The situation at the University of Dundee has indeed become dire. In a bid to stave off collapse, the Scottish government is intervening with an additional £40 million to support the institution. In spite of this support, the university finds itself in the midst of a £35 million hole. Such financial pressures have led them to introduce a voluntary redundancy scheme, leading to 300 job losses.
In February, the University of Dundee won £22 million from the Scottish Funding Council. This funding will shore up its finances as it comes under crushing pressure. The institution’s recent fiscal woes have been steeped in a series of blunders committed by the institution’s governing body. A damning internal report, leaked to the media, excoriated the university’s administration for continuing to look the other way amidst the worsening crisis. Rather than enact corrections, they doubled down on their overexpenditure.
Urgent financial issues have come to the fore with the resignation of founding principal Professor Iain Gillespie. He resigned in December under a growing cloud of criticism of his stewardship over the university’s ballooning financial crisis. Under his leadership, despite a quadrupling of international fee income over eight years until 2023, the university reported that it was “barely breaking even,” with international income plateauing in 2023/24 and subsequently declining.
One of her successors, Baroness Wendy Alexander—vice principal international for almost a decade—has made an explosive lacrosse quarterback. She was forced out of her senior executive position after challenging the university’s “uncomfortable” financial practices. She added that there has been a misdirected pivot. What began as more of an international student recruitment strategy has expanded into a larger globalization strategy.
Baroness Alexander became more and more excluded from discussions as her time on the board continued. Her goals had evolved, and she realized that key financial information was being hidden from her. She expressed concerns over the ethical implications of these actions, stating, “Quite simply, it seemed unethical and morally wrong.”
She further emphasized the failures within the institution by asserting that the university “failed to fix the roof when the sun shone,” highlighting the need for more proactive financial management.
Given these changes, Prof Gillespie had already told staff that job cuts were “inevitable” before his resignation. Future leadership will be handed an equally daunting task with the disposition of the coming financial crisis. Simultaneously, they need to overcome transparency and governance challenges highlighted by past staffers.
As the university works to stabilize its finances and restructure its workforce, it faces intense scrutiny regarding its leadership decisions and strategic direction in an increasingly competitive educational landscape.
