Dundee University Leaders Face Student Questions at Townhall Meeting

By Eva Milne

This afternoon, UEG members have addressed student concerns over the proposed recovery plan during a town hall meeting in Dalhousie building.

Interim Principal Professor Shane O’Neill, Vice-Principal of Education Professor Blair Grubb, and acting Chair of Court Tricia Bey attended the event, organised by DUSA.

The meeting offered students the opportunity to ask questions about the university’s ongoing financial recovery plans, which include major restructuring and staff reductions.

Today's Townhall Meeting (Image: Eva Milne)

The meeting was the first of many, according to the UEG, for students to meaningfully engage with the UEG about the future of their studies.

O'Neill opened the session with a summary of the proposals; the restructuring of the eight academic schools into three faculties, the selling of university assets, and the 300 voluntary redundancies. He said:

"We have sought to find a financially viable way forward that would substantially mitigate the immediate need for large numbers of job losses and protect everything that’s good about Dundee".

Although quite late, the UEG have finally provided a forum for student voices and O’Neill explained the proposals thoroughly and tailored the presentation towards exactly how students will be impacted.

Shared presentation slides highlighted three priorities: education, student experience, and research. The education slide noted that the university will continue to:

• Deliver programmes across a broad range of academic subjects, including a wide range of professional courses.

• Ensure that its offer in non-professional subjects is strongly focused on careers and employability.

• Deliver a student staff ratio in line with average across the sector

• Provide high quality education and engagement for all students

• Emphasise widening access to meet Scottish Government targets.

Some of the key changes outlined were:

• The removal of some masters programmes/ pathways where applicant demand is low

• The suspension of low demand modules to manage staff workloads while maintaining appropriate levels of student choice

• The development of a new portfolio of programmes in emerging disciplines where demand is clear (i.e., introduce new courses)

The UEG assured that all undergraduate programmes advertised on UCAS for 25/26 and 26/27 will go ahead.

Student experience was also a focus, with the university pledging continued support for services such as mental health and wellbeing, careers guidance, and library access.

A new investment into a much needed new DUSA building was also announced. When asked by incoming DUSA President Tánaiste Custance for further details, Professor O’Neill responded: “I’ll get the details shared with you soon, but the headlines are that we have found some resource that will allow DUSA to have new facilities.”

Under the research strand, the UEG is proposing the creation of a small number of interdisciplinary research institutes. Suggested focus areas include life sciences, public health, creative practice, and sustainability. Although no timeline was given for the launch of the new institutes, the UEG indicated that they would be modelled on the existing Binks Institute for Sustainability.

A large part of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the new academic structure, with the UEG consistently describing it as an opportunity for collaboration across disciplines. The UEG were more than open for student consultation in the logistics of the proposed restructuring, and they were keen to know what form would work best for consultation with students.

Furthermore, O’Neill noted that he still wants there to be a "community" within each discipline as this is comforting and helpful for students, especially new ones. This was positive and showed that they do want to engage with students and assure as little disruption as possible during this transition.

One student asked what the timeline for consultation will be as many students are home for summer, to which Grubb said, “we must act quickly”. This implies that the new structure will come into effect in the next academic year. However, O’Neill and Grubb noted that this will not be an overnight process but a gradual change to ensure as little disruption as possible.

After the presentation, the floor was opened for questions to which it was confirmed that;

All graduation ceremonies and degree shows would go ahead as planned

Chosen modules for next year would remain in place unless students were directly informed of changes

Today’s townhall meeting was an important step forward as it clarified elements of the proposal and assured that the UEG plan to include student’s opinions going forward. However, there was a poor student attendance in the room which may be due to exams and being home. If you have the chance, it is so important that students take the opportunity to voice your concerns and suggestions, especially about the new academic structure.

Although a date for a similar consultation to take place has not been announced, there will likely be another one soon due to the pace the restructuring is occurring at.