ACADEMICS and students have hit back at calls to scrap planned new legislation to improve the way Scottish universities are governed.
UCU Scotland, which represents lecturers, called on the Scottish Government to press ahead with the proposals or risk the future success of the sector.
Student body NUS Scotland also backed the new laws, which would introduce a raft of changes to the way universities are run.
The intervention came after Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, urged ministers to drop the proposals, contained in the Higher Education Governance Bill.
The Bill has recommended universities' powerful ruling Courts have elected chairs in future and also contain members of trade unions for the first time.
But writing in The Herald yesterday (mon), Professor Pete Downes, convener of Universities Scotland and principal of Dundee University, said a recent public consultation on the proposals had proved they were unpopular.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Scottish Council Development and Industry, the Institute of Directors and submissions from student associations at Glasgow, St Andrews, Dundee and Queen Margaret universities have all spoken out against aspects of the proposals.
He said: "Independent voices have clearly identified how the legislative proposals would reduce the diversity of chairmen and women of university courts, create a muddle of conflicting accountabilities and place universities' trade union partners in an impossible conflict of interest. Ultimately the planned legislation would reduce universities' effectiveness."
In a letter to today's Herald, David Anderson, president of UCU Scotland, said: "The principal for Dundee University argues that the very staff and students who underpin Scotland's universities should not have a greater say in how their institutions operate.
"Any delay in bringing forward legislation will further stifle staff and student engagement and risk the collegiate academic ethos which has placed our institutions firmly at the heart of Scotland's social, cultural and economic life."
Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, added: "It's disappointing, but not unsurprising, to see such strong opposition from certain quarters to finally ending the status quo on university governance.
"Universities need to stop defending the old way of doing things and recognise the need to change and reform for the benefit of their staff, students and wider communities."
The row comes at the close of a Scottish Government consultation on good governance in higher education which proposes a number of changes, including the introduction of trade union members to ruling Courts.
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.
The consultation comes after the publication of a review of university governance chaired by Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, principal of Robert Gordon University, in Aberdeen.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the bill aimed "to modernise and strengthen governance, embedding the principles of democracy and accountability in the higher education sector".
She added: "All views and ideas offered by stakeholders on the provisions for the bill are now being carefully considered and we will continue to engage with university leaders, unions and other interested parties as we progress towards introduction. This will inform the shape of the Bill."
The consultation also looked at a transfer of the Privy Council's role in relation to higher education governance north of the Border to a new Scottish based committee.
It also seeks to set out a new definition of academic freedom, clarify the role of principals and ensure the Senate body of academics was "fully representative".
XREF LETTERS
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article