Dear Colleague,

As I set out in my talks to staff last autumn, and in my all-staff email on 9th February, this year we have had to make some tough choices, given the financial pressures the University has faced, the immediate impact of which was a cut in 2011-12 of our total Scottish Funding Council grant by £9.8m. Without action, we had predicted a growing deficit over the next 4 years and so we put in train a series of actions to ensure that we have the financial health to invest in and deliver our strategy, Glasgow 2020: a global vision.

Court approved our plans to reduce staff costs by £3m this year, £10m, in 2011/12 and £7m in 2012/13. Over the last year colleagues have worked extremely hard to develop plans to deal with this reduction in funding, unprecedented in recent times. We have put a voluntary severance plan in place, and we have also sought to make savings in non-staffing costs, and where vacancies have occurred. Such has been the impact of this work that we have turned around our financial prospects.

As many of you are aware, in June the University Court considers our budget for 2011-12, and financial forecast for the years up to 2014-15, based on recommendations by the Senior Management Group. I have agreed with the Convenor of Court that I will share the prospective financial picture with all staff in advance of Court's approval of the budget, to ensure that all colleagues are kept informed directly.

I am delighted to tell you that as a consequence of all our efforts we are now in a good position with our 2011/12 budget and significantly, we are well placed for the years ahead. 

On our central forecast and based on the savings identified above and additional income growth, the University will not face a deficit in the years up to 2014-15. Obviously as with any forecast, there is considerable uncertainty, not least about what will happen to our future costs, and how much funding the HE sector will receive in the next three years. 

Over the two financial years 2010-11 to 2011-12 we have already  identified £12.6m of savings from voluntary severance (£8m) and other sources (e.g. freezing vacancies where possible). In effect we are one year ahead of schedule in meeting our savings target, and that is after allowing for reinvestment in some posts which are critical to meeting our strategic aims.

Our plan to increase international recruitment is also well ahead of schedule, with income projected to increase by a further £8.7m over the financial years 2010-11 to 2011-12.  You will recall that we had an initial target to increase income by £15m by 2014-15.

Glasgow University's reputation internationally as measured by the growth in applications to study in our University has strengthened in recent months, and this is heartening at a time when competition in the HE sector is tough.  The growth in applications is a reflection of the additional programmes developed by our Schools and Research Institutes (53 new PGT programmes coming on-stream in 2011/12) and the dedicated work of colleagues across the Colleges and University Services to support international student recruitment, partnership development and improved student support.

All this is a very positive picture, given the circumstances.  It's a picture which shows that Glasgow University is where it belongs: financially, we are likely to be in a position in the next three years where we are able to make our own choices; we are probably one of only two Scottish Universities in a position to determine our own strategic direction. We have seen, and we will continue to witness over the next few months, a number of Universities struggling to deal with the environment. Many of them, unlike Glasgow, have been the subject of local industrial disputes. Because we took bold decisions, and took these at the right time, we have largely avoided these problems.

That is not to say that we will drop our guard. We will continue to keep control of costs, and I will ask our Court on 22 June to keep our Voluntary Severance scheme in place for the moment, to allow us to make sensible economies where necessary and possible.

At the June Court we will also be deciding on the outcomes of our academic reshaping in a number of areas. As you will recall from my earlier message, and also my visits to a number of Schools and Research Institutes, I was determined to ensure that the consultations were carried out in an open and transparent manner. The outcomes from the consultations show that this is indeed what happened.  There was close consultation with our students through the SRC, and Schools, and Senate yesterday had the opportunity to give their own view on the conclusions reached by the panels. In all cases, the panels have come forward with proposals which are innovative, and which are designed to strengthen our Schools and Colleges, and indeed to grow our reputation. They also take cognisance of Glasgow's contribution to the map of subject provision in Scotland.

These consultations were driven not by financial pressures, but by the need, given scarce investment resources, to ensure that we are able to foster teaching and research excellence, and our impact on our local community, on Scotland, and internationally, as per our strategic plan. The consultation recommendations achieve this goal. I am hopeful that Court will approve them on June 22nd.

I have said consistently to all our Colleges, Schools and Research Institutes that, unless there any further unexpected major external pressures, it is not Senior Management Group's intention to look at any other academic areas for reshaping. Our intention is, for the period of the current strategic plan, to move forward as a broad-based research intensive University. There are no plans for additional consultations in other academic areas. As part of our normal planning we will be looking for continuous improvement in all areas of our activity.

The recommendations from the current consultations in broad terms achieve the majority of the savings which they planned to make. The recommendations achieve this goal in a way which ensures that we maximise our academic range and the impact on our local community and internationally. This is a good outcome.

I would like to thank all of you for your patience and hard work as we have steered a course through choppy financial waters and difficult times. I know that many staff have found the last few months challenging.  However, although  the UK still has difficult years ahead, Glasgow University, through determination and foresight, and a high degree of skill has negotiated  the initial and arguably most difficult phase successfully just as many other publicly-funded organisations are beginning to head into difficult times.

Now that we are 'ahead of the curve' in financial terms, we can focus on delivering the vision set out in our strategic plan.  We can strengthen the University's international presence, and in so doing strengthen the contribution it makes to the health and prosperity of our local and national community.  Working together I am confident we can achieve these aims.

 

Anton Muscatelli

Principal

First published: 3 June 2011

<< Jun