Freshers Week 2010 announced

The Students’ Union has announced a fun packed week for 2010 Freshers including Seafront Festivals, Welcome Weekend Parties, Live Music, Parties on the Pier, Club Nights, Headline Acts, Barn Dances and much much more… making sure there is something for everyone to get involved in this Freshers.

The Students’ Union has also launched the Freshers Week gold ticket – a wristband that will get you into all the main Freshers events for only Read more

Campus creperie fights closure by university

The Coffee Workshop creperie in Richmond building is fighting to remain open after being threatened with closure by the University of Sussex as part of the restructuring and centralisation of catering facilities on campus.

The café’s managers, Judy Bow and Arnold Rose, are challenging the non-renewal of their lease under section 26 of the Landlords and Tenants Act, which gives commercial tenants the right to renew their lease, providing they have not breached the terms of their contract. They are confident that they have a legal claim to stay on the premises, although they have not yet heard back from the university regarding their challenge.

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Vice-chancellor Michael Farthing suggests tuition fees increase to £7,500

The Vice Chancellor at the University of Sussex, Michael Farthing, warned last week that students will have to pay up to £7,500 annually to keep up standards in higher education. This was announced as lecturers carried out a one-day strike on Wednesday 5 May in response to the university’s decision to scrap 112 staff jobs in a bid to reduce spending by £5million.

The independent review of national student fees, known as the Browne Review, was launched on 15 March this year to investigate how student fees might change in the future. It includes consulting students on their priorities for changes to the higher education funding system and student finance.

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University of Sussex accused of “discriminating against disabled students” after breaching equality law

The University of Sussex has allegedly breached legal requirements after failing to consult disabled students before their “proposal for change” to student support services, sparking new conflict between the university and the University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU).

The new policies include the closure of Unisex, which according to their spokesman, has “nearly 600 students coming through our doors each year”. The USSU claims this “breaching” of requirements is likely to impact negatively on the reported 20 percent of Sussex students who seek student support for disabilities.

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University approves scrapping over 100 jobs and cutting £5m next year

Hundreds of students and staff at Sussex are furious at the final decision by university management, made at the council meeting on Friday 26 March, to cut £5 million in the next academic year and to scrap over 100 jobs.

The announcement comes as most students are away from campus for the Easter holidays. According to one student who has recently been protesting against the cuts, this was potentially done in order to “control the opposition from students who have previously protested against management’s finance proposals”.

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University of Sussex Deputy VC Paul Layzell announces resignation

On Friday 19 March it was announced that Deputy Vice-Chancellor Paul Layzell is to leave his position at the University of Sussex after accepting his new role of principal at Royal Holloway, which he will begin mid-August. 

According to Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing, Layzell was the “driving force” behind the creation of the strategic plan ‘Making the Future’. This led to the highly-contentious proposed cuts to spending, and staff redundancies, which angered many Sussex students and staff alike. Reaction to Layzell’s plans included the student occupation of Bramber House and Sussex House, both of which attracted attention from across the country. 

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Record-breaking number of students attend EGM to vote no confidence in Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing

On Wednesday 18 March students at the University of Sussex passed with an overwhelming majority a motion of no confidence in the Vice Chancellor, Michael Farthing, and his executive group (VCEG).

The vote was passed at a University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) emergency general meeting (EGM), with a record breaking 850 attendees, the largest in the union’s history. Around 200 further students queued on the stairs leading to Mandela Hall, unable to enter, hoping for the opportunity to vote in what has been described as the largest mobilisation of students in the university’s history.

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University files high court injunction against students

The University of Sussex has been granted a High Court injunction banning students from entering or remaining inside administration buildings on campus without written consent of management.
The application was made and granted by the Judge on 3 March, the same day as the Sussex House occupation and was pasted onto the entry to Falmer House the next day.

A university spokesperson said that the move had come in response to a sit-in protest at Sussex House, when around 50 students occupied the administration building, resulting in a tense 5-hour police standoff.

