Staff at Dundee University have been told job losses are “inevitable” as the award-winning institution faces a massive £30 million black hole in its budget.
Principal Professor Iain Gillespie wrote to staff on Wednesday warning there would be a “reduction in staffing levels” at the university.
He said despite efforts in recent years attracting “record numbers” of fee-paying international students, Dundee University suffered a “significant drop” in recruitment this year.
This, coupled with other outside factors means the institution is facing a budget deficit of between £25m-£30m.
A recruitment freeze, including filling current vacancies, is already in place.
And the university is also having to cut operational expenditure, Professor Gillespie said.
Dundee University employs around 3,000 members of staff and has more than 17,000 students.
The university has an expenditure of around £320m to July 2023, its most recent published accounts show.
Dundee University warns of job losses
One worried staff member told The Courier the warning “came out of the blue”.
“The unions have been taken by complete surprise, this really is a shock,” they said.
“We’re all incredibly worried about what this will mean.
“Things are already running under quite a lot of fiscal constraint.
“Who knows what this will mean for teaching and for our students over the next year.”
Principal warns decisions will not be “easy”
Principal Professor Gillespie warned the coming years would be “difficult” as the university tries to cut its cloth accordingly.
Writing to staff, he said: “While we have done well in recent years to recruit record numbers of international students, a significant drop in recruitment this academic year, combined with other factors, means we are now planning for a significant deficit in this financial year.
“We now have measures in place to reduce our costs including a freeze on recruitment, including on filling vacancies for existing posts and reducing operational expenditure.
“However, even with these measures we could still be looking at a deficit for this financial year in the range of £25-£30m.
“Therefore, we must take further action now to address our financial stability and long-term future.
“Given the profile of our costs, it is inevitable this will mean a reduction in our staffing levels.
“This will be a very difficult period, certainly for this financial year and next.
“We must meet this challenge together as a mutually supportive community.
“The decisions we take will be in the interests of the future health and sustainability of the university but they will not, in many cases, be easy ones.
“I will keep (staff) updated on our progress as we work through this unprecedented set of challenges for our university and the wider higher education sector.”
International fees four times higher
International students pay more than four times as much on fees than UK, with some being charged as much as £23,000 a year to study in Dundee.
Scottish students are the only ones in the UK who do not pay for undergraduate degrees, a long-held SNP Scottish Government policy instigated by former first minister, the late Alex Salmond.
He famously declared “rocks would melt with the sun” before he and his government allowed tuition fees to be imposed on Scottish students.
Students who study at universities in England and Wales have to pay up to £9,535 in undergraduate tuition fees from 2025.
Labour warns further harm of cuts
North East Labour MSP Michael Marra is a former staff member at Dundee University prior to his election to parliament.
He said: “The university is the city and the region’s most vital institution.
“A deficit of this scale will be of huge concern to staff, students and the wider community.
“Dundee is not alone in this unfolding funding crisis with jobs being cut across the country in higher education, as a broken funding model has left institutions over exposed to volatile international recruitment markets for students.
“The SNP government have not increased the rate paid to universities for 15 years.
“No business or public service can sustain that kind of pressure indefinitely.
“I know that the university management will be doing all they can to reduce the inevitable pain of these terrible cuts.”
Conversation