{"id":8104,"date":"2026-10-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=8104"},"modified":"2026-10-14T16:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:42:31","slug":"the-data-breach-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-staff-concern-over-new-executive-dean-beth-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2026\/10\/15\/the-data-breach-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-staff-concern-over-new-executive-dean-beth-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe data breach is the tip of the iceberg\u201d: staff concern over new executive dean Beth Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Amelia Boag McGlynn & Emily Reid<\/strong><\/p>\n

The appointment of new Executive Dean of Arts and Humanities, Beth Lord, has ruffled feathers after she faced significant controversy in her previous role as Head of School of DHPA. Lord is reported to have committed a data breach in 2023 regarding the University\u2019s Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB).<\/span><\/p>\n

Lord was found responsible for creating a spreadsheet naming course staff who had previously taken part in industrial action, and\/or were suspected of taking part in future strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The illegal spreadsheet was referred to as a \u2018RAG\u2019 list, an acronym standing for red, amber and green. The colour-coded list could be used to determine which members of staff are likely to participate in strike action or Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB).<\/span><\/p>\n

Union members feared the \u2018RAG\u2019 spreadsheet could be used as a \u201cblacklist\u201d to target those taking part in industrial action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, staff felt concern regarding the Senior Management Team\u2019s (SMT) potential treatment of striking staff workers, and whether they had students\u2019 best interests at heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the GDPR principle-breaching list was revealed, staff within the school were encouraged to \u201cwork positively together, and to support the new Head of School in the collegiate way the University promotes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the recent announcements, staff within the faculty have raised concerns on Lord\u2019s appointment as Executive Dean. Speaking to<\/span> The Gaudie,<\/span><\/i> one anonymous staff member within the faculty said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the data breach is the tip of the iceberg.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI have only heard one person who had anything good to say about her leadership as head of DHPA [Divinity, History, Philosophy, and Art History], so she\u2019s arriving in this post without much support from within her own school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They added: \u201cI think everyone was expecting [Beth Lord\u2019s] appointment because it is clear that senior management thinks that deep cuts are necessary in the arts and humanities, and she will be the one to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gaudie<\/em>\u00a0also revealed the rest of the new executive deans in an article last week<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A staff communication announced the four members of staff appointed to the helm of newly created \u201cfaculties\u201d that have replaced twelve individual schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The structural reorganisation, approved in April 2026, is part of the University\u2019s \u00a310 million saving plan. The plan also threatens to cut over 100 jobs across the institution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences<\/b><\/p>\n

The Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences will be headed by Professor John Sk\u00e5tun, who has led the university\u2019s Business School (UABS) since 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His research involves gender equality and economics, and was part of recruiting the first female Professor of Economics at the university.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Life Sciences<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The faculty of Medicine, Health, and Life Sciences will be manned by Professor David Blackbourn. The virologist was the previous head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, running the departments since July 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faculty of Science and Engineering<\/b><\/p>\n

The fourth executive dean will be Professor Dave Muirhead, heading the faculty of Science and Engineering. He has spent nearly seven years as the Head of School of Geosciences.<\/span><\/p>\n

The group of deans will officially begin on the first of October. The Gaudie<\/em> exclusively reported that the roles will earn between \u00a3112,000 and \u00a3140,000 per annum. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amelia Boag McGlynn & Emily Reid The appointment of new Executive Dean of Arts and Humanities, Beth Lord, has ruffled feathers after she faced significant controversy in her previous role as Head of School of DHPA. Lord is reported to have committed a data breach in 2023 regarding the University\u2019s Marking and Assessment Boycott […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":8136,"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":38,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[2144,2143,2046,2140,2141,1816,2142,2138,2139,1763,1279],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":["post-8104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-beth-lord","tag-dhpa","tag-executive-deans","tag-faculties","tag-humanities","tag-industrial-action","tag-marking-and-assessment-boycott","tag-news-aberdeen-university","tag-smt","tag-strikes","tag-ucu"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Gaudie Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/gaudie-staff\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/A1.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Beth lord<\/a>","dhpa<\/a>","Executive deans<\/a>","faculties<\/a>","humanities<\/a>","industrial action<\/a>","marking and assessment boycott<\/a>","news. Aberdeen university<\/a>","smt<\/a>","strikes<\/a>","UCU<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Beth lord<\/span>","dhpa<\/span>","Executive deans<\/span>","faculties<\/span>","humanities<\/span>","industrial action<\/span>","marking and assessment boycott<\/span>","news. Aberdeen university<\/span>","smt<\/span>","strikes<\/span>","UCU<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 day ago","modified":"Updated 2 days ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 15 October 2026","modified":"Updated on 14 October 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 15 October 2026 09:00","modified":"Updated on 14 October 2026 16:42"},"featured_img_caption":"Photograph: University of Aberdeen","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8104","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\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8104"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8138,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8104\/revisions\/8138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8104"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=8104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}