Philosophers at the University of Kent write:
We are writing to alert readers to the fact that the philosophy department is one of several Arts and Humanities departments presently targeted for compulsory redundancies by the University of Kent. This is not on the grounds of quality: the philosophy department was ranked 3rd in the UK for overall student satisfaction in the most recent national student survey, and 5th in the UK in terms of GPA in the most recent research assessment (2nd for quality of research outputs). The reasoning is based on finances. We understand that the local union disputes some of the figures being used.
The first round of compulsory redundancies is due to take place in July, with more financial cuts planned for the next academic year.
The union has a petition here. As well as defending jobs, it highlights a particular concern around an agreement they reached with senior management about redundancies.
We in the philosophy department would very much appreciate your support.
As the petition makes clear, it was only last fall that university leadership promised there would be no compulsory redundancies! I encourage readers to sign the petition.
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