Proposed changes and impact

CALL provides academic writing, study skills, language support, foundation programmes, and pre-sessional courses for students, particularly international students. The University's proposal would reduce the number of CALL lecturer posts by up to two Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) in staffing. The business case argues that CALL should focus on protecting activities that generate income and support student recruitment, particularly pathway programmes and pre-sessional courses. It also proposes redesigning some in-sessional support so that it is shorter, more targeted, and delivered with fewer staff.

Student impact: Changes to the availability, format, or level of academic skills and language support

The University proposes significant changes to the careers and alumni services. The current Careers and Employability Team would be restructured into a new Employability, Entrepreneurship and Graduate Outcomes Team, while fundraising and alumni relations would become part of a new Development and Fundraising Directorate. The proposal argues that Goldsmiths needs to improve graduate employment outcomes and strengthen relationships with employers, industry and alumni.

Student impact:Careers services would continue but may be delivered differently, with a greater emphasis on graduate outcomes, placements, employer engagement, and employability metrics, but with far fewer staff members. The proposals indicate a move towards activities that can demonstrate measurable employment outcomes and improve Goldsmiths' performance against regulatory and league table indicators. This may result in a greater focus on traditional graduate employment pathways and outcomes that can be captured in official data, and this could risk stepping away from a student-led function.

One of the most significant administrative proposals is the transfer of tuition fee and accommodation finance functions into a larger central Finance department. Currently, responsibility for student fee administration is spread across different areas of the University, including teams outside Finance. The proposal would bring Credit Control, Tuition Fees and Accommodation Finance together into a single income-management team. The University argues this would create "end-to-end ownership" of student income and improve efficiency. The proposal would also reduce staffing within these merged teams.

Student impact: Processes relating to tuition fees, accommodation charges, debt management and payment administration may become more centralised within Finance rather than being handled through teams more student-facing. Students should monitor whether this impacts accessibility, response times, or the way financial support queries are handled. Historically, centralisation has always led to delays and inefficiencies in student support.

The Faculty Directorate proposals would reduce some of the professional services support currently provided to academic departments and Heads of School. Support for workload planning, academic recruitment, budget planning and some administrative functions would either be removed entirely or transferred to academic staff and other central teams. The University acknowledges that this will place additional pressure on Heads of School and other academic leaders.

Student impact: The changes made to form the Faculty directorate came from the Transformation Programme, which as yet has not been given sufficient time to embed in terms of the student experience and student identity. The proposed reduction in Faculty Operations support therefore comes before students and staff have had the opportunity to fully assess whether the new model is working. Students may experience this through delays to administrative processes, reduced operational support within departments, and slower responses to issues requiring departmental intervention. For many, the most visible impact of repeated restructuring may be continued disruption and delays in accessing support, rather than the intended benefits of organisational change.

The proposals would remove the Campus Support Officer function and could replace it by upskilling Security to fulfill the wellbeing role that CSOs play.

Student impact: Potential changes to campus security operations, staffing structures and out-of-hours support arrangements, affecting trust and support for students who are vulnerable and in precarious positions.

The University proposes closing the in-house Print Service entirely and replacing it with externally contracted printing services. The rationale given is that demand for printing has fallen substantially and that the service has operated at a financial loss for several years.

Student impact: No on campus or personalised support for printing.

The University is proposing to reduce staffing within the Graduate School by approximately 1.2 FTE, including reducing the Academic Dean role and merging three professional services roles into two new Doctoral Support and Training roles.

Student impact: For PGR students, this could result in reduced access to training, support and development opportunities, alongside longer response times for administrative processes.

The University is proposing a significant restructuring of ITDS, potentially reducing the department from 55 roles to 38 roles. The proposals include reducing management posts, removing dedicated quality assurance functions, pausing parts of the Digital Strategy, restructuring technical teams, and reducing capacity for project delivery and future digital development. Up to 17 roles could be affected.

Student impact: ITDS directly supports many of the digital systems students rely on every day, including IT support, learning technologies, digital infrastructure and core university systems. The business case itself identifies increased risks to service delivery, strategic project delivery and the ability to maintain and improve services for students and staff. It also notes that the Service Desk is already struggling to meet demand and that previous reductions have contributed to increasing complaints. Students may experience longer waiting times for IT support, delays to technology projects, slower resolution of technical issues, and reduced capacity to improve digital services.

