University chief ’s £808,000 ‘golden goodbye’ is biggest ever
Union criticises Bath Spa pay-off as watchdog announces inquiry into separate sabbatical deal
THE biggest ever “golden goodbye” to a vice-chancellor has been paid out by Bath Spa University, as it emerged that the outgoing educator was handed £808,000 in her final year pay deal.
Prof Christina Slade, who stepped down in August after five years in the post, was handed £429,000 as “compensation for loss of office” on top of her £250,000 salary.
The university’s accounts reveal that she also received £89,000 of pension contributions, £20,000 in housing allowance and “other benefits-in-kind” worth £20,000.
The Universities and College Union (UCU), which represents academic staff, said the figure was “extraordinary”, adding that it was the largest ever pay deal for a British university chief.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU, said: “This simply cannot be allowed to continue; we need an urgent overhaul of how senior pay and perks are determined, and how our universities are governed.
“Clearly, when it comes to senior pay and perks in our universities, many vice-chancellors and senior staff look like they are living on a different planet.
“The time has come for proper transparency of pay and perks in higher education, and for staff and students to be given a seat at the top table.”
A Bath Spa spokesman said that Prof Slade, a professor of media theory, had “stood down” as vice-chancellor last summer after “more than five years of distinguished service”.
They added that the university paid her “a sum which reflected her contractual and statutory entitlements and was considered to represent value for money”.
Meanwhile, professors at nearby Bath University are in an open revolt against the “golden goodbye” awarded to their vice-chancellor, which came to light last month.
Scores of academics have signed a letter to Prof Dame Glynis Breakwell, the chancellor and chair of council warning that the row over the vicechancellor’s pay packet had led to a “reputational crisis” for Bath University.
They have urged Dame Glynis, who is the highest-paid vice-chancellor in the country, and the chair of council to step down from their posts immediately or risk further “embarrassment” to the institution.
The intervention came as the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) – the universities watchdog – announced it was making enquiries into the retirement terms of Dame Glynis, after receiving a complaint that the university had broken its own guidelines by awarding her such a generous settlement.
Dame Glynis, whose salary and benefits add up to £468,000, announced last month that she intended to stand down after facing mounting pressure to resign amid a row over her pay packet.
But staff were understood to be furious after it emerged that she will enjoy a six-month paid sabbatical and a “golden handshake” of £265,000.
She will stand down as vice-chancellor at the end of the summer term, in August 2018, but will continue to enjoy her full salary for a further six months while she is on a sabbatical, and will have a car loan of £31,000 written off.
Thomas Sheppard, chairman of Bath University’s council, said the complaint to HEFCE about the terms of Dame Glynis’s retirement “has no substance whatsoever”, adding that he “categorically refute[s] the allegations it contains”.
“The arrangements announced for the retirement of the vice-chancellor were agreed by the university council, in accordance with its standing orders, after informing the HEFCE,” he continued.