Public stakeholder meeting of Court 13 January 2021: questions

Due to the volume of questions asked it was not possible to answer all of them during the Annual Public Stakeholder Meeting of the Court. The Chair of Court undertook to liaise with the University Executive Group to review and provide answers to any questions not answered in full during the meeting. There was significant overlap between questions and to avoid repetition the questions have been grouped into themes and an answer provided which is intended to cover all aspects of questions raised within that theme

Academic excellence and structure

A significant number of questions were received which related to the Academic Excellence & Structure project, which is the subject of on-going consultation within the University. The majority of questions focussed on specific details of the consultation process, or on topics being actively explored through that process, including details of the proposed changes and any risk to staff jobs. A number of questions related to the exploration of the financial basis for the proposals. The approach of the consultation process in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion was a further area of particular interest.

We acknowledge the lack of certainty and the fact that some answers might be unsettling or frustrating to some staff and students. Some answers are simply not yet known, nor have decisions yet been made, and the issues concerned are subject to active discussion through meaningful consultation events. It would be counter-productive to pre-judge the outcomes of the current consultation, which will inform, define and shape the next stages of the project

Questions which seek specific answers regarding the details of the project proposals have been drawn to the attention of the Vice-Principal (Academic Planning & Performance) who is leading the current consultation process, and to the University Executive Group, and there is a commitment from the University to continue to make additional data and information available throughout that process. It should be noted that a great deal of information is already available on the project SharePoint site which includes an FAQ tab that provides answers to some related questions.

There were a few questions relating to the possible risk of redundancy. The University has a comprehensive Redundancy Avoidance Policy, which it is fully committed to, and the Court very much sees redundancy as a measure of last resort, However, the University must act to address its financial position and cannot at this stage rule out the possible need for redundancies at some point in the future.

The University will, throughout the process of project implementation, continue to honour its commitment to value its staff through making time to listen to their views during consultation, consider the outputs of consultation and use them to refine and amend proposals. We have extended the current consultation period to encourage further engagement and are acting in a respectful way to support our staff while we take time to consider their views. We would encourage all staff to engage proactively with the consultation events taking place.

We recognise that the timing of the current consultation (during a pandemic) is not ideal, but the financial challenges we face, including those exacerbated by the pandemic have influenced the timetable presented and we cannot afford to delay the processes. The views of all staff are equally valued, be that Professional Services or academic. We believe that the approach of open and transparent dialogue with staff, and our aim of bringing forward proposals based on the premise of academic excellence is the best way to minimise the risk of unnecessary or undesired staff departures during this unsettling period.

Consultation with students is an important part of the process and student engagement will continue to be actively sought throughout the process. We recognise the concern voiced that module choices might become more limited, but we would highlight the fact that the level of choice currently offered by the University in some areas is significantly higher than elsewhere in the sector and that a more focused approach might bring greater consistency and coherence to academic programmes thereby enhancing meaningful choice as well as student performance, progression, outcomes and employability. We believe that reducing the numbers of modules would also enable more efficient teaching and put less reliance on single points of failure in delivery, as well as support the University in managing staff workloads and our financial position. We believe that bringing these disciplines together will support increasing interdisciplinary sharing of practice both in research and teaching, creating a critical mass, and bringing together creative/innovative thinking to maximise funding opportunities.

There were comments suggesting the proposals could involve making cuts in profitable areas to invest money in other areas. We believe that the proposed rebalancing of investment is based on sound financial proposals, and this information will be shared as the development of the proposals continues. To be clear, beyond the three-School project, through the AES project the whole University is being invited to think differently and consider how efficiency savings can be made in both teaching and research.

We note the points raised in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion. We have engaged officers from the University’s EDI Team, who have significant experience in these areas to advise on the process and work with us on equality impact assessments as and when formal proposals begin to emerge from the consultation process. However, we are open to further suggestions from our community as to the EDI implications of the proposals and how they might be addressed.

The current AES consultation takes the form of a series of engagements and events being held across the University for all staff as well as students. The project also has a Sharepoint Site which provides a wide range of information and data as well as an online survey and as a link to enable individuals to submit responses and ideas for the project team to consider. The outcomes of the process will include a full report outlining the nature of all of the feedback received and highlighting how that has influenced the process and refined the proposals that come forward to the next stage.

Vision

We were asked whether the ambition of being `Scotland’s leading university’ was still applicable and whether a change in the University’s strategy was likely.

