The University of Aberdeen have announced new “executive dean” positions which will earn between £112,000 and £140,000 a year.
The new position was introduced as part of the university’s structural transformation in a bid to save £10 million.
This will see the current 12 schools transformed into four faculties, with the four executive deans being in charge of each faculty. The University Court approved these plans in April.
The Unions and College Union (UCU) have claimed that the university adding a “fourth level of hierarchical oversight will only make the institution even more sluggish and resistant to change.”
What are the new “Executive Deans”?
Being in charge of the new faculties, the deans will be responsible for leading the “development and delivery of the faculties’ strategic and operational plans” as well as conducting interdisciplinary collaboration.
They will also occupy a position on the executive board, which contributes to the direction and strategy of the university.
In an interview with The Gaudie, Principal Pete Edwards said that the new position will “streamline the decision making.”
He added that the new four faculty model will mean that decisions and responsibilities will be “delegated downwards.”
University Senate, the democratic body in charge of academia at the institution, voted to oppose the restructuring. They have claimed that the decision making over these proposals should be the responsibility of the senate with the UCU saying:
“The decision to bolt-on four new faculties on top of Departments and Schools was overwhelmingly rejected by the University’s Senate – the institution empowered by the Universities Scotland Act 1966 to supervise academic matters.”
Staff have hit out at the proposals, saying that they are “financially fragile” with a gap between central administration and head of schools.”
The university justified their wage packet by saying that “they are positions of senior responsibility, bringing with them an opportunity to support greater collaboration, more effective use of resources, and a more consistent approach to decision-making and service delivery across the institution.”
At present, the four school faculties are planned as such:
- Arts and Humanities
- Business, Law and Social Sciences
- Science and Engineering
- Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Why are these measures being taken?
This comes at a time when the university is facing major financial turmoil. Last month, the institution announced a £10 million savings plan, projected to cut over 111 jobs.
The university has now reintroduced voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes, and will make a decision on compulsory redundancies in an Autumn review.
Promotions and hiring for “front-line staff” has been paused since last year.
Despite this, the university is projecting a £4 million surplus for this academic year.
Staff have claimed that there is a “health and wellbeing” crisis at the university as many are now fearful for their jobs.
The UCU have commented that “Removing front-line staff will have a paralysing effect on those who remain.
“Staff surveys, twice over, show that workloads are already at the breaking point. The managers also wish to double or triple class sizes damaging the future studies of Scottish students.”
They added that “it is not the time to add more managers to an institution which provides an important public service, especially at the cost of teaching staff.”
A University of Aberdeen spokesperson said: “The Executive Deans will oversee the University’s entire academic body under the new four faculty model, and we are starting our search internally to fill these roles from within our academic community.”
“The creation of faculties and these roles bring us in line with many other universities.”
