This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/05/vice-chancellors-jump-on-to-the-gravy-train
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Vice-chancellors jump on to the gravy train | Vice-chancellors jump on to the gravy train |
| (3 days later) | |
| Far from being a “completely mendacious” fabrication of the media, as claimed by Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson recently (‘Mendacious media’ guilty in pay row, says head of Oxford University, 5 September), universities did benefit financially from the introduction of £9,000 fees. It is true that the move coincided with a reduction in the government’s block grant to universities through HEFCE, but the fees did not merely “substitute for the withdrawal of government funding” as Richardson claims, but on average led to a 25% increase in public support for university teaching. Although this massive increase did not close the gap on the cost of teaching at the most expensive universities (which cross-subsidise it from their endowments and commercial trading), it did result in huge surpluses at many universities, and fuelled an explosion of vice-chancellors’ salaries in the UK that is simply unparalleled in low-fee regimes, such those in Ireland, France and Germany. Politicians may be tawdry (“showy and cheap”) but vice-chancellors have become reassuringly expensive.Name and address supplied | Far from being a “completely mendacious” fabrication of the media, as claimed by Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson recently (‘Mendacious media’ guilty in pay row, says head of Oxford University, 5 September), universities did benefit financially from the introduction of £9,000 fees. It is true that the move coincided with a reduction in the government’s block grant to universities through HEFCE, but the fees did not merely “substitute for the withdrawal of government funding” as Richardson claims, but on average led to a 25% increase in public support for university teaching. Although this massive increase did not close the gap on the cost of teaching at the most expensive universities (which cross-subsidise it from their endowments and commercial trading), it did result in huge surpluses at many universities, and fuelled an explosion of vice-chancellors’ salaries in the UK that is simply unparalleled in low-fee regimes, such those in Ireland, France and Germany. Politicians may be tawdry (“showy and cheap”) but vice-chancellors have become reassuringly expensive.Name and address supplied |
| • “My own salary is £350,000. That’s a very high salary compared to our academics who I think are, junior academics especially, very lowly paid. Compared to a footballer, it looks very different; compared to a banker if looks very different.” | • “My own salary is £350,000. That’s a very high salary compared to our academics who I think are, junior academics especially, very lowly paid. Compared to a footballer, it looks very different; compared to a banker if looks very different.” |
| Thus the vice-chancellor of my alma mater, Oxford University, providing a masterclass in the very thing with which she charges politicians and others – the tawdry. Her lazy self-serving idiocy is a parody of something her university is supposed to teach: the rigorous arts of comparative analysis. It looks very different compared to a footballer, I ask you. As for the “very lowly paid” academic staff, there’s not one word here about the growing practice of universities operating zero hour contracts. | Thus the vice-chancellor of my alma mater, Oxford University, providing a masterclass in the very thing with which she charges politicians and others – the tawdry. Her lazy self-serving idiocy is a parody of something her university is supposed to teach: the rigorous arts of comparative analysis. It looks very different compared to a footballer, I ask you. As for the “very lowly paid” academic staff, there’s not one word here about the growing practice of universities operating zero hour contracts. |
| There is a real problem with the VC cartel in this country. Lord Adonis is right on that score, although the position from which he argues – the business-model conception of a university – is a different matter. Meanwhile, Richardson has, at a stroke, brought my great university into disrepute.Professor Christopher PrendergastCambridge | There is a real problem with the VC cartel in this country. Lord Adonis is right on that score, although the position from which he argues – the business-model conception of a university – is a different matter. Meanwhile, Richardson has, at a stroke, brought my great university into disrepute.Professor Christopher PrendergastCambridge |
| • If the salary for a vice chancellor is £350,000, what is the pension?S ThompsonAldeburgh, Suffolk | • If the salary for a vice chancellor is £350,000, what is the pension?S ThompsonAldeburgh, Suffolk |
| • The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Louise Richardson, may be correct in denying a link between increased tuition fees and the large salaries of vice-chancellors, including her own. However, she does her case no good by trotting out the hoary “global marketplace” excuse beloved of bankers. | • The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Louise Richardson, may be correct in denying a link between increased tuition fees and the large salaries of vice-chancellors, including her own. However, she does her case no good by trotting out the hoary “global marketplace” excuse beloved of bankers. |
| Professor Richardson should reflect that until 2004 Oxford managed very well on a rolling system of vice-chancellorships, usually involving heads of colleges. Its first appointment under the current system was widely regarded as a disaster; one must surely assume that she does not wish to be seen as continuing in this tradition. | Professor Richardson should reflect that until 2004 Oxford managed very well on a rolling system of vice-chancellorships, usually involving heads of colleges. Its first appointment under the current system was widely regarded as a disaster; one must surely assume that she does not wish to be seen as continuing in this tradition. |
| The “global marketplace” argument is on a par with moves by Oxford such as the globalisation (or Americanisation) of the title of “professor” by conferring it on people not holding official university chairs, and, more recently, by extending the title to university lecturers. Soon, the lack of a title will be the only distinction left to Oxford dons.Nick ChadwickOxford | The “global marketplace” argument is on a par with moves by Oxford such as the globalisation (or Americanisation) of the title of “professor” by conferring it on people not holding official university chairs, and, more recently, by extending the title to university lecturers. Soon, the lack of a title will be the only distinction left to Oxford dons.Nick ChadwickOxford |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |
| • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |