Bristol University’s Independent Student Newspaper Issue 244
•
Monday 5th December 2011
• www.epigram.org.uk
Bristol to take on 20% extra students • Some departments to expand by over 60% • Proposed plans for new halls anger current
Fashion
Lecturers join public sector protests
e2 meets Amber Atherton
See page 3
students (see page 3) Josephine McConville News Reporter
Emmy the Great The virtues of her Christmas album Music 23
Julia May
The University of Bristol has announced its plans to increase undergraduate intake by 20% next year, leaving some Arts and Social Sciences students fearing they will be ‘disproportionately affected’ compared to those from the Science schools. The expansion, which will commence for 2012/13 entry, comes in response to the Government’s new white paper reform. The paper outlines how universities will no longer be restricted in the number of places given to students achieving grades AAA or AAB. Heavily oversubscribed courses including English, History and Politics are facing a significant increase in the number of places allocated. However, many students fear that the increase of 600 students will place additional strain on these departments. Joe Snape, 2nd year Politics and Philosophy student said ‘There are wider issues the University has to answer for. The Arts and Social Sciences library is already too small, and where are they planning to house these students? ‘In a course with only five contact hours a week and minimal teacher interaction, the course and department already feels massively overstretched.’ Conversely, the departments known to be directly affected by the University’s decision have responded positively to the expansion. Dr Genevieve Liveley, Head of Teaching and Learning in the School of Humanities, told Epigram ‘It’s very good news indeed that we are expanding our intake in the School of Humanities. It has long been our ambition to grow our
Departments. This new investment in the Faculty of Arts and in the School sends a strong signal nationally and internationally about our many and significant strengths - including the excellence of both our academics and our current students. ‘As part of the planned expansion, we will be recruiting more academic and administrative staff at the same time as we recruit new students. This means we will be able to ensure that we maintain the high quality of our teaching and our current staff-student ratios.’ The School of Sociology, Politics and International Relations is also facing expansion. Professor Tom Osborne, Head of School, and Dr Timothy Edmunds, Director of Teaching and Learning, told Epigram the department is expecting an increase of 25 places for the Single Honours Politics course, and five for the Politics and Sociology Joint Honours course. ‘In most years there are 12 applicants for every place, a large proportion of which are AAA. Being able to take more students is positive, there will still be competition but it provides us more scope to give places’ Dr Edmunds said. Professor Osborne said he was pleased with the number of allocated spaces and ‘delighted to receive genuine support in terms of staffing and infrastructure from the University for these changes. ‘It represents an investment in the confidence in social sciences in Bristol University, which is heartening for us.’ He believes it demonstrates the courses are ‘financially worthwhile’ and the University is ‘committed to the Arts and Social Sciences’. David Alder, Director of Marketing and Communications for Bristol University also stressed that it was ‘absolutely fundamental’ that ‘we do not want to change the character of the University’. Continued on page 2
Chemistry in the sky Investigating the secrets behind fireworks Science 31