Help us keep the third level of Stuart Hall building open!

We PhD research students from the faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) at the Open University, are to be relocated from our beloved Stuart Hall building. This building was opened in 2002 and is named after Professor Stuart Hall (1932-2014) who joined the OU as Professor of Sociology in 1979.

(Edit 22/09/2023) A list of the key points and main concerns has been added.

(Edit 29/09/2023 Relocation has been cancelled for the time being)

While changes are inevitable, this relocation is done against our will and has not been designed with our best interest in mind. After a visit of our new office space, it was concluded that our requirements have not been met and that our well-being was being jeopardised. It is important to remember that Stuart Hall building is not just an office to us, it is our place of work, but more importantly, our place of research and study.

This relocation feels rushed, and the new office space feels like an afterthought. And we deserve better than an afterthought. We believe that this new office space will not allow us to conduct our research in the best possible conditions. The office is too small, which will force some students to hot desk. Additionally, the space will be too loud due to its location and lack of insulation from the rest of the building in which it is located. These alone are critical elements.

We urge the University to find another, and a better, solution. Ultimately, Stuart Hall building will not be closed, only the third level will. As such, there is a lack of understanding as to why this relocation is needed in the first place. Additionally, we research students have not been consulted on the matter and only came to know about this relocation in the last couple of weeks. It was explained that this relocation will serve as a "pilot study", with other faculties to follow. We would like to highlight the unfairness of being forced to take part in a pilot study without our fully informed consent.

List of key points and main concerns:

• Fairness:

WELS will be losing its faculty building, which means that WELS PGR students will no longer have access to WELS-only facilities. This includes meeting rooms, but also bathrooms, kitchens, and rest/break rooms. The new proposed office space in the library only contains one small meeting room, compared to the 5 meeting rooms currently available to us on the 3rd level of Stuart Hall building. Meeting rooms are used regularly by students for a variety of reasons, ranging from supervision meetings to needing a private and quiet space. One meeting room is therefore not enough. We would have to book rooms in the library, therefore outside of our WELS space, which means that we will not have priority over these rooms. This puts us at an unfair disadvantage compared to other faculties which benefit from their own facilities and faculty-only spaces. The same applies to bathrooms, kitchens, and rest/break rooms. Bathrooms are found outside of our WELS space, and the only kitchen and rest room available to us would be the PGR common room on the ground floor of the library (the proposed office space is on the second floor). Additionally, losing a faculty building also means losing our sense of identity.

As mentioned by WELS PGR student Coomerene Rodrigo, the responsibility of populating our office building mainly rests on full-time international students who are required to be on campus and who, for the majority, do not qualify for a residency waiver. We were told to “use it (our office space) or lose it”. Which is extremely unfair to us international students as we are using our office space, and yet we are still losing it. We feel as though we are being punished for something that is beyond our control. Also highlighted is the fact that international students need a safe and nurturing space to conduct research, as we often do not have homes or families in the UK. This relocation would deprive us of such space.

• Our requirements:

We provided the University with a list of requirements. Unfortunately, after a visit of the proposed office space, we have concluded that these requirements have not been met.

Desks and storage:

The desks in the new office space are too small. They will not be able to accommodate certain setups or equipment. Additionally, under-desk storage has been removed from the space, which means that we will not be able to keep personal belongings at our desks.

Hot desking:

We were categorically opposed to hot-desking, unfortunately this new office space will force some students to hot desk.

24/7 access:

Our current office space can be accessed on a 24/7 basis. Many students like to work during the weekend or late at night/early in the morning. We are yet to receive confirmation that the new office space in the library will be accessible outside of the library opening hours (Monday to Friday, 09:00-17:00).

Noise:

The proposed office space is open to the library atrium. After consultation with librarians, it is understood that the library hosts events on a regular basis on the ground floor. These events often welcome a large number of participants. We fear that these events and the noise they generate will affect us.

We would also like to highlight that the proposed office space is too small and will not be able to accommodate all faculties, as per the University's plan to merge all faculties together under the same roof. Which means that another relocation is likely to occur in the near future.

This is an unnecessary distraction and disruption in our research.

Please help us keep the third level of Stuart Hall building open. Our place of work and research. By signing this petition, you are showing your support to us research students. Our voices are too often ignored.

Thank you!