Every year The Herald publishes figures which show how much the leaders of Scotland’s universities are earning and every year they show the same thing: firstly, our principals are paid extremely well (famously, they are paid a great deal more than the First Minister) and, secondly, most principals regularly enjoy big pay rises (the biggest this year is 15 per cent).
The latest figures have been followed by understandable condemnation from the UCU union, which represents academics and support staff, many of whom have had to fight for a pay rise of just two per cent. But the argument over principals’ pay needs to be divided into two distinct issues: how much they are paid and the level of pay rises they receive.
On the first issue, how much they are paid, there is truth in what Universities Scotland has consistently said: universities are big, complex organisations making up one of the country’s most successful sectors and they need talented, well-paid men and women to run them. Running a university is also, by definition, a difficult job: as well as looking after thousands of staff, principals have to fight hard on the open market to attract and maintain funding for their institutions. They deserve to be paid well and the salaries need to be set at a level that is competitive with universities in the rest of the UK and around the world, and similar positions in the commercial sector.
However, on the second issue – pay rises – the sector continues to be a source of embarrassment. The men and women who run universities deserve to be paid well, but to regularly add to that with large pay rises shows gross insensitivity not only to university staff whose wages have been rising less than inflation but also to students who are struggling to fund their studies. How much longer can universities ignore the basic principle of fairness that the pay rises of those at the top should reflect the pay rises given to those at the bottom? Scotland’s universities are a credit to the country, but the pay rises of some of those who run them are a source of shame.
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 here