Sit-ins, also known as occupations, have played a significant part in the history of the University of Sussex since its formation. In the late 1960s, Sussex’s reputation for left-wing radicalism meant that at the peak of student discontent, sit-ins in administration buildings were a weekly occurrence.

Until now occupations were not considered a criminal offence, as trespass law in the UK is considered a civil matter.

Criminal charges may ordinarily only be applied if the trespass is considered “aggravated.” During the occupation in Bramber House on 8 February, the police did not deem the overall nature of the trespass as aggravated and hence did not attempt to charge the occupants under criminal law.

However, at the more recent Sussex House occupation, some members of the senior management team refused to leave their offices without a substantial police escort, despite assurances from the students that they would be treated “courteously” – a promise kept when the rest of the staff left the building.

According to the police negotiator, this meant that staff were being “held against their will” and escalated the event into a hostage situation, which gave the police a pretext for entering the building. “They alleged that the staff were being held against their will which was completely untrue,” said one student present, who spoke to police.
“This was made abundantly clear to the officers throughout the day – we repeatedly offered entry to campus security staff – suggesting that if the remaining staff really felt the need to be escorted out of the building, they could be accompanied by up to six member of campus security.”

Now that the High Court injunction has come into effect, however, the police have the authority to remove any person from buildings on campus whether or not they have committed aggravated trespass, essentially outlawing even peaceful demonstrations. The “verge injunction” limited Smash EDO’s protests to being precariously performed on the edge of a 4ft grass verge overlooking a steep drop down to a railway line.

A spokesperson for the university stated that the injunction “does not prevent peaceful protest action carried out without the threat of occupation,” implicitly acknowledging that the move would indeed prevent peaceful protests where occupations or sit-ins were a possibility.

Sussex UCU votes for strike action

Last Wednesday 3 March, the University and College Union (UCU) at Sussex voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in their fight to save jobs and services at the university.

Turnout totalled a record 80.9 per cent, the highest the union has ever received in a ballot.

The union said the unprecedented turnout was indicative of the strength of feeling among UCU members over the savage funding cuts and damaging job losses proposed.

Over three-quarters of staff who voted supported strike action, and more than 82 per cent agreed to action short of a strike.

Sussex UCU said it still hoped the dispute could be “resolved without any disruption.”

Paul Cecil, president of Sussex UCU, said: “UCU members have today delivered a clear mandate for industrial action at the University of Sussex. We thank our members for participating in such large numbers and reiterate our belief that a negotiated settlement is still possible if the university steps back from implementing its job-cut plans, votes to delay the decision, and considers our alternatives.”

University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) president, Tom Wills, offered a statement of support, declaring, “We are right behind Sussex staff and the principled stand they are taking in defence of their jobs and our education.”

“We will hold the university management responsible for the devastation that will be wrought on our education if they succeed in pushing through with their cuts proposals.

“Strike action by staff is the key to winning this battle and we will do everything we can to support it.”

A Sussex spokesman said the proposals were being consulted on and that no decisions would be made until the university’s council meets on 12 March.

He added: “We have been notified of the result of the ballot by UCU members. We have already made clear and repeat our position that ballots for industrial action are not the way in which the process will be influenced.”

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, conceded that industrial action is always a last resort but insisted that the proposed job losses will “impact massively across the University of Sussex and result in a far worse experience for students.”

University calls police on students who protest outside Sussex House against university cuts

Last Wednesday 3 March at 12.30pm students occupied Sussex House for five hours in protest against proposed course cuts and job losses. Police in a convoy of vans were called onto campus to contain the occupation and the accompanying rally.

University management seek to reduce the budget for 2009/10 by £3m on a turnover of £160m, with additional savings of up to £5m in 2010/11. As a result, 115 staff across campus face redundancy. A statement from the occupation said: “The job cuts would eradicate the environmental science degree program, and significantly reduce the size of the English, history, and life science departments. The student advice service, the crèche, security services and catering staff also face savage cuts.”
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