Staff Comment was a University journal addressed specifically at the University's staff. The journal was produced in response to growing concerns about the quality of communication between the University and its staff; in 1959, Samuel Devons, professor of physics, had suggested to Senate that a monthly newsletter was required to publicise wider University issues to its staff. Staff Comment was circulated to members of academic staff and lay members of Council, and was originally edited by C.T.G Boucher, G.T. Hughes and J.M. Mills. It included essays and reviews about higher education issues, both at Manchester and elsewhere, as well as reports of Council and Senate meetings, and a popular correspondence column. Increasingly, the journal was used to voice to criticisms of University policies. In particular, there was much comment of the alleged remoteness of some senior University figures and the reluctance to introduce more participatory forms of decision-making. A good example of this was Penry Williams' (a former history lecturer at the University) article in January 1964, "Manchester Retrospect", which accused the University of failing to involve students more in its governance. Another author, writing as 'Gulliver', produced a series of satirical articles during the 1960s critical of the administration's resistance to greater academic 'democracy'.
The original Staff Comment was a cheaply-produced newsletter. From October 1961 it became a much more professional publication and continued in this format until the last issue in March 1981.
The May 1964 issue (Number 26) contains an index for previously published material. Issues 18 and 24 are missing. Former reference:UA/34