A petition has been set up by students within the Biosciences department to protest against the department’s decision to dispense with the services of Dr. Ronny van Aerle, a Lecturer in Environmental Biology.
The petition, which has gained over 300 signatures since being set up last week, says that ‘Dr. Van Aerle is such a great lecturer and it would be a great loss to the students and to the department if he was to leave this summer. This petition is to show that the students believe he is a great teacher and we strongly encourage him to stay with the help of the University.’ The 300-plus signatures include messages of support from current students, alumni, and members of staff.
Dr. van Aerle told Exeposé that he has received ‘no indication’ that his contract was going to be extended, and also that he ‘never expected such a demonstration of support by the students’, before adding that he was ‘extremely thankful’ for said support. He also said that ‘from the start my contract has always been on a fixed-term basis, so it was likely that at some point it wouldn’t be extended’.
When contacted by Exeposé, Amy Chadwick, the student who set up the petition, said that she was ‘amazed’ by the response that the petition had provoked. She added that ‘the students love him’ and that ‘he is one of the best lecturers in the Department’. Comments left on the petition also pay tribute to Dr. van Aerle; Dr. Mark van der Giezen, a Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Biochemistry, posted that Dr. van Aerle is ‘a great colleague and even greater bioinformatician and fish biologist’, while other signatories described van Aerle as ‘by far the best lecturer in a department full of good lecturers’, and ‘an incredible asset to the university and its students’.
The Biosciences department have given Exeposé a statement on the matter, saying that while the department understand the situation and can appreciate the views of the petitioning students, Dr. van Aerle is leaving because his post is a short-term one which expires in the summer.
Owen Keating, News Editor
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