Twenty-five years after the Brussels School of International Studies (BSIS) in Etterbeek first welcomed students, its sudden closure was announced last month leaving students and staff in the dark about their academic future.
The specialised postgraduate school run by the English University of Kent offers international MAs and PhDs in politics and law, allowing students to "enjoy the unique resources offered by Europe's capital" while receiving a British degree.
But the University of Kent administration announced without warning at the end of March that it would be shutting down its Brussels branch after "a series of extensive reviews and internal discussions."
“This news came as an absolute shock to us all and the way in which it has been announced massively added to the stress many of us are already experiencing,” one student (N.) told The Brussels Times, explaining the news came at a time when many students are writing their final papers.
In what has been referred to by students as a "cryptic email," the administration said it would be "winding down operations" from September 2023, with the full closure scheduled to be completed by spring 2024. No measures have been put in place to guarantee academic continuance for students.
Precarious (legal) situations
85 students are currently enrolled at BSIS. While some Master's students will finish their degree this year, others have just started their studies and a total of 15 PhD students still have years of research ahead of them, likely without the supervisors they have been working with.
Many students are from non-EU countries and moved to Belgium for their studies. "Students now find themselves in extremely precarious situations and with significant concerns about the value of their degrees, job prospects and even their legal situation for those on student visas," the student body said in a statement.
A Q&A session with Jeremy Carrette, the Dean of Europe, was organised 24 hours after the email was sent and described as a chance for students to voice their concerns. However, no real answers were given.
“We were told that that they will ensure we can finish our degrees and that they will help us in the coming months, but we haven’t been told how. How can they guarantee this when they fired their staff?" N. asked.
Funds were raised by students to send a representative to the university's HQ in Canterbury to seek answers during a Q&A session with Vice Chancellor Karen Cox. She didn't give concrete answers but did say she intended to visit BSIS on 17 April.
The University's press office confirmed to The Brussels Times that Cox and other senior colleagues will soon be travelling to Brussels to discuss the plans and answer questions directly from students and staff, including details and options for ongoing study and support.
"We have and will continue to listen to our students during what we know to be a very challenging time for them."
No other options?
Suggestions from higher up at the University of Kent reportedly included students being transferred to its Canterbury campus or taking classes online. “But the quality of our degrees will be affected by this, especially as some people are enrolled in highly specific degrees with courses that aren’t taught elsewhere," N. argued.
One PhD student told The Brussels Times that relocating to the UK or transferring elsewhere would be impossible for many PhD students for "a variety of reasons," ranging from the absence of academic-specific expertise on a certain topic in Kent to the difficulty to obtain a visa.
Prospective students who received offers to study at BSIS this September suddenly saw these cancelled, leaving them with insufficient time to apply for other schools.
“I applied to the M.A. International Relations programme and received an unconditional offer. That offer now stands cancelled and I am informed just six months before the course commences,” one prospective student said.
Credit: BSIS Facebook
Information about how to apply to BSIS has been removed from the website. In a statement, the University noted that current applicants are "being contacted personally to explore alternative study options at Kent."
The University confirmed that the decision was a financial one. "In recent years, we have been running it at an increasing cost and further recruitment and wider pressures mean this is sadly no longer sustainable for the University." Yet in its 2022 Annual Review it affirmed that there were "adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future," and in the past decade, it heavily increased salaries for the highest-paid staff.
The BSIS student body said that no indication has been given that BSIS might be saved and argues a cheaper location could be one way to reduce costs, while staff argued that student fees should be lowered to be in line with those of other Belgian universities and those in neighbouring countries.
Problematic people and mismanagement
The majority of staff and professors were not consulted about the decision and found out about the closure during a meeting, right before the students were told. "We were told it wasn't about the financial viability per se of BSIS but about saving the university as a whole, which is sinking, financially," one professor at BSIS said.
Staff then received letters with notices terminating their contracts. Seven of the professors who were taken on in permanent positions are now facing compulsory redundancy.
"We have just been dumped, something which from an academic perspective is really shocking. We are not the first people to be brutally fired by our employers, but in academia, this is very rare," the professor told The Brussels Times.
"It is mindblowing, I have to pinch myself every now and then to make sure I'm not just living in a nightmare."
Both current and former staff members have criticised the poor handling of the closure announcement, but some argued this mirrors the University's years-long mismanagement of BSIS.
"When I was there many years ago, managerial neglect, incompetence, and abuses of authority were already well-entrenched and it seems like things only got worse," one former staff member told The Brussels Times. Another professor said the staff on the ground was never told about the issues BSIS faced.
Questions have also been raised about Alastair Ross, BSIS' Director of European Operations who has reportedly been offered a job at the Paris campus of the university.
Related News
- Brexit effect: Flemish student numbers in UK almost halved
- Gynaecologist at Brussels university faked studies to get PhD
In 2004, Ross was caught up in an army scandal after he entered an affair with a soldier and garnered a reputation as a sexual predator, which reportedly resulted in a drop in students' registration.
"Why has Alastair Ross been allowed to work at BSIS among young people in the first place given his personal history? He has been the object of a myriad of reports and complaints from the staff and students," one PhD student asked.
The University said in a statement that it has a zero-tolerance approach to harassment or abuse and that it encourages anyone who believes they have been harassed or abused to report it to us as soon as possible. "We investigate all such reports and provide comprehensive support if necessary."
However, one professor said wrongdoings had repeatedly been reported regarding his "use of BSIS finance, his behaviour towards female students and the harassment of staff."