There are many areas where the University can already be considered to be leading in Scotland and beyond and there is no doubt that the concept has had value in conveying a sense of ambition, aspiration and achievement in the University. The current University Strategy runs from 2017 to 2022 and our vision and strategic goals will naturally be reviewed and revaluated as part of the work to develop the next University Strategy from 2022 to 2027, which will commence over the course of the current calendar year. The University Court has encouraged broad thinking in the development of the next strategy, but is fully committed to putting in place a strategy that has financial sustainability and autonomy alongside academic innovation and excellence and that is able to respond to a rapidly-changing post-COVID Higher Education (HE) environment.

Business transformation

We were asked about the ongoing development and status of the Business Transformation project, as well as any financial impairment as a result.

The financial impairment (depreciation in fair market value in excess of the book value of the asset) related to the programme was reported openly in the University’s financial statements for 2018/19 as £2.5m. Our latest accounts have yet to be finalised, but the equivalent impairment is likely to be £2m for 2019/20.

While the University has chosen not to continue with the implementation of the OneUniversity Student System, it has allocated resources from within the existing programme budget to make selective enhancements to the existing SITS system, for example in relation to the introduction of paperless admissions functionality and the creation of a module and programme catalogue.

The programme remains within the overall budget approved by the University Court and the level of investment being made reflects that required to deliver modern corporate business systems. The Finance element of the OneUniversity system has been live since August 2019 and has performed well, with excellent levels of resilience, significantly improved financial reporting, an enhanced financial control environment and outstanding levels of remote accessibility throughout the COIVD pandemic. The first of a two-phased implementation of the research element is due to go live in the next month and testing of the HR/Payroll element is currently proceeding to schedule.

Staffing resources for the programme comprise a mix of relevant internal staff, some of them formally seconded to the programme, and staff with the required expertise recruited externally. All posts available in the team are graded in the normal way and recruited to through standard University recruitment processes open to internal as well as external staff. The demands of ‘business as usual’ activities on internal staff mean that it would not have been possible for them to accommodate the workload required to deliver the programme on top of their existing responsibilities.

COVID pandemic

Questions within this theme were focussed on whether the University would consider designating more rest days in recognition of the hard work of staff and challenges created by such issues as home-schooling and caring responsibilities. There were also questions relating to tuition fees and student support and to how the University was supporting the local community through the sharing of expertise.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to UK society, the University and the Higher Education (HE) Sector as a whole. As stated by the Chair of Court and the Principal during the meeting, the response from the University community has been exceptional.

The University provided five rest days for staff in 2020 and the COVID Staff Group is actively discussing the provision of additional days for this purpose in 2021.

Throughout the pandemic the University has prioritised staff and student safety and has followed closely all Scottish Government guidance and regulations. We have invested in equipment and support for staff to enable them to continue to provide necessary functions, but will continue to keep the position under review as the nature of the pandemic and restrictions imposed by the Government evolve. This includes the position with respect to support for staff who have no broadband access at home, where the University has previously provided 4G dongles in particular circumstances, but it should be noted that the cost of providing broadband support to staff in this way is not insignificant.

In relation to the curriculum and technology, the University has invested in online teaching support and continues to provide training and support to staff requiring assistance via the Centre for Technology & Innovation in Learning (CTIL).

The University is keen to continue to work with local stakeholders, such as schools, and share its expertise where this is beneficial to the local community. However, at the current time, with considerable pressure placed on teaching staff to deliver our own curriculum to students under difficult conditions, we must prioritise meeting our own commitments and ensuring staff workloads are manageable.

Governance & remuneration of senior staff

We were asked about a pay rise for the Director of Finance, how pay is determined for members of the University Executive Group, and issues arising from the resignation of the former Principal in 2019.

In July 2020, the University’s Director of Finance was headhunted for a role at another UK university. In order to retain her skills and experience at a critical time in addressing the financial impact of the COVID pandemic and the University’s overarching financial sustainability, the Remuneration Committee of Court (which comprises lay, staff and student members of Court) took a decision to offer to match the salary on offer at the other University on a phased basis and subject to her withdrawal from the recruitment process. As a result, the Director of Finance received a salary increase of 19.6% from 1 August 2020, with a further increase of 7.1% to be awarded from 1 August 2021 subject to performance.

