National UCU has issued a statement condemning Kingston University’s decision to suspend recruitment its Politics, International Relations and Human Rights undergraduate courses for its 2021 intake.

UCU said it is concerned that the suspension could eventually result in the courses closing altogether with inevitable knock-on effects on students and staff, risking jobs in the department and damaging the learning prospects of politically engaged students. This in a time of increased political engagement amongst students and the wider community in terms of Black Lives Matter, the Me Too movement, LGBTQ+ issues and the climate crisis agenda.

Read in full: UCU condemns decision by Kingston University to suspend recruitment to its Politics, International Relations and Human Rights undergraduate courses

At an emergency branch meeting March 26th, Kingston UCU members voted unanimously to to oppose the decision to suspend recruitment to undergraduate courses in the Department of Politics, and any future redundancies, and to demand proper consultation as per our Trade Union Recognition Agreement which mandates that ‘operational decisions, especially those likely to affect the job prospects or security of particular groups or occupation’ should be subject to prior consultation.

We call on the university to commit to supporting the Department of Politics and its students and staff, and congratulate and thank Politics, International Relations & Human Rights students for the enormous initiative and creativity of their efforts to save the undergraduate course and the department.

We believe that Politics should not become a subject taught only at Russell Group universities and that it is vital that it continues to be taught to students from a wide range of backgrounds such as those at Kingston.

Read the motion in full here