Beaver
the
Issue 844 | 12.1.16
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union
Calhoun To Stand Down From LSE Directorship Ellen Wilkie Executive Editor
CRAIG CALHOUN, CURRENT Director of LSE, announced at the end of Michaelmas Term that he will not be seeking a second term, and will thus be leaving his position at the end of the 2016/17 academic year. Calhoun made this announcement on December 17th 2015, in an email to all LSE staff.The news was then circulated by email to students later the same day. The email declared that serving the school as LSE Director was ‘one of the most important things I have done’ and that he remains ‘enthusiastic about the LSE and its potential’. When addressing students, he admitted that he is ‘more than usually sentimental about the School and its wonderful students: you’. Directors of the LSE are selected and given five year terms. In Michaelmas term of the Director’s 4th year, he must specify whether he will be looking to continue his position for the following five years. Calhoun declared in his email to students that ‘I have loved my time at LSE and in fact I’m not leaving: my term runs for another year and a half.’ In a separate email to LSE Staff, Lord Paul Myners, LSE Chairman, wrote to ‘express appreciation for Craig’s leadership and service’. He
praised the Director ‘for his clear vision for the future of LSE and for his strenuous work to convert that vision into reality’. In his email to students it Calhoun outlined some ‘key objectives [that] will be the focus of my attention for the remainder of [his] term’. In the staff email, these are elaborated further to say: ‘I will write more about these later, but at the top of the list is securing a step-change in LSE’s provision of education and student experience – including support directly for students and for all the teachers who contribute so basically. It is important that the School seek to be as outstanding in education as it is in research. With other members of DMT, APRC and Department Heads, I will continue work to strengthen overall academic quality at the LSE. This will include sustaining and advancing our research and making sure that we have a strong supporting structure on both departmental and interdepartmental bases. During the next two months, Julia Black (Pro-Director for Research) will lead a consultation on how we may best focus and support LSE excellence and recognition in global public policy. Sustaining the strength of LSE public engagement is also important. And the pursuit of quality will
crucially mean following through on the review processes to ensure our teaching and research are strong across the board. Quality of service provision is also crucial, from Estates to IMT to HR and Communications. In January we will welcome a new Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Young. He will take on this job of providing better, more effective, and more cost-effective services and I will do all I can to support him and this effort. Another priority will be continue to help LSE prepare for a major fundraising campaign, which hopefully will start early in the tenure of my successor. Since direct government funding for LSE has fallen to some 7% of our budget, this is the most promising way to diversify revenue and reduce the burden on student fees. Of course, the work of DMT and the Directorate will continue; each leadership group has full agendas including crucial matters like bringing forward the report of the Task Force on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and overseeing the School’s budget. And I will continue to the best of my ability to represent the School externally.’ Following the announcement, there was some speculation on Twitter about the timing and motivation of Calhoun’s departure.
LSE, Stop Increasing Halls Rents
Nona Buckley-Irvine LSESU General Secretary
YOU MIGHT BE FORGIVEN for thinking that the policy of increasing halls rents beyond inflation is a government policy, not the policy of a university founded by the Fabians. Yet, the LSE is acting unfairly to its students by increasing its rents year on year, meaning students have a net decrease in maintenance available to them. For years now, the price of rent in halls of accommodation has escalated at an unprecedented
rate. Four years ago, a basic single room in Bankside was £143.50. Now it’s £199.50. LSE justifies this high price by claiming that it accounts for the inclusion of full catering - but we are all aware that it doesn’t cost £56 per student for meal provision in a halls. The problem stems from looking at it upside down, with the needs of LSE above the needs of the students that comprise the university. Continued on Page 8
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The end of Michaelmas Term saw the Graduation of the Postgraduate class of 2014-2015
David Bowie’s final work: 2015: A year in The Beaver Blackstar, reviewed cover photos Page 18 Page 12