AIBU to think university executives should not be paid so much that the uni can't afford lecturers

[melisande]

AIBU to expect that the uni my DS might go to should not pay their execs so much that they can't afford to pay lecturers and profs and are making them redundant: News story on cuts at Exeter; same thing happening at Hertfordshire and Sussex. Exeter UCU says that if the 16 highest paid execs at that uni capped their salary at £120k, they'd save more money than all the planned cuts to archaeology and history.

I think we should be looking at procurement and resourcing - so much money wasted there. Middle management too. I don't like our VC but I acknowledge she earns her salary.

I am an an academic and we can't afford the lowest rung new hire academic posts yet the top brass is on over £400k. It's infuriating.

In 2924, wonkhe said only 2 were over £400,000, so who has had the stonking rises since then? Most are not £400,000.

The issue is probably the tiers below and sheer numbers of managers. That’s most likely the staffing areas that need trimming. However with all the Sen, mental heath and other new initiatives such as degrees for apprentices, diversity and social equality, is there any wonder staff numbers have exploded. None of it is actually lecturing!

Staff teaching on degree apprenticeships are ‘lecturing’. It’s the same staff who teach on the standard degrees!

Lecturers and academic staff often lead academic adjacent initiatives too.

@MickyMoonshine I was referring to the vast amount of admin needed to set the degrees up. They are a departure from full time degrees and are more employer driven. They are undoubtedly top heavy in additional admin costs! When I was doing a part time qualification at a now uni (poly) we learnt what the poly provided. Now it’s not like that and it costs.

I work at a university and run a department that offers degree apprenticeships. They’re one of our few growth areas so they’re worth the additional admin.
At my university there are only a very small number of staff who solely work on apprenticeship administration. The bulk of the set up and validation work is done by an academic and once they’re set up they’re managed like any other course and are looked after by the general course admin staff.

We’re dropping our apprenticeships apparently as although they are popular they cost too much to run. Too many meetings and paperwork 🤷‍♀️. No idea as I’m not involved with them.

Yeah they are bureaucracy heavy so you need big numbers to make them worth it. My department has two very big ones which work well but we’ve decided against running smaller ones because we know we won’t get huge numbers.

There are definitely ways in which they could be more efficient but that’s out of our hands.

Degree Apprenticeships are a fantastic option for students. However the wider bureaucratic load involved in apprenticeships
(which at my place is almost wholly shouldered by academics) is ridiculous and adds nothing that might benefit students or employers. There are a whole separate set of apprenticeship standards that need to be met over and above the awarding of a degree. Meeting these requirements sucks time and resources not particularly commensurate with the fees paid. I think universities will move away from this provision more and more

@MickyMoonshine Whoever does the work, there’s a cost to it!!! They simply are more costly than a standard degree in terms of setting up and liaison.

And the fees unis can charge are much less! Typically £22k for the degree rather than £30k. And 20% of that is held back till they’ve completed the (unrelated to degree) end point assessment.

Some support staff salaries are also ridiculously inflated.