Last month the Vice-Chancellor made an all-staff address and聽sent an to inform our community of changes to the structure of our faculties as well as a small reduction in the number of academics in six subject areas.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental principle for universities so it鈥檚 great to聽hear that students and staff are discussing these changes. To help these conversations, we thought you would want the most up-to-date facts, so we鈥檝e outlined five key points below:
- The student聽experience
All of our staff are committed to ensuring that the education, research and training we deliver for you, our students, continues to be of the highest quality. In the areas where there will be a reduction in staff, we will work with you over the coming months to ensure you receive the same high-quality of education. These changes are an important part of the University鈥檚 Ten-Year plan to put us consistently in the world鈥檚 top 100 and the UK鈥檚 top 10 universities. We cannot achieve this goal without providing a better experience for students in all areas across the University.
- Vice-Chancellor pay
Vice-Chancellor pay has gathered media attention recently and some students have questioned what Vice-Chancellors do, how pay is decided and how the University鈥檚 income is managed. For a full statement,聽please click here. Some of what has been reported recently regarding the Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 salary has been misleading and not representative of the full facts. Our Vice-Chancellor was paid a salary of 拢423,000 from聽1 August 2016听迟辞听31 July 2017. He is not entitled to or paid a bonus, and the University makes no contributions to his pension.In 2016-17 Sir Christopher was awarded a salary increment of 1.1 per聽cent聽in line with the higher education national pay award 鈥� he has declined a similar award for 2017-18. This was the only increase in his remuneration since his appointment. The lower salary figure (拢349,000) published for 2015-16 reflected only 10 months of his first year spent in office.
At no point has Sir Christopher Snowden ever been present at any review or approval of his own salary.
The Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 salary is set and regularly reviewed and agreed by the University鈥檚 independently chaired Remuneration Committee which replaced the former independently-chaired Senior Salaries Committee in September 2017. The Vice-Chancellor was a member of the Senior Salaries Committee but was not present at any point during meeting for discussions and voting on his own pay. He is not a member of the Remuneration Committee which he will attend by invitation to discuss other business.
The Vice-Chancellor was appointed two years ago by the University Council because of his track record of delivering long-term, exceptional results in his previous leadership roles in higher education and the private sector. It鈥檚 his unique experience, vision, leadership and determination that make him the right person to transform the University of Southampton, so that聽we can realise聽our potential as one of the world鈥檚 greatest universities.
- Changes to the faculty structure
In the University’s current structure, our eight faculties are each managed differently. This creates unnecessary levels of complexity and inefficiency across the University. Common faculty structures will simplify and streamline many of our processes. The result, once these new structures are established, will be an improved staff and student experience. Some students聽have asked whether we are 鈥渃utting education鈥�.聽Please be assured that聽we鈥檙e not鈥� there are no plans to cut any subject areas, including those affected by a reduction in staff numbers.
- Staff reductions
We have many excellent members of staff and we value them highly 鈥� and we know many of our students feel the same way. The reason for making a small reduction in staff is to address some imbalances in our staff costs. For example, our staff costs are relatively higher than our Russell Group peers. And, over the last five years the University鈥檚 academic staff numbers have increased by 14 per cent while student numbers have increased by seven per cent.If we are to continue to be sustainable as a world-leading University, we need to make sure that each subject has the staff they need to deliver the high quality education and research taking place (and projected to take place) in that department. After careful analysis the Deans have identified a small number of areas where we can safely reduce the number of staff while still maintaining high quality in our education and research. In some cases, for example, this is possible because student numbers have fallen in recent years while staff numbers have stayed the same.
- University driver
You may have seen media coverage a few weeks ago that the University is advertising for a chauffeur/caretaker. The advertisement聽is聽seeking a replacement for a colleague who is retiring. The dual role is for someone to work part-time in a care taking role, and part-time as a driver for the University pool car. This car is used by a wide range of visitors and senior members of staff, including the Vice-Chancellor who is a minority user of this service, so they can work while in transit and where public transport is not available. The vehicle is only used in the context of work-related travel. The Vice-Chancellor travels to and from work in his own car for which he pays the University parking charge. You can see the full statement by聽clicking here.
We鈥檒l continue to provide you with updates on SUSSED. Colleagues will also be updating you locally on any changes within your faculties.
You may have other questions, so we鈥檝e put together this document that you can view by聽. We鈥檒l continue to update this document based on your feedback.
You can email:聽ShapingOurUniversity@soton.ac.uk聽with any questions, comments of feedback. These will be read by the Vice-Chancellor or an appropriate member of the University Executive and we鈥檒l get back to you in a timely manner.