Members of the UEG receive the same annual nationally-negotiated pay increase as all other staff. Grade 10 staff, including members of UEG, do not have access to annual incremental progression and so they have the opportunity once a year to apply for their salary to be reviewed based on performance. Other than in the case of the Director of Finance as set out above, no salary increases were sought or received by members of the UEG in 2019 and 2020.

Under the University’s Charter and Statutes, it is required to appoint a Principal & Vice-Chancellor. The salary of the new Principal is £245,000 per annum and was approved by the Remuneration Committee of Court within parameters set by the Court as a whole. This salary is below the mean salary for Vice-Chancellors of UK universities of our type and turnover, which in 2019 was £271,783. For comparison the median salary for members of staff across all staff categories in the University in 2019/20 was £38,017.

All employees have the legal right to resign and so the University was not in a position to prevent Professor Atherton from doing so. Professor Atherton did not receive a pay-off; rather he was paid a sum to which he was contractually entitled in lieu of notice, which was calculated in line with formal legal advice.

A question was raised about the University’s commitment to stamping out bullying. The University has an absolute commitment to dealing with workplace bullying.

Governance - Court

We were asked how performance is evaluated in terms of governance and the role of Court, particularly in relation to the financial performance of the University.

Under primary legislation (the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act (2016)) via the Scottish Funding Council, the University must comply with the Scottish Code of Good HE Governance (2017) which sets out at a series of requirements for, and indicators of, good governance. The University’s auditors have reviewed our compliance with the Act and are satisfied that we comply with its requirements. In implementing the requirements of the Code, the University amended the membership of both the Court, to include nominated members of the trade unions, and the Remuneration Committee, to include staff and student members of the Court. The University was acknowledged as the first University to achieve compliance with the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act and actively reviews its approach relative to best practice in the sector. The Court carries out a review of its effectiveness annually, in accordance with the Code, and every five years an independent external expert is employed to facilitate a formal review of governance and effectiveness, with the response to the recommendations of this review published on the Court website. Members of staff are encouraged to hold the Court to account at its annual public stakeholder meeting.

The University Court membership, skills and expertise can be viewed through the Court Website. Over a third of Court members are members of staff of the University (including the Principal), in standing for election to the Court or through nomination by the trade unions, staff can directly influence the work of the Court. We would encourage interested staff and students to stand for election when the opportunities arise, and to vote in those elections, and any interested individuals external to the University should consider applying to become a lay member of Court. Recruitment rounds are advertised from time to time as vacancies arise. A review of the current members and their backgrounds does show that there is a broad base of skills and experience which we believe is necessary to provide effective scrutiny and challenge of plans put forward.

The University has actively highlighted its financial challenges through Universities Scotland, direct meetings between the Chair of Court and the CEO of the Scottish Funding Council, and in direct communication between the Principal and the Minister for Education and Skills. We will continue to do so.

Over the last few years, as pointed out by the questions from the audience, the University has posted successive deficit budgets. Throughout this period, the University has endeavoured to be transparent about its financial position and the challenges it has faced, with the Court and its finance committee considering data relating to the position and proposals from the University Executive Group to address the situation. Throughout this period the University has consistently taken decisions which protect staff jobs and the student experience and on this basis had allowed a longer timeframe to achieve financial sustainability. However the chronic underfunding of the sector (as acknowledged in two successive

Audit Scotland Reports), successive flat-cash settlements from the SFC, and an increased call upon University finances, for example in relation to pension costs, and more recently the COVID pandemic, has meant that the income growth achieved by the University has not been sufficient to reach financial sustainability. The University is therefore now considering proposals such as those outlined in the AES project. We do not therefore agree with the suggestion that the position is a result of governance failures.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We were asked about our commitment to making progress on the EDI agenda.

The University is committed to making continual progress in the area of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI). A member of the University Executive Group (UEG), Thomas Veit, has recently taken on the role of EDI champion to bring enhanced focus on making tangible progress and the topic is a standing item for every meeting of the UEG. Considerable progress has been made against the targets set in the University's Equality Action Plan, as outlined in its regular Equality Mainstreaming & Outcome report. Court held a dedicated session to hear about both the University and DUSA's work in this area prior to its last formal meeting.

The Court also recently reviewed and updated its Statement on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion on the Court and its Committees, which seeks to achieve diversity amongst its membership which reflects the diversity within the University community. The University’s Equality Action Plan includes the target outcome that ‘Decision-making committees will be reflective of the demographics of the wider community’ and the University reports this within the Mainstreaming report in accordance with Public Sector Equality Duty. The University will shortly be submitting its report required under the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018. This report will confirm that the University has met the Gender Representation Objective.

