Universities’ fury over ‘bullied’ merger talks

MOVES are under way to force two of Scotland’s universities to merge as part of the government’s efforts to reduce costs.

Dundee and Abertay universities have confirmed that they have been asked by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to enter urgent discussions about a merger that could see Abertay, the smaller of the two institutions, being taken over by Dundee University.

Last night, both universities expressed dismay over a decision that neither of them wants. It emerged a day after the First Minister, Alex Salmond, repeatedly refused to answer direct questions in Holyrood about the future of Abertay University. Mike Russell, the education secretary, said last week that he wanted to see mergers between higher education institutions across Scotland in an effort to save money.

A spokesman for Dundee University said the letter from the SFC, which is answerable to the Scottish Government, was “totally unexpected” and came as an unwelcome surprise to the university.

Union leaders warned any merger would probably lead to redundancies across the two institutions, while opposition politicians accused Mr Salmond’s government of attempting to “bully” the universities into an unwanted union.

In a statement, Dundee University said: “We received a letter from the Scottish Funding Council late on Thursday requesting that we join them in discussions with the University of Abertay on the possibility of merger. This communication was totally unexpected and comes as a surprise to us at Dundee.

“Naturally, the contents of the funding council’s letter have not yet been considered by the university’s senior management team or our governing body, the University Court. We will now take forward that process at the earliest opportunity.

“In doing so, we would stress that there are significant differences between ourselves and the University of Abertay, particularly in relation to mission, scale, research intensity, international profile and governance arrangements.”

The university said any merger should be driven forward only if it made “clear academic and financial sense”.

A spokesman for Abertay added: “We received an e-mail from the Scottish Funding Council late on Thursday stating that they urgently wish to discuss the terms of a merger with the University of Dundee.

“We are puzzled by this because, at the time we received the e-mail, the funding council had not seen our response to their earlier letter requesting us to delay the recruitment of a new principal and to carry out an evaluation of the university’s role within Scottish higher education.”

He added that the SFC’s intervention had been “inappropriate” given the university’s role as “an autonomous and demonstrably successful institution”. The matter had been raised by outgoing Labour leader Iain Gray during First Minister’s Questions following concerns that Abertay could be forced into a “shotgun wedding”.

Last night, Mr Gray said: “Alex Salmond tried to deny the SNP plans to close Abertay University. Now we see from the letter from the Scottish Funding Council to both Abertay and Dundee universities this is indeed the case. Abertay is top of Mike Russell’s hit-list to close certain universities and the First Minister’s denial has been exposed as untrue.

“Alex Salmond knew that when I asked him directly in Parliament if Abertay was threatened with closure and would be submerged into Dundee University.

“It is dishonest and irresponsible for the First Minister to refuse to come clean about SNP education cuts. He was caught out yet again at First Minister’s Questions, but just is not big enough to put his hands up and tell the truth.”

He said the education secretary was attempting to “bully” the universities into a merger at a time when it was “more crucial than ever” that Scotland had a thriving higher education sector.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are currently consulting on our reform proposals for post-16 education.

“We continue to discuss and listen to all options to further improve further and higher education. Our core aims are to support jobs, growth and life chances. Where closer collaboration, partnership or merger between institutions supports those aims, we want to explore them. Any mergers would be a matter for the Scottish Funding Council to take forward with relevant institutions.”

Concerns about a possible merger first emerged after the Scottish Funding Council called for the recruitment of a new principal at Abertay to be delayed.

Professor Bernard King confirmed he was retiring from Abertay last month after he was controversially suspended by the institution earlier in the year.

Abertay is one of the smallest universities in the UK, about half the size of the average institution. It has a roll-call of about 3,250 full-time undergraduates, 600 postgraduates and 500 staff. Its larger neighbour, Dundee, has about 17,000 students and 3,000 staff.

During the exchange in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, Mr Gray said: “He’s going to close Abertay University. Five-hundred staff and 5,000 students. The best university in this country in environmental science and in computer gaming. They are top of Mike Russell’s hit-list. Will the First Minister tell us now, yes or no, is he going to close Abertay?”

Mr Salmond did not respond to the direct challenge, but accused Mr Gray of “misrepresenting” his education secretary. He later added: “As I tried to point out a number of times, Iain Gray twice said that the Cabinet secretary had proposed the closure of further and higher and university institutions. The Cabinet secretary never did any such thing. He opened up the possibility of mergers as we’ve seen in the further and higher education sector, and indeed the university sector.”

Aberdeen University and Robert Gordon University are thought to be on the government’s hit-list of other institutions that could be ordered to merge. No-one from the SFC was available for comment.