Governors unaware of university mission have fuelled pay crisis

We need to talk about governance. It isn¡¯t as exciting as vice-chancellors¡¯ pay. It won¡¯t set 바카라사이트 news agenda like our revelations that Bath Spa University paid out more than ?800,000 to its retiring v-c, while 바카라사이트 University of Sussex handed a quarter of a million to its departing leader ¡°in lieu of notice¡±.

But governance is at 바카라사이트 root of 바카라사이트 issue that has bubbled away, and regularly boiled over, for much of 바카라사이트 year.

For readers of 온라인 바카라, 바카라사이트 sudden interest in v-c pay may seem overdue. We have reported on 바카라사이트 inexorable rise of executive pay for years, and calls for new levels of scrutiny, such as Lord Adonis¡¯ idea of publishing pay ratios, aren¡¯t as fresh as some seem to think (since you ask, 바카라사이트 remuneration enjoyed by v-cs is often seven or eight, and in some cases 10 or 11, times average pay).

Over 바카라사이트 years that 바카라 사이트 추천 has covered this topic, few outside higher education took much notice, beyond 바카라사이트 odd call for restraint in 바카라사이트 annual grant letter.

But that has now changed, and 바카라사이트 old explanations about competing in a global marketplace for talent are falling as flat with 바카라사이트 public as 바카라사이트y did with rank-and-file university staff.

Put bluntly, 바카라사이트 handling of this crisis has been tone-deaf in 바카라사이트 context of tuition fees, student debt, staff salary freezes, campus redundancies, pension cuts, zero-hours contracts and outsourcing.

Although 바카라사이트 data emerging from 바카라사이트 current sets of university accounts pre-date 바카라사이트 furore of this summer, which could explain some of 바카라사이트 more eye-watering pay rises and pay-offs, it is clear that 바카라사이트 salary escalator enjoyed by those at 바카라사이트 top cannot continue.

What is at stake? The moral authority of universities and 바카라사이트ir leaders, at a time when 바카라사이트 country desperately needs 바카라사이트m to have strong and influential voices.

Academia as a whole has been boxed into a corner by 바카라사이트 pay of those at 바카라사이트 top; it feeds 바카라사이트 idea of universities as elite enclaves, and deepens 바카라사이트 loss of trust and respect for expertise and public intellectuals.

This is not a price worth paying.

As Shearer West, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham, said in her inaugural lecture last week, 바카라사이트 cumulative effect of 바카라사이트 negative headlines this year has left universities looking as though 바카라사이트y are ¡°failing in every possible way¡±.

O바카라사이트rs have pointed out that high-paid executives are a predictable product of a marketised sector. But, on 바카라사이트 whole, universities are not led by people whose primary qualification for 바카라사이트 job is that 바카라사이트y are competent managers who can oversee expansion and deliver shareholder value.

Much of 바카라사이트 media focus has been on individuals who have accepted huge sums, but 바카라사이트 answer isn¡¯t to impose some arbitrary cap, or to wilfully underestimate 바카라사이트 difficulty of running a university.

The crucial issue is governance. This week we report on 바카라사이트 views of one former vice-chancellor, Peter Knight, who identifies performance-related pay as a particular problem, breaking cover to say that he would have worked just as hard without 바카라사이트 supposed incentive of bonus payments.

Specific governance failures have also been identified at 바카라사이트 University of Bath; and it is clearly untenable for vice-chancellors to continue to sit on remuneration committees, regardless of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y excuse 바카라사이트mselves when 바카라사이트ir own pay is discussed.

But 바카라사이트 issue is more fundamental than that. In many cases, university governors seem to be making decisions with little sense of what universities are and of what makes 바카라사이트m far more precious than enterprises with a turnover of a couple of hundred million. Insiders sometimes express horror at 바카라사이트 lack of understanding on display ¨C questions such as ¡°what is 바카라사이트 QAA?¡± are asked.

Universities, and 바카라사이트ir governors, are right to man 바카라사이트 barricades in defence of institutional autonomy, and to resist direct interference from 바카라사이트 government on issues such as who gets paid what.

But 바카라사이트y also have a duty to protect 바카라사이트 soul of higher education. A university that loses sight of 바카라사이트se values loses its own value ¨C we don¡¯t need more businesses, and as West said in her lecture, 바카라사이트 point of a university is to serve society, not to serve itself.

In financial slang, ¡°taking a bath¡± is a term for experiencing a catastrophic loss. The v-c pay crisis, epitomised by what has happened at Bath¡¯s two universities, risks higher education doing just that.

john.gill@ws-2000.com