Court news

Financial considerations continued to dominate the business of the April meeting of the Court, with lengthy discussion of the University’s forecast cash position.

Achievements
The Principal highlighted a number of achievements since the Court’s previous meeting. In particular he singled out the Queen Mother Building, which had been commended for its environmental performance in the Green Gown Awards. The Court learnt that talks had been taking place with the Board of the Victoria & Albert Museum on the possibility of establishing a base in Dundee. The Museum was supportive of a feasibility study which Scottish Enterprise Tayside had agreed to fund. The study was welcomed by the Court as a potentially very positive development for the city and the University.

Finance
The Court received a series of papers providing updates on various aspects of the financial position. Primarily, the Court was asked to approve a request to the Scottish Funding Council for a flexible overdraft facility of £9m. In approving the request, the Court encouraged officers to keep the use of the additional borrowings to a minimum.

The Court received information on the Scottish Funding Council Grant for 2007/8. The total award to the University of £79.2m represented a 6.2% increase over the 2006/7 grant, and was the second highest in Scotland after Edinburgh. Nevertheless, the University would still undergo a tight budget round for 2007/8, with ongoing requirements to make savings and generate additional income.

A report on the costs and benefits of restructuring the academic management of the University concluded that, on balance, the additional costs of selecting and appointing the Heads of College and in creating the College Offices were more than outweighed by the efficiencies of the leaner structure and the expected benefits in research income. CRC and TMRC.

The Court was informed that NHS Tayside had agreed to increase its contribution to the Clinical Research Centre project by a sum in the region of £2m-£2.5m. With the terms of Scottish Enterprise’s contribution to the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration project now agreed and with agreement from the Scottish Funding Council for the proposed loan to fund the construction, enabling works would begin shortly.

Sustainability
The Court received updates on two main lines of activity in relation to the recommendations of the sustainability review group, approved on 19 February 2007. Firstly, the terms of a voluntary severance scheme had been discussed with and accepted by the recognised trade unions and approved by the Remuneration Committee. Secondly, it was reported that the four Colleges as well as Student and Academic Support Services had taken forward detailed planning on how to achieve the savings required.

A first meeting had also been held of the joint group, chaired by Professor Peter Gregory, Chief Executive of the Scottish Crop Research Institute, which was considering the future of the Botanic Garden.

Dundee Student Villages
The Court received a report explaining the financial and operating arrangements for Dundee Student Villages. The urgent need for new and updated student accommodation in the face of the requirements of new government regulations was highlighted. With other capital commitments, it had also been felt to be unacceptable for the University to increase borrowing to build the facilities on its own. In conjunction with Sanctuary Housing Association and the Bank of Scotland, therefore, the University had set up the charitable vehicle, Dundee Student Villages, to build the new accommodation and to manage the residences once complete.

In the discussion that followed, there was general agreement on the need to keep rents as low as possible, to consider more innovative marketing ideas and to invite student representatives to the Board meetings.

Court Membership
The Court approved the recommendations of the Nominations Committee to appoint Janet Lowe as Convener of the Human Resources Committee and to renew John Milligan’s appointment as a co-opted member of the Court. Additionally, the Court was informed that because Mr Milligan’s first term as Chairperson would end on 31 July 2007, nominations would be sought for an election to the post. Mr Milligan was, however, eligible for re-election.