The University remains committed to the Athena Swan principles and is developing its approach toward submission for the Race Charter, with visits from the SFC/Advance HE Race Project team adding to the refreshment of the University’s thinking and approach.

Public engagement

We were asked about the University’s role as a `good neighbour’ and how we can work together with the city and our local communities.

The University of Dundee has a long history of working with the City of Dundee and its communities, reaching from being the founding partner of V&A Dundee, being central to supporting the UNESCO City of Design programme to community engagement via local events and community outreach in local schools and other areas such as student placements. Key events across the year include our Saturday evening lecture series, regularly attended by large numbers of the city and communities, the annual Discovery Days as well as the Festival of the Future. As our new Principal has outlined in his speech we are keen to continue this engagement and widen our local reach and this will be reflected in future plans.

Current engagement and activity can be found on the Public Engagement website. Clearly we also play a major role in the economic development of the city, through the establishment of spin-out businesses, the development of graduates who stay to live and work locally, the spending power of our students and staff and the contribution we make to the social, recreational and cultural life of the city region. The University is a major partner in the Tay Cities project which will deliver significant investment in the future economic success of our region.

Widening access

We were asked about prioritisation of resource to support widening access and the impact then on other areas of focus such as international recruitment.

The University has made considerable and impressive progress in international student recruitment and partnerships over recent years against its previously low base and despite stiff competition from other institutions. Alongside this increase in international recruitment, the University never lost its focus on widening access for disadvantaged students within Scotland and the UK. The University has a proud history of Widening Access as early as the foundation of University College Dundee and the current Widening Access strategy has ensured successful graduation of students from various and disadvantaged backgrounds in Scotland for over 25 years. It will continue to greatly value this aspect of its mission while at the same time growing internationally. Our new Principal has affirmed his commitment both to widening access and to international recruitment.

International

We were asked about the strategy for the School of Business, particularly in relation to the Chinese market; how we can compete in the international market; and the challenges raised by global issues.

Over the course of it short life, the School of Business has made good progress in improving its academic excellence as well as significant contributions to international recruitment at Dundee, with the University more than doubling its international fee income over the five years ending in 2019/20. A significant amount of that income has come from Asia, which accounts for over 40% of the globally mobile population of international students. Significant increases in international income are essential to our future financial sustainability given the structural underfunding by the Scottish Government of the costs of tuition of our Scottish students. In terms of global patterns of demand for international education China, India and soon Nigeria will be the dominant sending countries over the next decade.

The issue of how to manage relations with the Chinese Government, institutions and individual citizens is one that faces all governments and institutions engaged with the world’s rising superpower and its more assertive stance in recent years. This issue, along with our commitment to academic freedom, had been discussed at Court in the context of our Chinese links and Court will continue to monitor our relationships. We enjoy very fruitful links with Chinese Universities and with many individual Chinese citizens (and students from HK, Taiwan) who study, and some work, at the University. We have strong partnerships with two major research-intensive Chinese universities, Wuhan and Northeastern University, and have a third partnership planned with Central South University, another research leader. Each of these partnerships are governed by a Collaboration Board where we make clear our commitment to upholding University of Dundee values including academic freedom. So far, no issues of concern have been drawn to our attention.

More broadly, our University contributes fully to addressing some of the major global challenges through research and learning across a broad spread of disciplines. Clearly COVID has impacted many areas of university life and we are all currently working hard to ensure all our remote learners offshore have a comparable experience in terms of connectivity and student support to those learning onshore. Post-pandemic we will have the opportunity to build a new set of international collaborations that build on the expertise developed during the pandemic around blended learning opportunities as well as to reinforce our commitment as a University to being a world-leading triple intensive global institution.

Finance

We were asked about our plans to attain greater financial sustainability and our confidence in the achievement of these plans.

