The new year begins with the University of Dundee again making the headlines. Local and national media outlets are picking up on a story of significant importance. It is clear that funding issues are a concern for institutions across the UK, including here in Scotland. Aberdeen, Robert Gordon's, Edinburgh, West of Scotland and Strathclyde all have, and/or are facing issues.
But questions about senior management at the University of Dundee have been being asked for many years and go beyond the pressures being felt across the higher education sector.
In 2022 Maggie Chapman MSP asked in the Scottish Parliament about management's attempts to sideline the unions that represent workers at the university. This took place during the long-running dispute about changes to the pensions of the lowest paid. Concerningly, university bosses appear to be taking a similar approach again.
Late last year university staff heard about the imminent departure of principal Iain Gillespie. This followed an announcement that the University of Dundee is £30 million in deficit and job losses are ‘inevitable'. Gillespie's departure had quickly followed that of deputy principal Wendy Alexander - the same Wendy Alexander who has now been given a seat in the Lords by Sir Keir Starmer. Locally attention is being paid to who will go next and where they will end up.
In response to the Gillespie announcement the three campus unions - UCU, Unison and Unite, called an all staff meeting prior to Christmas (some of the union concerns are detailed here). This gave those on campus the opportunity to express their concerns. The acting head of management was invited to attend. Shane O'Neill had little to say but suggested he took on board the views of those that contributed to the well-attended meeting.
Since then little appears to have been done to actively involve the unions in attempts to salvage the reputation of the University of Dundee. As a consequence staff voted on their confidence in senior management at university - 89% expressing no confidence.
Subsequently, UCU, the lecturers' union, has moved to ballot its members for strike action. The result is expected on January 30th.
Maggie Chapman MSP, who attended the all staff meeting, has written to Holyrood's Education committee to call on the Scottish Government to ensure the publicly funded institution is acting in a fashion that benefits citizens and recognises the role of the trade unions. The university is a major employer in the city.
In addition to this action at a Scottish level, over recent years there have been strong links created in Dundee between the university's workforce, the broader trade union movement and the wider community. These links will now been drawn on to ensure that fairwork principles are a feature of plans to restore the reputation of University of Dundee.
These Scottish Government fairwork principles included employers ensuring 'effective workers' voice'. The University of Dundee management appears to be unaware of, or are unwilling to embrace the spirit of fairwork. There is little evidence of a meaningful commitment in the university’s outcome agreement or in their recent or present practice.
Addressing the damage that has been done to create the deficit cannot be credibly achieved without significant change to the governance of the university. Arrangements need to be put in place to ensure that all - students, staff and community, can have trust in the institution.
Only by creating these new governance arrangements that meaningfully involve the unions in a transparent way can the University of Dundee begin to restore its reputation. Only by removing the threat of redundancies, and by 'opening the books' can management avoid the prospect of industrial action.
Published 6 January 2025