before their courses end. Specialist staff members who the students expected to be taught and supervised by are among those who have departed as the university suffers from financial difficulties.

Goldsmiths – which has a historic reputation as a forward-thinking arts institution – has seen one of the biggest redundancy programmes in the country as the sector continues to be squeezed. Up to 130 redundancies were initially announced by the university as part of its transformation programme in April which it said were necessary to secure the financial stability of the institution.

While this was later dropped to 62 staff members taking enhanced severance pay and 17 being redeployed across the university after a deal was struck between university management and Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU) amid threats of continuous strike action, many have claimed that the number of job losses has damaged the reputation of the institution.

Times Higher Education last week revealed that the university’s world-leading queer history course was cancelled after the course convener was handed redundancy, only a month before it was due to start. The news left its incoming students – including international students – unsure what was happening with their studies, with some claiming they had not been informed that the course had been axed.

GUCU, represented by the law firm Leigh Day, is arguing these actions amount to a breach of contract by the university, as well as a breach of the rights of students as consumers which will have a “detrimental effect” on the quality of education on offer.

Students further argue that the removal of both optional and core modules, taught by specialist tutors, will be in breach of the student contracts that they entered into when accepting their offers.

The student signatories represent those from across the 10 departments that have faced cuts, including anthropology, educational studies, music, politics and international relations, social, therapeutic and community studies, sociology, and visual cultures.

GUCU said it was supporting students as they face “enormous disruptions” to their studies and their learning environment “deteriorates beyond recognition”.

“They are no longer able to study on the programmes and modules they hoped to, or with the teachers they came to this institution for in the first place,” a spokesperson said.

“The learning provision has already suffered under the conditions of management’s so-called transformation programme and this is due to worsen exponentially next year; students have a right and credible claim to the quality and range of educational offering they signed up for.”

Virginia Lazaro, a current PhD student at Goldsmiths, said the students were “dismayed and outraged” by the university’s treatment of staff, and its “complete failure” to inform and appropriately consult students on the academic restructure.

“Many of us signed up to study at Goldsmiths under the belief we would study certain modules with specific teachers or pursue PhDs with specific supervisors, but this is now impossible. Others of us are unable to study on programmes we have been given offers for because they have now been axed,” she said.

“This not only represents a significant financial and academic burden for students (some of which have even started paying for visas for courses that no longer exist) but also has taken a huge toll on our mental health.”

A spokesperson from Goldsmiths said it has had been forced to take action to overcome “major financial challenges” and “a significant fall in applications”.

“We were obviously aware of the potential impact that changes might have on students and have borne this in mind throughout the process, implementing them as sensitively as possible. We are confident that our actions comply with both our policies and processes, as well as all legal and regulatory requirements,” they added.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com