From: Kim Davies k.m.davies@bham.ac.uk
FROM THE REGISTRAR AND SECRETARY
Dear Mr. Pottins
Thank you for your email about Sue Blackwell's website at the University.
The University's Council adopted a policy about personal websites hosted on
University facilities at its meeting in December 2003. The University
encourages the use of web facilities by its staff to promote their academic
research and teaching and administrative duties. Many staff at the
University maintain personal websites, hosted on the University's web
address, for that purpose. The Council decided, however, that it was no
longer appropriate for such websites to contain information, views or
material that are not directly related to the member of staff's academic or
administrative work. This is because it is deemed an inappropriate use of
University resources for private activities and such activities may also
bring with them liabilities for the University, including risks to the
integrity of its IT systems, which it was no longer willing to bear.
In pursuance of this policy, all staff with personal websites were given a
significant notice period to register their website and its contents with
their Head of School. If the Head of School deemed that the website met the
University's criteria with regard to its support of the individual's
academic work, the website continues to be supported and available. In some
cases, staff have been asked to remove material that did not meet these
criteria and to find an alternative host for that material. Links between
the personal website of the individual hosted by the University and the new
site for the private material have also been set up with an appropriate
disclaimer for liability by the University.
In hundreds of cases, this process has been understood and carried out
without any difficulty. The judgement about the appropriateness of the
material on any particular site has been made through peer review by the
individual's Head of School. We offer support in finding an alternative
host for private material and we have agreed to maintain links between the
University's site and the new site established by the member of staff for
his or her private material.
The University has received some messages about the impact of this policy on
Sue Blackwell's website. It has been suggested that the University is
operating a policy of censorship. This is clearly not the case. It is up
to an individual to determine what material and what opinions they wish to
promote through the medium of the web. All that the University has wished
to clarify is that it will only make its resources available for legitimate
academic or administrative purposes and that any material that is not deemed
to be for these purposes is a matter for that individual to resource and to
take full responsibility."
Dr. J. W. Nicholls
Kim Davies
Tel: 0121 414 3977
Fax: 0121 414 4534
e-mail: k.m.davies@bham.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: CharlesPottins@aol.com [mailto:CharlesPottins@aol.com]
To: Dr. J.W. Nicholls:
(Registrar and Secretary of the University of Birmingham)
Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to express concern at what seems to be totally unwarranted and
heavy-handed interference with the rights of one of one of your colleagues,
Susan Blackwell, to communicate, and with the rights of members of the
public to seek information which she was providing.
I am a freelance journalist and researcher, and a member of the editorial
board of Jewish Socialist magazine. I have found Sue Blackwell's website a
helpful source of information, stimulating ideas, and useful links, and I
consider her a person of integrity.
I have recently been gathering information about a somewhat enigmatic writer
and journalist called Israel Shamir, formerly with the BBC, about whom little
that is reliable is known; and I remembered that Ms.Blackwell had commented
on his literary style, and had reported some curious exchanges and
connections which might throw more light on the man.
I was surprised and frustrated therefore to find on trying to access her
website to seek this information that I was denied access, apparently by
some university decision, for which no explanation was offered, and I
suspect, no good reason can be given.
I really find it unpleasant and objectionable that a university should
behave in this way,
effectively censoring a member of your academic staff and denying access to
knowledge and ideas to interested members of the public. You should really
be proud to have someone like Sue Blackwell on your staff, and you should be
ashamed at behaving in a repressive manner which is surely alien to academic
traditions of humanism and free inquiry, and looks suspiciously redolent of
hidden pressures.
Charles Pottins
Last updated: 17th September 2004
To: "'CharlesPottins@aol.com'" CharlesPottins@aol.com
Cc: j.g.owen@bham.ac.uk, d.r.supple@bham.ac.uk, m.i.shoebridge@bham.ac.uk,
r.k.tier@bham.ac.uk, 'Sue Primmer'
Subject: RE: Interference with information and communications
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 11:58:10 +0100
Registrar and Secretary
PA to Registrar and Secretary
The University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
BIRMINGHAM B15 2TT
Sent: 16 June 2004 00:17
To: j.w.nicholls@bham.ac.uk
Cc: j.g.owen@bham.ac.uk; d.r.supple@bham.ac.uk; m.i.shoebridge@bham.ac.uk;
r.k.tier@bham.ac.uk
Subject: Interference with information and communications
and other persons concerned: