For 11 years songwriter and guitarist Drew Stellar dreamed of attending BIMM music school in Brighton. “I’ve done stuff I never imagined doing and it’s been amazing,” he says. “I wouldn’t have had this opportunity anywhere else.”
But the 36-year-old believes his dream of becoming a music professional is in jeopardy due to an upcoming restructure at the university. “We were sent an email by representatives of our lecturers,” he adds. “They’ve been told to reapply for jobs they already have, but for lower pay while competing against each other.
“This is a clandestine cloak and dagger affair as we wouldn’t have known about it until we got back in September. We would’ve been like: ‘Where’s our tutors? Where’s our staff?’”
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Drew, who is originally from north-eastern Scotland, was among dozens of students who gathered outside BIMM’s Brighton campus last Friday morning (June 9) to protest against plans to cut staff numbers. A campaign group named ‘Justice 4 BIMM Staff’ sent an email to all students last week detailing what it calls an “impossible situation”.
The email claimed BIMM’s cost-cutting exercise was simply to “generate more profit for the owners” and that many staff being kept on would have worse contract terms and pay. In response to this a university spokesperson said there will be no reduction in teaching staff, although students fear cuts would mainly impact tutorials and other extracurricular activities BIMM is famous for.
Last year BIMM was granted full university status as it combined with creative colleges in performing arts, film and TV. It’s now made up of 15 colleges in the UK, Ireland and Germany, after being founded in Brighton 22 years ago.
The rapid expansion of BIMM suggests its music offering has been a glowing success, with George Ezra, Tom Odell and The Kooks among its most famous alumni. But current students fear this legacy will be under threat if the quality of teaching drops due to lower staffing numbers.
“If staffing is reduced, then tutorials are reduced and we’re already fighting to get them as it is,” Drew says. “If we lose specialists in certain fields like rock and funk, then those won’t be available to us next year as nobody can teach them the same way.
“I’m staying here because of what BIMM is. I could have become a teacher but I decided to come here and potentially look to even work for BIMM, there’s no chance in hell after this.
“Some tutors will choose to stay but they’ll be overworked, underpaid and will eventually say ‘why am I doing this?’ BIMM think they can get away with it and we’ll allow this to happen. We’re musicians, we’re loud as f*** as it is so we’re not going to just sit here.
As Drew spoke, loud cries of “education is a right” and “stand up fight back” rang out across Barthlomews from fellow protesters. Dan Crudgington echoed fears expressed by Drew in relation to losing much-loved tutors.
The 20-year-old, who is in his second year studying music and sound production, says the college has only just returned full speed this year following the COVID pandemic. Dan fears he will lose the momentum he has carried from his first two years, and that a lot of the preparation for his final year project has been “put up in the air”.
“I don’t feel the same security that I did before,” he tells SussexLive. “I know the lay of the land now and I know what I need to do, but if the structure changes then I might not get what I need.
“It feels like they’re going to strip it back to just being the course which on its own doesn’t do that much. The interesting part is the extra-curricular parts that I really connect with. If it was just our course modules that were available here then I would’ve studied somewhere else.
“If BIMM is changing its philosophy to be less network focused then it changes the entirety of its core draw and why people come here. I knew I wasn’t coming to a normal university and it’s not supposed to be and that’s why at BIMM.”
Dianne Messias resigned from her teaching role at BIMM due to what she calls “appalling treatment”. The screenwriting teacher said she wrote to the university tendering her resignation on April 13, but only got a response to her letter seven weeks later.
At this point she was reportedly offered the chance to stay but with “unacceptable pay conditions”. She says: “I’ve worked in the industry for 40 years, but they’re throwing people like me away and treating us appallingly.
“We’re not career teachers, we’re industry professionals who also teach, which is BIMM’s unique selling point. But you’re treated so badly in pay and lots of other ways.
“My feedback over my four years has been exemplary. I asked several times for a rise to a fair hourly rate but each time I was ignored. This is even during the cost of living crisis.”
In response to protests, BIMM said some jobs will unfortunately be duplicate or no longer appropriate for its structure. Despite fears surrounding the University and College Union (UCU) recognition, BIMM said it has written to and reassured the UCU that the changes are following a fair and lawful process.
A spokesperson told SussexLive: “As our institution continues to grow, and having obtained University title last year, changes in the way that we work are required to provide a better student and lecturer experience and ensure greater coordination across campuses, faculties, and courses.
“We have been consulting closely with staff members over the past three months, providing them with the opportunity to ask questions, comment on and make recommendations about any aspect of these changes. Crucially, there will be no reduction in teaching staff resulting from these changes.
“We care about our staff, lecturers and students deeply and we are doing everything we can to ensure any changes are implemented as carefully as possible, for all involved.”
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