Statement of Bristol University Occupation

We have occupied the University of Bristol Senate House today. We have done this to protest against, and to open a space of dialogue and critical thinking around, the government-proposed education cuts and changes to the University fee structure. We have occupied this space in a spirit of solidarity with other student occupations and in recognition of the burning need for a new form of participatory democracy within our University and universities in general.

As has been widely reported, these proposals include:

• A 40% cut in the higher education budget overall, which includes an 80% cut to the teaching budget.

• An effective 100% funding cut to the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

• The scrapping of the Educational Maintenance Allowance for students who might otherwise struggle to support themselves through school.

• A near-tripling of university tuition fees of up to £9,000 and the creation of a crippling debt that will deter a generation of students based on financial, rather than educational, considerations.

This is not the beginning, rather the culmination, of a vibrant and broad student movement. Today’s occupation follows a month of protest, teach-ins and other activities carried out by Bristol students, often with support of both academic and support staff. Last week, at an Emergency General Meeting, following large-scale student pressure, the University of Bristol Students’ Union finally recognised what its students had long been advocating. Two motions, against fees and cuts, were passed with an overwhelming majority. Our Students’ Union is now mandated to take an active and public stance against the cuts and fees and it will also be present at the national demonstration against these cuts and fees happening in London on Thursday, 9^th December 2010.

The motions express the sentiments of the student body overall that the advent of the cuts and fee increases will function so as to transform education from a public good into a private commodity; that this will detrimentally impact on the capacity of the University as a space of critical thought and that it will become a space that is increasingly inaccessible to prospective students from lower income backgrounds.

Moreover, the motions passed support all forms of student action, including all current and future occupations. It is thus with the overwhelming majority of Bristol Students, that we oppose these cuts and fee increases and feel that it is time to take action.

Despite the enormity of the government’s proposals, their significance for the University and higher education more broadly and the evident concern of students around these issues we feel that, we, as students, have been left out of processes of consultation and decision-making on the University’s stance on these policies and their impacts. We feel, that there has been little resistance to, or indeed questioning of, Government’s proposals from the University administration and we aim through this occupation to foster such critique.

It is thus, in the name of a more democratic, participatory and critically engaged university that we make the following demands:

We demand:

- An emergency general meeting of the Senate open to all staff and students, such that we, as those who are deeply concerned about the prospects of education for future generations, may:
1. Understand the University’s existing financial situation.
2. Hear in full the proposals for cuts and changes to the University’s structure, budget and services.
3. Hear what other options have been considered before such decisions have been made.
4. Learn how the University intends to support widening participation, particularly for those courses where fees are expected to rise.
5. Discuss and debate further how this will affect the form and content of higher education at Bristol.
6. Discuss and debate further how governmental changes may be resisted or otherwise negotiated.

- That Senate and Council meetings, in addition to any meetings in which decisions for any financial cuts or redundancies are to be considered, be advertised and opened to the wider student body and staff.

- That the University implement a complete ‘open books’ policy to allow full transparency with regards to existing budget constraints and future cuts.

- That the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Eric Thomas, as President-elect of Universities UK and as Vice-Chancellor of one of the leading universities of the Russell Group, call for a full public inquiry into the funding cuts to higher education.

- That the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Eric Thomas, as President-elect of Universities UK and as Vice-Chancellor of one of the leading universities of the Russell Group, publicly put pressure on Universities UK and the Russell Group to resist the proposed increase in fees.

- That the Vice-Chancellor, Eric Thomas, write and send an open letter to the Government condemning cuts in the education budget and appealing to them not to implement these policies, and to publicly call for Vice-Chancellors across the country to unite against these cuts, any rise in tuition fees and the removal of Educational Maintenance Allowance and Aimhigher.

- Free access for all staff and students to the occupation, with no recriminations for any students, staff or members of the public involved in the occupation.

- Greater student representation in Senate meetings. That the President of the Students’ Union is the only person the V-C will talk to is not enough. Thus we demand greater transparency in how student representatives are selected for Senate membership and the right to instant recall (through an EGM of the University of Bristol Union) of student representatives seen as not fulfilling their mandate. In addition, we demand that students are included in the Vice-Chancellor’s meetings with academics concerning fees and cuts, due to take place in the coming weeks.

- That Bristol University administration and management formally, and in opposition to the Browne Review’s proposal to subject Higher Education to market forces, recognise that our University is not a corporation driven by business principles alone but an institution of higher education which promotes and is guided by a combination of economic, cultural and social concerns.

- That University administration and management recognise University teaching staff’s obligation to devote some teaching time over the next two weeks to discuss the impact of these education cuts on students, staff and society.

We will end this occupation when we feel that these demands have been sufficiently met.

We want to make clear that this occupation is not a closed space but one in which a range of open activities will be taking place and we warmly invite students and staff to come to Senate House, to engage in discussion and debate, to protest these policies and organise further forms of resistance but also to think and organise around the many possible alternatives.

We take this action in solidarity with all student actions, including occupations, across the country and internationally, and all those resisting the cuts to higher education and the government’s broader austerity measures. We support UK Uncut who are calling for a clampdown on tax avoidance as a credible alternative to the Government’s plans for £83bn of public spending cuts.

Please send messages of support and solidarity to bristoluniresistance.org.uk. If you would like to participate in or contribute to a series of planned teach-ins and workshops, please come along or email: [email protected]

Follow the occupation:

Blog: bristoluniresistance.org.uk,

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/Bristol-against-education-cuts/166916926663073

Email: [email protected]

Or come and visit: University of Bristol Senate House, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TH

Press contacts:

07587208084

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