SNP education chief Jenny Gilruth says the government is “open” to providing more financial support to ensure Dundee University thrives.
Ms Gilruth insists more support could be made available but that the university will have to make a request to the Scottish Funding Council.
She said: “We are open to any ask from the university. That ask will have to come via the SFC.”
But with the government clear it does not support the current plan to reduce the number of full-time roles by 632, what would be acceptable?
Ms Gilruth said: “Universities are independent and they are autonomous. It’s not for me to come up with a plan for Dundee.
“It is for me as cabinet secretary to listen when an institution is in trouble and to respond.
“And that’s what the government has done by making that extra funding available.”
The Fife MSP spoke to The Courier in her office in Holyrood a day after the explosive evidence session in front of parliament’s education committee.
Parliament evidence ‘deeply challenging’
Ms Gilruth said she had been aware of some of the issues revealed, but she added: “Some of it was deeply challenging for the institution and the individuals involved.
“It’s important there’s transparency.”
Ms Gilruth said she had met with the interim principal and acting chair of court, Tricia Bey, following the evidence session.
Ms Bey set out the situation at the university in stark terms, saying that without the support provided by the Scottish Funding Council the university “would have run out of money by June”.
Asked if she was surprised a Scottish university was in such a perilous position, the Fife MSP said: “Yeah, I think there are some pretty unique circumstances at play in relation to Dundee.
“You’ve heard in commentary from the principal and from the chair of court yesterday around about some of the financial decisions that were taken and the information sharing.
“So it’s quite difficult for me to comment on that until the independent investigation has concluded.”
She added: “The government has made available £25 million of extra funding to the sector.
“So that is going to help with the solvency issues…and to put the university on an even keel.”
Ms Gilruth also explained the SFC – the government agency responsible for higher education funding – had not previously been made aware of the cash crisis.
“That’s an issue we want to take forward with the SFC. But very much my focus is on supporting Dundee University.”
Ms Gilruth refused to concede the government’s initial response to news of a potential 632 job losses had been lacklustre.
She had faced criticism, including from SNP sources, for answering an urgent question in parliament on the issue the day after the scale of the cuts were made clear.
One source said sending the higher education minister rather than the cabinet secretary had “sent the wrong signal” about how serious the SNP government was taking the issue.
Crisis of ‘extreme importance’ to government
Ms Gilruth said: “We are very concerned about this and I think it was right for [Graeme Dey] to respond to the question last Tuesday.
“But I’ve been pretty clear on my direct engagement with the trade unions and also with the management, that this is of extreme importance to the government and that is why we have made this funding available.”
The education secretary also refused to concede that Scotland’s model of funding for Scottish students had played a significant role in the crisis.
While committing to free tuition, the cost to educate a home student is only part funded.
Interim principal Shane O’Neill had said this was part of the problem at Dundee University.
He told The Courier previously: “We aren’t given sufficient money to deliver on the kind of teaching for Scottish students that we deliver or the research that we do.
“We have to compensate for that through other means, primarily through international tuition fees.
“When another policy area changes that leaves us really vulnerable.
“So this has been a sector wide problem for quite a while, and I think, some of the institution specific reasons for the crisis we’re in, we would be able to bounce back more easily if those problems of structural underfunding weren’t there in the first place.”
Tuition fee policy not the problem
Ms Gilruth said she did not accept the situation at Dundee University is related to how Scottish students are funded.
“We’ve actually increased the funding in the budget for next year by 3.5% at the behest of the sector. We’ve increased research funding.
“I’m perfectly happy to have that engagement with the sector and it was really welcome to hear Universities Scotland welcoming that too.
“But we cannot narrowly suggest this has all been driven as a result of our policy on free tuition. That is not the case in Dundee, emphatically not the case.”
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