There’s going to be a protest over staff cuts during tomorrow’s open day

At 10AM tomorrow on campus during a bustling open day, more than 200 students are planning a peaceful protest against staff cuts and changes made under misleading surveying by the University.

The organisers Jake Jones and Faith Tombs, two German BA students to be effected by the cuts, told us students have been “kept in the dark”, over restructuring that would see increased class sizes, less academic staff, less module choices and increased fees for language students on their year abroad.

They are protesting on the open day to inform prospective students that the university is being deceptive about what the language departments will be able to offer next year after nearly a million pounds’ worth of cuts to the faculty.

Protestors argue the prospectus is showcasing the department as it is now, not what it is going to be.

Restructuring and cuts that would see less academic staff and increased fees for language students on their year abroad

Protest organisers Faith Tombs and Jake Jones said: “In the arts faculty £900,000 is being cut on staff but £40 million is being spent on the new sports centre and millions more on the new teaching building near Hallward.

“What is the point funding a teaching building if you are going to have nobody to teach in it? It just highlights the regularity between what they are cutting and what they are funding.

“The true wishes of students have not been thought about by the University in these drastic changes”

Faith Tombs and Jake Jones holding a glossy but ambiguous guide on how the University is going to restructure the University for 2020.

We asked whether the large scale protest on the open day may be counter-productive due to reduced intake of students next year being deterred by the gang of objecting students.

“The word protest sounds scary, but we have codes of conduct that we are following closely to make sure everything stays peaceful”

“We want the University to see what students really want”

Details of the protest can be found on this event page.