On the opening day of the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) Degree Show, four students in balaclavas gathered for the opening performance of the event. The quartet — named Staff, Scissors, Money and ‘Meter Maffieson’ (closely resembling the Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Peter Mathieson) — engaged in a dramatic theatrical duel, accompanied by violin. After a tense battle, Staff, Scissors and Money stood triumphantly with their hands aloft over the defeated Meter to rapturous applause from the dozens of students and staff who had come to watch this curious spectacle.
In typical ECA style, the performance was not a simple exercise of absurdism, but rather a protest, venting the frustration of many art students towards the University Management who, in the words of one final student, felt that they “had sacrificed their education at the altar of profit.”
The Degree Show — the culmination of four years of study for final year art undergraduates — began amidst a backdrop of strike action. The University and College Union’s Edinburgh branch (UCUE) entered a Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) on 1 May to protest the £92 million the University of Edinburgh had cut from their staffing budget and to call for the end of compulsory staff redundancies among other demands.
Hundreds of staff have been offered voluntary redundancies or did not have their contracts renewed across the University this year. The Principal of the University, Peter Mathieson, has argued that this is a vital cost cutting exercise. According to him, the University is “now facing the reality that in order to make ourselves sustainable again, we do need to reduce our expenditure,” with staffing costs, at “60 per cent of our expenditure,” an obvious site for budget cuts to be made.
The need to reduce the University’s expenditure has been hotly contested by the UCUE, who have highlighted that the University continues to make a surplus. The UCUE subsequently accused the University of using “misleading metrics to justify a harmful narrative.”
In response, the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) at the University has decided to enforce a 100 per cent pay reduction for staff who partake in the MAB, a decision the UCU has described as “punitive” and a sign that the SLT is “deeply unnerved by the power” of strike action.
At the core of this fierce conflict are the students at the University. The SLT have argued that the UCUE are selfishly putting students’ wellbeing on the line through strike action, while emphasising their own efforts to prioritise the student body.
Mathieson told The Student that the SLT is “deeply disappointed, disheartened and frustrated that UCUE members are continuing to purposefully target our students with a marking and assessment boycott,” adding that the SLT believes “that this action is completely unjustifiable…adding unnecessary strain on our students.”
Mathieson claimed that the SLT is “taking all practical steps to keep exams, coursework submissions and pivotal events such as Edinburgh College of Art’s Graduate Show on track to support our students’ ability to progress and graduate,” while “continuing to offer consultation with union representatives.”
Additionally, Juan Cruz, the Principal of ECA at the University, has characterised the MAB as “disruptive at a time that is critical, especially for our graduating students for whom their exhibitions are also in many cases a very significant point of assessment,” while reaffirming his “respect [for] the rights of our community to take action with regard to matters about which they feel deep concern.”
Cruz argued: “we have a responsibility to support our students and have worked hard to mitigate the disruption and make sure that our student’s submissions are assessed so that they can graduate on time and move into the next stages of their lives,” highlighting that without swift resolution, the MAB could lead to “students missing out on opportunities.” Cruz “believe[s] students do appreciate our efforts to make sure that they are able to graduate.”
However, most of the ECA students who spoke to The Student blamed the University administration for how it has managed the crisis. One fourth year said the “blame [for the MAB] lies solely with the University,” claiming that strike action was supported by the “overwhelming majority of students” who believe it is “important to show solidarity at this crucial moment.”
Another student said that she was “one of a large majority of students who fully support the staff in taking strike action” and that the staff at the ECA had been “stretched and overworked due to the impact of the first round of redundancies and cuts,” criticising the University for “prioritising profits over maintaining staffing levels and student care.”
According to ECA students and staff who spoke to The Student, staffing cuts amount to a loss of one in eight teaching jobs at the ECA and have put significant pressure on teaching staff. One fourth year graphic design student said that one of her tutors had to take on three times his typical marking load due to striking staff, which the student blamed on the inability of the University to reach a reasonable settlement with the UCU.
Others worried about the future of the institution. One fourth year student spoke at length about how “the ECA had lost a huge sense of its identity” with neither staff nor students being proud of the institution after cuts in funding. She went on to add that she came to University “excited about its reputation” but budget cuts “ruined her experience.”
Another student was worried that the actions of the University were “only kicking the can further down the road,” criticising how cuts to teaching staff would reduce “the quality of students (at the ECA) and produce a domino effect to its reputation.”
Concerns within ECA have led to outpourings of student solidarity with staff members. At the start of May, the Instagram account alternativedegreeshow_eca was created to push the University to “agree a policy with unions which avoids forced redundancies”; “focus on saving money from non-staff related costs”; and “re-invest in the quality of teaching at ECA.”
Although it is unclear to what extent these demands will be actualised, when asked what the strike action and student solidarity had achieved, students responded that it had brought the ECA “community closer together.” Several third years said that the strikes had “unif[ied] year groups” across the ECA, which had previously felt much more isolated. One fine art student said that she was “very encouraged” at how collective action among both students and staff was “much more organised” than previous attempts at cross ECA solidarity.
Another student stated that she was “hopeful” about the future of the ECA if collective action continued, noting that “despite fourth years juggling grad shows and all their other commitments, they have shown immense support for their tutors.” Another third year remarked that there would be “no hesitation in carrying out future student action and solidarity for staff, particularly at future grad shows” if the University did not concede the UCU’s core demands.
Juan Cruz said that student support for strikes has been “conducted in a polite and respectful manner and we respect students’ right to express their views.”
However, Cruz also highlighted that not all students were fully aligned with strike action, claiming “other student groups… wish the focus to remain on their work and the celebratory nature of the Graduate Show.”
He went on to emphasise that the administration’s “role is to balance these different perspectives while ensuring that all students have the opportunity to showcase and celebrate their achievements.”
Although one Intermedia student spoke out against strike action, arguing that it was “unproductive,” most who spoke to The Student reaffirmed their support.
However, while most students agreed that protest action was necessary, not all agreed that the action taken was the most effective. One textiles student argued that the MAB was necessary but that student solidarity had been “confusing in its messaging,” which had stalled impactful action.
Some final year students had initially threatened to withdraw their work from the grad show, however, no such withdrawal materialised. The Skinny reported on 8 May that the Grad Show was at risk due to the threat of student boycotts.
Additionally, posts on the alternativedegreeshow_eca on 20 and 25 May asked the questions “what if we boycotted the degree show” and “will we withdraw our work?”
Yet, on 1 June, a post appeared encouraging students to attend the Grad Show. Another student mentioned how this strategy had confused some students and added that it might “undermine the negotiating position of students and staff in the future.”
Nonetheless, growing discontent within the ECA, and the University as a whole, has been a major theme of this academic year, and it seems that this restlessness will only grow. Several ECA students called on the University “to think about the kind of art that is being produced” with such significant reductions in staff numbers. Ultimately, amidst industrial action and increasingly – budget cuts, these students are “majorly concerned for the future of the institution.”
Picture by Ed Puddington