Search for new principal seen as sign Abertay University has fended off threat of merger

Abertay University has been given the go-ahead to restart the hunt for a new principal.

By Maura Bowman
Published in the Courier : 25.10.11
Published online : 25.10.11 @ 06.40pm

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The announcement is being seen as a vote of confidence in the future of Abertay as an independent institution after a tumultuous period for the university.

Professor Bernard King.

Staff and students welcomed the news that Abertay will have a new permanent head after a gap of almost a year, during which it has had to fend off pressure to merge with its city neighbour Dundee University.

Abertay has been without a principal since Professor Bernard King was suspended in January. Following considerable controversy, his retirement was announced in July.

The hunt for a new principal had barely started when Abertay received a letter from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in early September, asking the university to put the process on hold. That was quickly followed by further correspondence, prompting Abertay to start merger talks with Dundee University.

Following a campaign headed by The Courier, First Minister Alex Salmond announced there would be no forced mergers — although talks on ''enhanced collaboration'' between Dundee's two universities have continued.

Against that background, the limbo over the appointment of a new Abertay principal ended on Monday with a joint statement from the university's acting principal and vice-chancellor Professor Nicholas Terry and chief executive of the SFC Mark Batho.

In it, they said: ''The University of Abertay Dundee can confirm that, following further discussion with the Scottish Funding Council, the paused process for the recruitment of the university's next permanent principal and vice-chancellor is to be restarted.

''SFC had asked the university court to pause the process while the university undertook a full evaluation and analysis of the role of the university going forward in the light of developments in the post-16 landscape in Tayside and across Scotland.

''Further discussions between the funding council and the universities of Dundee and of Abertay Dundee have been very helpful in opening a dialogue around the shape of long-term provision in and around Tayside and it is expected that this dialogue, also involving other interested parties, will continue."

Continued...