Save UEA Music Deptartment

Taken from UEA UCU - please try and get there/sign the petition etc.

last week, the Vice Chancellor at UEA made an announcement about plans to close the School of Music. The reasons that were cited were mainly financial, although, very disturbingly, the department's predicted REF rating was mentioned as a factor (raising worrying questions about the ways that the REF can be used to discipline employees). The news also came as a shock, as staff and students weren't aware that a review was underway. Ironically, "creativity" is a supposed to be one of UEA's virtues (http://www.uea.ac.uk/hum/creativity)!

Since then, a vibrant campaign to save the School of Music has now developed. The campaign now has the endorsement of Jools Holland, Brian Eno, Lauren Laverne and the Musicians' Union - and it would be brilliant if you could support it too. You can join the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/SaveUEAMusic), follow the campaign on Twitter (http://twitter.com/saveUEAMusic) and sign the petition at http://www.scribd.com/doc/70769414/SAVE-UEA-MUSIC-External-Petition. You can see the union's statement on the closure at: http://uea.web.ucu.org.uk/?p=108

For those of you in the Norwich area, a rally is planned on Wednesday, 9 November at 12:30PM on the main UEA campus square, followed by a march around campus at 1:30PM, ending at the Registry building where the Senate will meet to discuss the fate of the School of Music.