Another??40 million is being given to?the University of Dundee by the Scottish government to secure the future of the crisis-ridden institution.

The money will be provided to Dundee over two academic years through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and comes on top of a ?22 million government bailout which was already made available in April.

It follows?the publication of a damning report last week, which found that members of the university executive group, including former principal Iain Gillespie, had ¡°failed¡± to disclose the extent of the financial crisis to other university officials. It further said?that a ¡°hierarchical and over-confident¡± leadership had compounded its financial crisis,?which?led to a projected??35 million deficit.

Scottish education and skills secretary, Jenny Gilruth, told the Scottish Parliament: ¡°Let me be clear: this is not about rewarding failure. This is about responding to an unprecedented and a unique situation which threatens much of what we hold dear in our university sector.¡±

ÍøÆØÃÅ

While universities are ¡°independent and autonomous institutions¡± and decisions on the allocation of funding to individual institutions are typically the responsibility of the SFC, ministers have issued a direction to allocate the funding. This ¡°unprecedented set of circumstances¡± requires ¡°a unique and an unprecedented response¡±, she said.

Despite the additional funding, a ¡°liquidity gap¡± at the university remains of between ?45 million and ?60 million across the next two academic years. While ¡°this is not an immediate cash need¡±, Gilruth said, ¡°it will need to be addressed before the end of this financial year. It is, therefore, vitally important that the university works to secure a plan which will allow for commercial lending to support some, or all, of the liquidity ask¡±.

ÍøÆØÃÅ

But the education secretary said Dundee¡¯s financial crisis is a warning to other Scottish institutions, and ¡°there is a need for a reflection from our universities on the levels of growth that we witnessed in some institutions, particularly during the pandemic¡±.

Gilruth continued: ¡°Some of the planned job losses being experienced at the current time relate directly to that uncapped expansion ¨C the cost being paid today?is the unsustainable jobs created as a result. And whilst Dundee¡¯s finances may be unique, their approach to investment in the international student economy is not. There is, therefore, a lesson in the experiences at Dundee University, which other institutions should be mindful of.¡±

Nigel Seaton, interim principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee, said the university was ¡°extremely grateful¡± to the Scottish government.?

¡°This is invaluable in helping us reach a more sustainable position and will provide welcome reassurance to staff, students and our wider stakeholders. We will continue to engage with the Funding Council on a full recovery plan, and in pushing forward with our ongoing work to strengthen our management and governance.

ÍøÆØÃÅ

¡°We do not take lightly the responsibilities which come with this level of additional public support. We have to be better as an institution than we have been and I and my colleagues are absolutely determined that we will be.¡±

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com