On 31 January 2024, 58 academic members of staff of the University of Kent were put at risk of redundancy, opening a ‘consultation period’ of 30 days (deadline 29 February) to consider the proposal for closing the following subjects across the University:

• Health and Social Care
• Journalism
• Anthropology
• Music and Audio Technology
• Art History

And all of the subjects in the School of Cultures and Languages (SCL):

• Comparative Literature
• English Language and Linguistics
• Modern Languages
• Philosophy
• Philosophy, Religion and Ethics

The University of Kent, formerly known as the UK’s European University, touts international aspirations, ‘stands for ambition’ and ‘celebrate[s] individuality and champion[s] equality’ but is proposing to turn the South East into a cold spot in terms of availability of core humanities and social science subjects, in contradiction of its stated mission to widen participation to students from deprived and non-traditional backgrounds.

Despite being ranked top 10 or top 25 for research (REF2021: Philosophy 5th, Religious Studies 5th, Modern Languages and Linguistics 11th); despite grant income in excess of £1m in the past 3 years; despite the high rankings (e.g. The Guardian 2024: Philosophy 16th/43 and 3rd for student satisfaction; CUG: Linguistics 8th (tied) and 4th in student satisfaction); despite external examiners’ praises and superb student evaluations, Kent is proposing to shut down all these areas. Allegedly, this is to generate sufficient savings to enable growth in other areas. 

This proposal, hastily crafted through a top-down approach, involved numerous parallel 'workstreams' led by higher management without transparent selection. Academic staff involvement was minimal despite claims of thorough engagement. After months of staff effort to align courses with the institutional Kent2030 vision, which culminated in the approval of all new specifications, an abrupt communication of job cuts has rendered months of work irrelevant, whilst threatening to cut 58 jobs. This process lacks transparency,  foresight, and it has been plainly inhumane.

The evidence presented does not stand up to scrutiny, as there is no indication that the decrease in salary expenditure could offset the loss of income from the recruitment or continued expenditure of teaching out current students. There is no indication that this will enable the University to achieve a sustainable position nor that this could engender sufficient savings to invest in priority areas. No mention is given to the potential impact on existing student experience, except for vague reassurances that their degrees will not be affected, on the grounds that phasing out subjects is ‘business as usual’. The data offered for the ‘consultation’ is patchy at best.

While the ‘Case for Change’ document does not give any concrete detail on how cutting these subjects will achieve the savings needed, staff at risk of redundancy have been tasked with coming up, in 30 days, with counter proposals that demonstrate considerable savings. This savings target is not detailed. In fact, the University claims it must achieve savings that equate to 113% of the total costs of the staff at risk. No counterproposal can demonstrate savings even close to this figure, so there is little scope for meaningful engagement.

We call on the University of Kent to immediately halt the threat of compulsory redundancies, stop the 30-day countdown and engage in meaningful consultation with relevant staff and experts, to negotiate the terms of delivery of the degrees (whose specifications have been approved) in order to minimise potential staff losses and ensure continuity of delivery of these subjects for existing and future students and thus preserve the income streams associated with it.

To express your concerns about the proposed reforms, please write to:

• The VC, Karen Cox K.Cox@kent.ac.uk
• The DVC Strategy and Performance, Georgina Randsley de Moura G.R.de-Moura@kent.ac.uk
• The chair of the Council, Mark Preston m.preston@kent.ac.uk

And please also consider signing the petition launched by students of Anthropology at Kent.