UHI Perth’s finance director has quit – as bosses wrestle with how to bring down a £2 million deficit.
Gavin Stevenson officially left his role on April 18, meaning the crisis-hit institution has no financial chief.
The Courier revealed on Wednesday that UHI Perth management could axe university degrees entirely to tackle the budget black hole.
Bosses have now confirmed this extreme proposal will not be taken forward after it was “discussed and strongly dismissed”.
Mr Stevenson’s departure comes less than a year after he started the top job last May.
Perth College, part of the University of Highlands and Islands, is currently devising a recovery plan due to its difficult financial position.
Former finance director Mr Stevenson is not the only senior staff member to leave recently.
Graham Watson quit his post as UHI Perth chairman on April 4.
But Mr Stevenson’s exit leaves major questions over who is responsible for improving the university’s fiscal outlook.
Perth and North Perhshire MP Pete Wishart said principal Margaret Cook is overseeing “chaos”.
He told The Courier: “The absence of a finance director at a time of acute financial difficulty tells us everything we need to know about the chaos going on in senior management.
“Who is actually making these financial decisions?
“UHI Perth is is an invaluable part of Perth’s offering as a city.
“But Dr Cook is making decisions which are causing huge repetitional damage and inflicting misery on students and staff.
“Before it is too late, what we urgently need is fresh leadership at UHI Perth.”
On his LinkedIn page, Mr Stevenson says he was responsible for “all financial governance” at the Perth campus.
His duties included compiling the university’s annual budget, putting together economic forecasts, and managing the institution’s accounts on a monthly basis.
But papers show his team was unable to even prepare budgets last July due to “ongoing staff restructuring”.
“The restructuring process impacted the availability of key personnel involved in the budget preparation, leading to delays in financial planning and reporting,” the minutes read.
The university says steps were being taken to “strengthen financial management”.
A UHI Perth spokesperson said the institution will look to bring in a new finance director in the “coming weeks”.
A statement read: “Our senior leadership team, which includes a senior and qualified chartered accountant, is dedicated to delivering our core business which offers high-quality education and support to our students.”
Earlier this month an aviation firm linked to the university which trains pilots and aircraft engineers went into administration.
UHI Perth chiefs were branded “utterly disastrous” for failing to act after they were warned this could happen seven months ago.
Last year, the institution announced the closure of its nursery due to “financial unsustainability”.
The university’s decision not to axe degrees will come as a relief to students.
A spokesperson said: “The suggestion that we do not plan to offer degree-level courses in the future is simply not the case.
“This idea was discussed and strongly dismissed.”
“All courses are running next year.”
University bosses did not say this when asked by The Courier if degrees would be cut 24 hours earlier.
Instead a spokesperson said they were “carefully exploring all options” to bring down the deficit.
UHI Perth set savings targets of £3.2 million last year.
Minutes from board meetings say 50 staff took voluntary redundancy at a cost of £964,000.
Perth College gained university status as part of the Highlands and Islands group in 2011.
The Courier has approached Mr Stevenson for comment.
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