VC on Channel 4 Dispatches
April 5, 2011
Last night’s Channel 4 Dispatches, ‘Cashing in on Degrees’, examined the commercialisation of Higher Education against the backdrop of the recent ‘rush to the top’ of institutions opting to charging £9k per undergraduate year from 2012. It involved an examination of VC’s pay, perks and expenses. Our own VC, Michael Arthur, was discussed. You can watch it again on 4OD here:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3178415
(note – this afternoon the link has not been reliable – if you can’t get through to the programme, try again later)
3 Comments
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University of Leeds UCU - Blog 
I found the Channel 4 programme confusing. When the VC’s pay was ‘frozen’ at the beginning of the Economies Exercise, was it then pegged at £294K or £254K?
If that frozen pay has indeed risen (iceberg-like) to the currently reported figure of £317K does this mean we’ve experienced a thaw or a moveable winter?
How did UCU members’ pay fare over the same period?
Some help with accurate statistics in a challenging funding climate would be useful.
I think Dispatches made a mistake in conflating the issue of VC pay and perks with other issues like overseas recruitment.
I would have preferred a more detailed and careful analysis of the former – contrasting outrageous pay rises such as the 32% awarded to the principal of Newcastle College or the 21% given to the Liverpool Hope VC with what is currently on-offer to ordinary hard-working academics.
Completely agree with Nick – the programme had good points to make, but they ended up a bit confused and disjointed in the way they were presented. (Just IMO)