The number of staff affected by job cuts at Dundee University could be as high as 700 as it tries to balances its books, the university has revealed.
Previously it was reported 632 roles would go, but interim principal and vice chancellor Prof Shane O’Neill confirmed these were full-time-equivalent posts and the number of affected individuals would be higher.
In a letter to Holyrood’s education committee he also said efforts to bridge a £35m deficit would likely involve compulsory redundancies.
The university’s incoming rector Maggie Chapman said the figures were “worse than expected”.
The letter stated Dundee University currently employs 3,259 people on a full-time basis, with 271 jobs currently unfilled.
Ms Chapman, the Green MSP for North East Scotland who will start as rector at the university in August, said if the job losses went ahead they would be a “crushing blow” to the campus.
She said: “This is even worse than many of us expected. It is a shocking act of vandalism that will pile further crisis on the institution.
“The sense of betrayal will be felt by staff and students all across the campus and beyond. And of course, this number doesn’t reflect the over 200 vacancies that currently exist and won’t be filled.
“The university has been brought to the brink by years of mismanagement, incompetence and poor decisions from a senior management team that has failed to listen or to engage with those around them.”
Failed software projects
Prof O’Neill also listed some of the courses that could see modules reduced, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
These will be drawn from the Business, Life Sciences, Humanities, Geography, Art and Design, Computing, Mathematics and Physics departments.
He wrote: “In these subject areas we are aiming to reduce module optionality by 15%, with a 20% stretch target, so that we can better manage staff workloads going forward.”
The loss of modules will not affect medicine, dentistry, education or social work.
The letter also revealed a total of £7.8m was spent by the university between 2016/2017 and 2023/204 on “aborted software implementation projects” – a total of 38% of the university’s total expenditure on software projects in that time.
Millions were also spent on repairing three buildings found to have RAAC.
Michael Marra, the Labour MSP for North East Scotland, said the job losses would be “devastating” for both the workers and the wider Dundee economy.
He said: “The SNP have to step forward with a bail out equal to the scale of this disaster.
“I have been calling for an industrial style bail out and a turnaround team for months now – with each days that passes the situation gets worse.”
International students
Prof O’Neill previously said the crisis meant that “fundamental questions” had to be asked about the size, shape, balance and structure of the university.
The university has blamed factors including a “severe drop” in international student recruitment and an increase in National Insurance contributions for the problems, as well as “inadequate financial discipline and control” and “poor capital planning and investment decisions” by university staff.
Prof O’Neill said last year he had been given “misleading information” over the institution’s finances.
An independent probe into the causes of the financial crisis has been launched by the Scottish Funding Council.
A number of other universities across the UK have also been struck by financial problems and are seeking cuts.
