The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | Established 1992 | Issue 398 | 12th December 2023
Would you spend Christmas in the sun?
pg. 20
Interview with Alice Macdonald
pg. 12-13
Venue:
Norwich Film Festival: An overview pg. 15-16
UEA's annual report reveals former VC's £97k final pay Matthew Stothard
Co-Editor-in-Chief
UEA’s Annual Report and Financial Statements covering the period of 1st August 2022 to 31st July 2023 were released at the end of last month, with the university reporting positive financial progress whilst acknowledging that the Accelerated Strategic Review Programme and cost reductions have “had a negative impact on staff morale.” The report also outlined that in making the required savings, University Council recognised that there would be an “impact on the teaching and research performance of the University,” but that they have put performance monitoring processes in place around areas including ‘Research and Innovation’ and ‘Student education’. The report reiterates the university’s success in making the required £30.1m savings for the year without making compulsory redundancies, and that the “budgetary forecasts are expected to improve steadily in the next few years, with a pathway to breakeven in 2025/26 and a surplus by 2027/28.” The university does acknowledge that “Continued improvements in the financial operating model for the University are required and these are being embedded in the strategic priorities for this and subsequent years.” The statement also addresses for the first time the renumeration made to the former ViceChancellor, Professor David Richardson, on his resignation in February this year. It confirms that he received a payment of six months salary in lieu of notice, at the value of £97,000. This was in line with his contract. The report
also outlines that the Deputy ViceChancellor, Professor Christine Bovis-Cnossen, received a pay uplift during her time as Acting Vice-Chancellor between 23rd February and 21st May, “equivalent to 50% of the difference between her substantive salary and that of the former Vice-Chancellor.” New VC Prof. Maguire Image: UEA
(including the number and quality of appropriate candidates), and the considerable financial challenges being faced by the University.”
Also addressed is Wood Hall, the oft-cited property which UEA holds as a residence for the ViceChancellor. The report outlines that “At the start of the year the Vice-Chancellor ceased to use the property as his primary residence but the property remains available as a residence for him and his successors if required. The University is unable to use the property for any alternative purpose and the future of the property is currently under consideration in accordance with the terms of the original conveyance.” Away from the Vice-Chancellor, the university had 54 members of staff on salaries of £100,000 and over for the period covered by the report, up 3 on the previous year.
Meanwhile, the new ViceChancellor, Professor David Maguire, has “received a total salary package matching that of the former Vice-Chancellor in accordance with the terms of his appointment approved by [the Senior Officers' Remuneration Committee].” Prof. Maguire received a salary of £66,000 between 22nd May and 31st July. For this period, Prof. Maguire’s basic salary was 10 times the university’s median pay of staff (where the median pay is calculated on a full-time equivalent basis for the salaries paid by the provider to its staff). The report outlines that to reach these terms, the “SORC considered the market for such appointments
The real terms value of home tuition fees is now circa £6,000. The university recognises that the “proportion of international students at UEA is below that of similar institutions and activities are in place to grow this proportion further in the short to medium term both with existing and new international partners.” The report also outlines that in the last few years UEA has seen “a reduction in the numbers [of students] arriving from China and a rapid increase in students arriving from India.”
Looking forward, the report cites concerns around significant increases in energy costs for the period 2023/24, as well as other general price increases, such as “rapidly rising” estate
maintenance costs. The 2023/24 pay settlement will also increase staff costs by c.6%. The report also provides an update on the current situation with the accommodation buildings which were identified to contain RAAC in September. It details that whilst the affected areas of Nelson Court and Constable Terrace are expected to reopen during this academic year, the Ziggurats are “likely to remain vacant for some time whilst we work through the capital impact and structural engineer survey results.” In terms of the financial impact, “There is a net loss of income to the university whilst the residences remain unoccupied, which we are confident that we can absorb.”
The report also confirms that as a result of the student recruitment numbers for 2022/23 being lower than planned, the intake targets for future years have been revised downwards. It also highlights that the financial impact of the “challenging” 2022 recruitment cycle was “mitigated by a significant increase in post graduate recruitment from international markets.” In 2022-23, UEA recorded a fall in income from full-time home student fees (2022: £115,317,000, 2023: £107,078,000), but an increase in income from fulltime students charged overseas fees (2022: £37,775,000, 2023: £41,306,000). Tuition fees and education contracts overall represent the largest proportion of UEA’s £314,970,000 income.
Image: Concrete/Innes Henry