Principal's Column

I am conscious that staff in the University have had a very busy summer - maintaining the momentum of their research, hosting a number of significant international conferences here in Dundee and preparing for the new academic year. Despite the obvious pressures, I hope that everyone has found some time for relaxation with family and friends.

The news that our research income increased from £43m to nearly £56m in 2001/2, that undergraduate student numbers are up by nearly 20% and that we have made a number of new, top quality senior academic appointments over the summer are all healthy signs, signs of a University that is willing to adapt to changing circumstances whilst maintaining its traditional values of scholarship and learning.

It will be more difficult to sustain this sort of development trajectory over the next few years but I am determined to ensure that we do just that. I take little comfort from the UK Government's comprehensive spending review or the Scottish version of it. I believe that SHEFC funding will continue to reduce relative to costs and that all universities will be competing for new income streams, seeking to expand taught postgraduate programmes, increase overseas student numbers and maximise the value of overheads on research income. The overall financial position of the University is sound but we cannot afford to ignore these realities.

To succeed, we will have to face up to the significant financial pressures being experienced in the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and the new Faculties of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Life Sciences; we will have to reduce staffing levels where the teaching load or research income do not justify the existing staffing complements and, we will have to release funds from existing activities to invest in new courses, developing areas of research and radical improvements to our teaching, research and residential accommodation. The first steps in our redevelopment plans will be underway in the next few weeks as we make a start on the new facility for health informatics at Ninewells and more will follow on the main campus.

The Court's policy of reducing posts in specific areas of the University is driven by an ambition to improve and expand but it has to take account of some harsh realities. Following consultation during the summer, I am pleased that the trade unions are backing the plan to make further savings through a combination of redeployment and the early retirement and voluntary severance scheme, which will be improved by increasing the minimum payments available to some staff.

The University will constantly have to change and adapt to meet changing circumstances. One of the distinguishing features of Dundee is that we have a creative, interactive environment unrestricted by the sort of hierarchy or prolonged decision making processes that hamper progress in some other universities. This is a huge advantage but one that has to be based on transparency and good communications. In promoting the need for change, I accept the requirement for clarity and openness.

Please accept my best wishes for the year ahead.

Alan Langlands

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