The University is proposing a further Library restructure less than a year after the previous Library reorganisation was implemented. The proposals focus on removing one senior post, merging leadership functions, reducing specialist roles, and further integrating academic skills, digital skills, systems and content functions. The proposal notes that further integration of Library, CALL and TaLIC services may be considered in future.

Student impact: The Library was last restructured during 2025 and the current model is still embedding. The proposals therefore introduce further organisational change before the impact of the previous restructure has been fully understood. Students may experience changes to academic skills provision, digital skills support and specialist library services as responsibilities are merged and staffing capacity is reduced.

The University is proposing to close Open Book entirely and delete all existing Open Book roles. The University argues that Open Book is no longer aligned with its strategic priorities and has not secured sufficient external funding to remain financially sustainable.

Student impact: Open Book has provided widening participation programmes, community education, outreach activity, prison education projects, learner support and alternative routes into higher education. It is a core aspect of Goldsmiths working directly with the community, even before the Civic University Agreement came into effect. The closure of the team may reduce the visibility of these activities and could affect partnerships and programmes that support access to education for underrepresented groups. While the University states that some activities may continue elsewhere, it is not yet clear which activities would be retained or how they would be delivered.

The University is proposing to reduce staffing within Student Support, remove chaplaincy capacity, reduce administrative support, and remove approximately £100,000 from the non-pay budget. The proposals would also change the model of support so that Student Support focuses more heavily on high-risk cases, with lower-level support increasingly delivered through referrals, other teams, or external services.

Student impact: These proposals represent one of the most direct changes to student-facing services that will impact students. The University explicitly states that the current model provides support beyond its statutory obligations and that future provision would be more focused on students considered to be at highest risk. Students seeking wellbeing support, disability support, hardship funding assistance, faith support or general advice may therefore experience a more triaged service, with greater reliance on referrals to other teams, statutory services or external providers. While the University states that student safety will not be compromised, the proposals may change how quickly and easily some students can access support. These proposals risk pushing more students into a vulnerable position, by reducing intervention and support.

The University is proposing to move Accommodation Services from Student and Academic Services into Estates, remove an administrative role, and abolish the Campus Support Officer (CSO) service, which currently provides out-of-hours welfare and support for students. The University argues that accommodation should be managed more closely alongside estates functions.

Student impact: The proposed removal of Campus Support Officers is likely to be one of the most noticeable changes for students living in halls. CSOs currently act as a first point of contact for welfare concerns, mental health incidents, accommodation issues and general support outside normal office hours. Students living in halls may therefore experience a significant change in how out-of-hours support is accessed, with greater reliance on Security, duty managers, emergency services or external providers. The reliance on Security could also put more students at risk, especially vulnerable students. The transfer of Accommodation Services into Estates also signals a shift towards managing accommodation primarily as a commercial service rather than as part of the University's wider student support infrastructure, despite it remaining unclear how income can be generated through Loring Hall - the only halls of residence owned and maintained by Goldsmiths. We believe accommodation is primarily a student support service, and we have enjoyed great collaboration with the student support team. We join our colleagues in the team in rejecting the commercial first approach that is coming through these proposals.

The University is proposing to reduce staffing within TaLIC by removing e-learning advisor roles, removing a senior academic developer role, removing the Disability Accessibility Project Officer role, and replacing some roles with a smaller number of new positions focused on AI, digital education and equality, diversity and inclusion. The proposals also involve closer integration between TaLIC, CALL, GOAL and other education-focused teams.

Student impact: TaLIC plays a key role in supporting teaching quality, staff development, digital learning tools and curriculum enhancement across the University. Students may not interact with TaLIC directly, but its work shapes learning, assessment, accessibility and teaching practice. The proposals suggest a move away from some traditional academic development functions towards a smaller team focused on strategic projects, digital learning and AI. While the University argues this will create efficiencies, there may be reduced capacity to support teaching innovation, curriculum development and accessibility initiatives across the institution.

Additionally, questions remain about the extent to which AI can or should meaningfully replace the specialist pedagogical, accessibility and curriculum development expertise currently provided by staff. There is a risk that an increased reliance on AI-driven approaches could prioritise scale over the personalised, reflective and human work that underpins teaching enhancement, inclusive curriculum design and accessibility. Students may wish to consider the wider implications of AI on accessibility and specialist learning and support, sold under the banner of technological innovation.