{"id":7844,"date":"2026-07-09T20:41:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=7844"},"modified":"2026-07-09T21:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:00:33","slug":"a-rolling-disaster-principals-message-to-staff-reflects-alternate-reality-as-term-closes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2026\/07\/09\/a-rolling-disaster-principals-message-to-staff-reflects-alternate-reality-as-term-closes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA rolling disaster\u201d: Principal\u2019s message to staff reflects \u201calternate reality\u201d as term closes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Principal Pete Edwards\u2019 end-of-year message has been criticised by staff for its \u201ctin ear\u201d regarding the university\u2019s 25\/26 academic year.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of this week, the University of Aberdeen\u2019s leader issued a message to staff at the conclusion of the graduation ceremonies. Hailing the moment as a time to \u201cpause and reflect\u201d, the address contained over 1,500 words detailing the university\u2019s \u201csignificant progress\u201d across the Aberdeen 2040 strategic priorities this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The message highlights the university\u2019s successes in research, quality of education, regional engagement, and global partnerships, emphasising the institution’s ties to China and India, with the university\u2019s Mumbai campus still set to open this September.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the message forgets to mention the <\/span>troubles<\/span><\/a> that have faced the university across the academic year, including two sets of industrial actions, significant job losses, course reductions, and millions of pounds of financial cuts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The omission of these setbacks has not been received well, with one member of teaching staff saying that the principal\u2019s words reflected an \u201calternate reality\u201d from the real state of the university.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remaining anonymous, this staff member shared their opinion with <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems the principal is reflecting an alternative reality where jobs, disciplines, and the integrity of our governance structures are not under attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure the summer will be far more relaxing for those in senior management, whose own jobs are never on the line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another senior member of staff spoke anonymously to <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>, stating the principal’s message was \u201cexactly what they had expected\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear to everyone that he\u2019s just not up to the job, so he needs to patronise university staff until he at least feels that he is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I think that\u2019s how he\u2019s making decisions too, taking courses of action that offer him reassurance that he\u2019s the man in charge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a rolling disaster that everyone wonders how long it can continue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The university\u2019s staff and students <\/span>are currently feeling the impacts<\/span><\/a> of a \u00a310 million saving plan in order to pull a planned surplus of \u00a34 million. University court proposals in May <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> that 111 FTE staff would be made redundant, as well as implementing other saving measures such as student:staff ratios, <\/span>restructuring<\/span><\/a> individual schools into larger umbrella faculties, and <\/span>cutting<\/span><\/a> smaller courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

These changes have not been received positively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The University and College Union (UCU) reported a staff health and wellbeing crisis seeing staff morale <\/span>drop<\/span><\/a> 35% in the last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An open letter to the university garnered over 1600 signatures,<\/span> directing UoA to treat staff as \u201cassets, not liabilities.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amidst these financial troubles, this week the university <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> a \u00a3200k spending plan to convert the historic Chanonry Lodge into an events space, as well as four new \u2018executive dean\u2019 positions to manage the institution’s restructured four faculties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Fred Byrne and Innes Paton interviewing Principal Edwards for Gettin Rowdy with The Gaudie – Source: Zinat Moslemzadeh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This senior management shuffle is part of the \u00a310 million saving plan, intended to \u201cstreamline the decision making\u201d according to principal Edwards in his recent interview with <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gaudie\u2019s<\/span><\/i>\u00a0exclusive interview with Pete Edwards is available to listen to now: <\/span>https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/is-aberdeen-uni-in-safe-hands\/id1526758768?i=1000775817312&l=zh-Hant-TW<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Principal Pete Edwards\u2019 end-of-year message has been criticised by staff for its \u201ctin ear\u201d regarding the university\u2019s 25\/26 academic year. At the start of this week, the University of Aberdeen\u2019s leader issued a message to staff at the conclusion of the graduation ceremonies. Hailing the moment as a time to \u201cpause and reflect\u201d, the address […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":7845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":75,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[2047,2048,206,1184,1426,1993,1214,1279,183],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-7844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-aberdeen-job","9":"tag-aberdeen-staff","10":"tag-aberdeen-university","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pete-edwards","13":"tag-principal-pete-edwards","14":"tag-the-gaudie","15":"tag-ucu","16":"tag-university-of-aberdeen"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Amelia Boag","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/ameliamcg07\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-08-at-10.19.52-e1783625698533-300x176.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aberdeen job<\/a>","Aberdeen Staff<\/a>","Aberdeen University<\/a>","news<\/a>","pete edwards<\/a>","Principal Pete Edwards<\/a>","the gaudie<\/a>","UCU<\/a>","University of Aberdeen<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aberdeen job<\/span>","Aberdeen Staff<\/span>","Aberdeen University<\/span>","news<\/span>","pete edwards<\/span>","Principal Pete Edwards<\/span>","the gaudie<\/span>","UCU<\/span>","University of Aberdeen<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 months ago","modified":"Updated 2 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 9 July 2026","modified":"Updated on 9 July 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 9 July 2026 20:41","modified":"Updated on 9 July 2026 21:00"},"featured_img_caption":"Opening of Principals message to staff - Source: Anonymous","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7844"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7850,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7844\/revisions\/7850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7844"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}