ACADEMICS and students have backed Scottish Government plans for greater regulation over the way universities are governed.
Lecturers' union UCU Scotland and national student body NUS Scotland said the forthcoming Scottish Higher Education Governance Bill, which includes measures such as introducing trade union members onto university Courts and making their chairs an elected post, was a welcome improvement.
The intervention came after Professor Louise Richardson, principal of St Andrews University, warned the Scottish Government not to interfere any further in the running of higher education institutions.
Mrs Richardson, who will take over as the first female vice-chancellor of Oxford University next year, said the biggest surprise of her time in Scotland was the amount of regulatory bureaucracy.
Mary Senior, UCU Scotland official congratulated Mrs Richardson on her appointment and paid tribute to her appetite for improving access to the university to students from more deprived backgrounds.
But she added: "It is a shame that she doesn't bring the same reforming zeal to university governance.
"The truth is that the current proposals don't attack university autonomy and that will not be reduced by having trade union nominees sitting on university Court, nor by having the chair elected by the people who make up the university, namely the staff and students.
"Reforming governance arrangements is about ensuring that decisions are subject to robust scrutiny by the governing body and not simply rubber stamped, and that decision-making is more transparent."
Vonnie Sandlan, NUS Scotland president-elect, added: "We fully support the principle of responsible autonomy for our institutions, but for far too long there's been too much autonomy and not enough responsibility.
"As public bodies, rightly in receipt of well over a billion pounds every year, we want to see our universities open themselves up to greater transparency, democracy and accountability, staying relevant to and representative of the people they serve.
"The proposed reforms to higher education governance give us a great opportunity to ensure that happens."
Mrs Richardson said: "I think there is an increasing level of regulation and I do think, on the whole, that is detrimental to universities.
"The notion that autonomous universities are the best is not just a personal opinion I hold. The OECD have conducted studies across Europe and found a direct correlation between institutional autonomy and the quality of the institution.
"I worry about the governance proposals for universities that are going to be in the Bill because I think those proposals will be detrimental to Scottish universities.
"In a sphere like Scotland where you have a large number of universities, one of the strengths of the system should be the diversity of the institutions and it is important that we allow those differences to flourish rather than trying to treat all universities as if they are the same."
The proposed Bill follows criticism by lecturers at the universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow that consultations on proposed cuts to courses and jobs were flawed. There have also been long-running concerns over the spiralling salaries of principals and the increasing autonomy of their management teams.
Under Mrs Richardson's tenure, St Andrews has consistently performed well in UK and international league tables and has a strong record on student retention.
However, it has also been criticised for dragging its heels on moves to encourage more students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Figures show some 40 per cent of its students come from private school, despite the fact the independent sector only educates just under five per cent of the pupil population.
Before joining St Andrews in 2009, Professor Richardson lived and worked in the United States where she was Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
She is an internationally renowned scholar of terrorism and security studies, on which she has advised policy makers and others internationally.
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