The University recognises it needs to take action now to secure financial sustainability and has agreed a path to do that over several years. Previous plans have been successful in enabling the University to provide an excellent student experience and world class research (taking us from the mid-40s in UK league tables ten years ago to the low 20s today), whilst continuing to report relatively consistent levels of deficit with limited capital investment. In previous periods the Court has taken deliberate strategic decisions to maintain a level of deficit and attempt to address the financial position through income growth rather than imposing cuts and has done so in order to try to maintain the student experience, preserve research excellence and protect staff jobs. The University also suffers from the fact that Scottish HE is underfunded, with home students being taught at below full cost and research not meeting its full economic cost. For example, had the University received simply inflationary increases in funding from SFC over the last 10 years (as opposed to successive flat cash settlements) it would currently be receiving around £15m more from the SFC on an annual basis and would not be subject to the current level of financial pressure. This is not a sustainable position and further action is required to secure our long term future. This approach includes significant growth in our international student intake alongside cost reduction measures across the whole University. We recognise the path is not easy as the growth targets alone are significant and represent doubling our existing international fee level. The cost reduction targets inevitably present operational difficulties and the need to do things differently. Pay cuts have been considered for all staff to mitigate the impact of COVID, a proposal was developed but not implemented as cash savings were achieved in other areas. A pay cut for senior staff only was considered but not felt to be an appropriate long term solution to our financial position. The current phase of our strategy flows to 2022 and a strategic review will commence this year to build our vision and strategic plans for the next five years and beyond.

Tay Cities

We were asked what impact the Tay Cities Deal would have on the University, and in particular financial aspects of it.

The Tay Cities Deal provides the University with £40m capital funding which will boost our efforts to capitalise on our world-class strengths in biomedicine and forensic science, creating hundreds of new jobs and attracting further inward investment to our area.

The 'Growing the Tay Cities Biomedical cluster' project builds on our world-class expertise in life sciences research, drug discovery and medical devices. It will create a new Innovation hub where world-class academic and entrepreneurial expertise is combined, providing a local home for spin-out companies to develop new treatments and technologies for medicine and life sciences.

The 'JustTech' project will create an Institute of Innovation for Forensic Science to create a new economic cluster in the region.

The University is providing the land for this capital programme and supporting the working capital requirements of the two projects during the construction phases. Following the Deal signing the University will incorporate the £40m capital spend and capital income in its financial plans.

DUSA

We were asked about the future focus of DUSA and in particular views on moving beyond a perceived 'student drinking culture'.

Prior to COVID there had been a trend towards students drinking less. Research conducted for DUSA by 4th year Marketing Students showed that socially orientated students who enjoy partying made up just 21% of students. We wish to reach a much broader range of students and will be guided by what they want and need from us.

We have made a number of changes this year to promote a coffee café culture within DUSA.

• We have invested in outdoor space with the development of our socially distanced Terrace and we have removed alcohol sales from Pavement Café.
• At the start of Semester there was a brief period where we were allowed to serve alcohol and we made a number of changes to our model to promote responsible drinking, using premium products and creating an experience and environment which includes food and alcohol, rather than being focussed purely on alcohol consumption.
• There has been no nightclub activity since prior to St Patricks Day in March 2020.
• We have focussed on developing our excellent coffee and improving our food offering throughout Semester 1

We have already made a relatively successful transition to coffee café culture this year and feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive. Our priority is to create safe, welcoming spaces for students to come together, socialise, receive support and increase their individual and collective impact. The behaviour of our students in our venues throughout this year has been impeccable. There will likely still be a demand for alcohol and we will continue to promote responsible drinking.

There will be a range of stakeholder engagement opportunities as we develop our new 5 Year Strategic Plan and we would encourage everyone to get involved, to shape the future of DUSA.

Counselling

We were asked if the University was considering increasing the number of counsellors to provide further support in managing student mental health.

Student mental health is a significant issue for the Higher Education (HE) Sector and the University’s Student Services directorate works in close partnership with DUSA in this area. While the COVID pandemic has brought challenges, the counselling team has adapted well to the delivery of its services online and via telephone sessions with students. Over the last few years, the University Court and the University Executive Group have taken a particular interest in student mental health and the counselling team has received additional investment from both the University and through additional support made available by the Scottish Government via the Scottish Funding Council. An increasing focus of our work in this area is on early intervention and prevention through wellbeing initiatives and support. The University will be actively participating in a new programme on student mental health, called Thinking Learners, which will shortly be launched by the Mental Health Foundation in conjunction with Universities Scotland.

Specific collaboration

We were asked whether there were any plans for collaboration with CEH in Wallingford given the Principal’s links with that institution

Our new Principal is a Trustee of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, of which CEH Wallingford is a part. The Court is aware of this role and supportive of it. There are no specific plans at this time to increase collaboration with CEH in Wallingford, however we remain open to collaboration with institutions which can further our aims and objectives.