Not My Nigel

UAL has allowed valuable members of staff to be left without work, or clarity on future work, during COVID. This means that some students are losing their tutors without warning, and are having to fight for online contact time with staff, who haven't seen their work all year. Many hourly paid lecturers have not had their contracts renewed for summer term, leaving students without the support that they need during crunch time of degree show. Many more are in danger of not having their contracts renewed next academic year. Now, during COVID, our longstanding tutors become even more valuable to students as our whole degree is riding on contextual work while studios and technical resources are unavailable in lockdown. The Covid plan for casual contracts has been kept hush by UAL, and students are left without tutors with no explanation. These issues are affecting BAME and marginalised staff, with poor diversity among the permanent staff body. This additional lack of commitment or goodwill from UAL, on top of the pre-existing gender and BAME pay gap, proves how little they value marginalised staff. Shame on UAL. Our tutors deserve better Nigel Carrington is the Dean for the University of Arts London, and has been responsible for the poor treatment of BAME staff within UAL. Dear Nigel is an interactive performance piece used to engage the staff and student body within UAL, and encourage them to write in condemnation of casual contracts, and the BAME pay gap. Using a thermal printer, I created stickers with alliterative puns, calling out the senior management of the university for their complacency and participation in the systematic oppression and poor treatment of staff. This poor treatment feeds directly into student experience, especially those of marginalised backgrounds, as we are left without a diverse teaching body, exposing us to microaggressions, and whitewashing of our intellectual property. This lack of understanding also feeds into the attainment gap. https://wherethefismytutor.com/