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ISSUE II
GLASGOW'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2011
"INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN MUSLIM" Strathclyde student Rizwaan Sabir speaks to The Journal about his traumatic and unwarranted detention
Salary bill for university senior staff skyrockets
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IN NEWS >> 5
Students under a cloud
Thousands march through rain-soaked streets of Glasgow in protest over government cuts
IN COMMENT >> 14
RUK fee levels 'astonishing'
Cost of senior staff wages slammed as 'shocking' after reaching £16 million Alan Robertson Managing editor THE TOTAL SALARY bill for senior staff tasked with running universities across Scotland has risen by a third in five years, figures obtained by The Journal have revealed. Spend on senior management pay jumped 31 per cent from around £12.5 million in 2005 to more than £16 million last year in the face of staff numbers in the top tiers of Scottish institutions staying largely static over the five-year period. The findings, contained in a submission by lecturers’ union University and College Union (UCU) Scotland to a recently-launched review on the governance of higher education, has attracted fierce criticism at a time when staff and courses across the country have been earmarked for the axe. Universities of Glasgow and
Strathclyde registered an increase of £142,916 and £242,057 respectively between 2005 and 2010 – despite the senior management team falling by three at Glasgow and remaining unchanged at Strathclyde. Glasgow School of Art, meanwhile, saw senior management pay surge almost £300,000 as two new members of staff were added to the institution’s top table, the figures show. A UCU Scotland spokesman said: “As the executive has taken over the running of institutions, management teams have grown in size and pay. While academic pursuit is seen as a vocation, management have seen salaries increase as they take over responsibility for running the institution from the academic body. We fundamentally believe that this relationship has to be rebalanced.” MSPs lined up to condemn the recorded rise in wages, which takes Continued on page 2
UWS student president delivers verdict on recent announcement of rest-of-UK fees
IN ARTS >> 19
An eye for art
The Journal sits down with upand-coming artist Lola Nicol to discuss her unique collection
THE FIGHTBACK CONTINUES: STUDENTS OCCUPY STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY IN WAKE OF RUK FEES
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Glasgow SRC blasts national RUK fees strategy as "wrong" Glasgow University student president opens fire on NUS campaigning strategy Alan Robertson Managing editor A STUDENT LEADER at one of Scotland’s oldest universities has launched a scathing attack on the campaigning orchestrated by unions nationwide in the build-up to last month’s wave of announcements on rest-of-UK (RUK) fees.
Stuart Ritchie, president of Glasgow University Students’ Representative Council (GUSRC), slammed the strategy of the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland and affiliated students associations across the country as “wrong” and a source of weakened input in senior management discussions. The criticism comes after the University of Glasgow elected to charge the majority of students from England,
Wales and Northern Ireland £6,750 a year from 2012 onwards, taking the cost of a four-year degree to £26,000 after an introductory bursary or fee waiver was promised to all first years. Undergraduates undertaking courses in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine are to be asked for £9,000 a year with no cap imposed, however. The announcement leaves Glasgow a largely cheaper option for
undergraduates than ancient colleagues Edinburgh and St Andrews – who opted to introduce a maximum of £36,000 - and neighbour Strathclyde after a cap of £27,000 was established. "I think the fact that I have been on the working group and involved in the discussions from day one, we have actively pushed the university to Continued on page 4
IN SPORT >> 24
Glasgow rower comes in from the cold University rower Michael McNaul opens up on his mammoth journey to Moscow and back