Dear colleagues,
 
I write to you as a member of the Music and Music Technology team at Keele University, UK with the devastating news that on 25th November 2020, Keele University announced its intention to close its world-renowned Music and Music Technology programmes. The closure affects all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
 
The decision to withdraw Music and Music Technology programmes has been based on inaccurate data, uninformed external marketing research and a lack of due process. Trade unions were not informed of this plan and so the University’s senior management team did not follow the Management of Change policy, a framework for consultation that all change proposals must adhere to.
 
Faculty management have consistently blocked attempts by staff in Music and Humanities to allow the implementation of new programmes. These highly developed innovative proposals were not taken seriously by Faculty management, including programmes combining Practice-Led Disciplines, which built on a consensus with other disciplines, exploiting existing strengths in the School of Humanities and avenues for future development.
 
Their rationale is that investment in making Music and Music Technology competitive is too costly, which confirms our belief that the priority of the senior management team is to underinvest in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMMS), narrowing Keele University’s historical interdisciplinary ethos and weakening the student experience.
 
The decision leaves about a number of postgraduate students without principal thesis advisers, and half a dozen or so applications for higher degrees in music composition, music technology, ethnomusicology and musicology in limbo as the programmes are phased out by August 2023. The university has still to advise students about the decision. By this time, the final year students will be left feeling undervalued by the University.
 
The closure of the music courses will also impact upon future generations of music and music technology students who may otherwise wish to have been given the chance to study these subjects at Keele University and will have a negative impact on the music education in the economically deprived areas of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent.
 
Help us keep the music courses alive at Keele University, for both the music-makers of tomorrow and the people of one of the most economically deprived areas in England.
 
Here are a few things you can do to help:
 
First, sign the petition and spread it far and wide:
 
Second, email prominent administrative members of Keele University.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Trevor McMillan (t.j.mcmillan@keele.ac.uk),
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost Prof. Mark Ormerod (r.m.ormerod@keele.ac.uk)
the Dean of the FHSS Prof. Shane O’Neill (s.t.oneill@keele.ac.uk) 
 
Please use/adapt the template provided below (add letter headed paper if possible and sign digitally)
 
Yours Sincerely
 
XXXXXXX
 
PS. More information on the situation can be found here.
Template letter addressed to administrative members of the University
 
ADD ADDRESS HERE
DATE
 
     Dear
 
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Trevor McMillan
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost Prof. Mark Ormerod
Dean of the FHSS Prof. Shane O’Neill 

I/We have recently heard of the plans to close all Music and Music Technology degree programmes at Keele University and am/are writing to you to object in the strongest terms to these plans.
 
This news causes great alarm to the wider music academic community, which respects Keele University as a longstanding and forward thinking centre for Music higher education and research. Keele’s position and legacy as a provider of ground breaking technological developments, its predominance as a centre for interactive music making, and its reputation in producing highly successful alumni in areas of Music and Music Technology is sadly at stake.
 
Carrying out these plans in the time of Covid strikes further concern demonstrating a lack of empathy and vision for the future. At this current time of uncertainty and upheaval due to the pandemic, music in general has proven all the more vital for wellbeing, motivation and hope for a better future. Collectively we have turned to the arts to get us through a very difficult time across the world. Closing a Music department at this time would be wholly regrettable.
 
Music is Keele’s only remaining arts practice subject area and provides a crucial and key component of the university portfolio, particularly where creativity and cultural expression exists. Removing this vital cornerstone will leave the University barren of stature in terms of cultural capital, not to mention its ability to connect with community life and the broader network of HE music departments. It will affect significantly its national and international standing amongst Higher Education institutions. Furthermore, to see this proposal at a time where creative industries, music production, audio technologies and digital development accounts for a significant proportion of the UK’s economy and pre-Covid workforce, the move to deny this pathway to prospective students also denies the Staffordshire and neighbouring areas, and beyond, access to these industries and future career paths.
 
I/We urge a reconsideration of these plans, which have serious repercussions and disadvantages to the University as a whole.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Sign:
Print:
Date: