LECTURERS at a Scottish university are calling on the Scottish Government to intervene on management jobs over fears of teaching cuts.
Redundancies are expected at Inverness, Moray and Perth colleges – all part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) – as leaders seek to close six-figure funding gaps.
Concerned staff at Perth College UHI have now urged ministers to step in and seek cuts to management roles instead of teaching positions, saying: “Students and staff deserve better.”
The call comes after further management recruitment and a Scottish Funding Council recommendation that UHI “considers consolidation, shared services, recalibrated roles and responsibilities, and options to ensure it survives and thrives”.
Speaking to The National on the condition of anonymity, the staff said addressing the separate HR departments, principals, vice-principals and more could lead to a saving of
“millions of pounds” for facilities and teaching.
It said: “We urge the Scottish Government to look at the structure at Perth College and at the UHI and intervene.
“Currently services and management structures are duplicated across all 13 partner colleges. This means that UHI has 13 principals, all commanding a very healthy salary.
“There are currently three partner colleges, Moray, Perth and Inverness, who have threatened to make teaching and support staff redundant. It is clear that the UHI structure, as is, does not work.”
Reporting “great anxiety” amongst teaching and support staff, they said: “We fear for our jobs and we have received no updates from the college regarding the redundancy process.
“We have not received reassurance. In fact, further managers were hired at Perth College over the summer after we had been told that many of the frontline staff would be made redundant.”
The Scottish Government said colleges and universities “are responsible for their own operational decisions”, stating: “We know our universities and colleges face significant challenges as a result of the pandemic and we are working closely with them to mitigate the effects of the crisis.
“We expect them to work together with trades unions and make every effort to protect jobs.
“Our Further and Higher Education Sustainability Plan highlighted the steps we have taken to support higher education, including allocating £75 million to protect world-leading research and £10m for estates development.”
Perth College UHI said there is “no immediate threat to any lecturer/support staff” and it is “actively participating in ongoing discussions, working groups and strategy planning in order to improve efficiencies and organisational sustainability moving forward”.
A UHI spokesperson stated: “Our university partnership has made great progress to improve the way we work, both individually and collegiately. We are implementing a programme of change that preceded the pandemic and has been accelerated by it.
“We see the challenges ahead and are working hard as a university partnership to address these in ways that secure our core teaching, research and support activities and enhance the experience of all our students, no matter where or what they are studying.”
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