Statement on the Visitor inquiry into UCL

This post was originally published on this site.

UCL Visitor Terence Etherton, who as the master of the rolls is one of the most senior judges in the UK, has asked a QC to advise him on a petition lodged with him by a member of staff.

The petition has asked the Visitor to arbitrate on a number of issues regarding the way that UCL is governed and operates. UCL’s senior management has prepared a statement which was issued to the Financial Times, which first reported the story.

A visitor is a role that dates back to medieval times and has responsibility for overseeing an autonomous institution.

“UCL will fully co-operate with any investigations and requests for information by the Visitor or anyone acting on his behalf.  As a mark of respect to the Visitor and the investigation that will occur,  we don’t consider it appropriate for specific detail to be aired in the press by responding to all the claims made by the petitioner in advance of that more formal process.

“Most of the issues raised in the letter to the Visitor have already been considered by internal investigations or by HEFCE and have been determined to be unfounded or mistaken. UCL is fully committed to being as transparent as it can be in all financial and governance issues, and to complying with all internal and external rules and regulations regarding its activities.

“As evidence of this, we would point to last year’s HEFCE review of similar issues over governance which considered all relevant documents and interviewed council members and senior staff. Its November 2017 report stated: ‘Our overall conclusion relating to the core Assurance Review is that we are able to place reliance on UCL’s accountability information.

“‘We also conclude that no further actions are needed as a direct response to the 2016 public interest disclosure. Relevant actions proposed in UCL Council’s effectiveness review have been taken.’”

“Academic quality: It should be noted that mergers (with the School of Pharmacy and with the Institute of Education (IOE)) have been a significant factor in UCL’s expansion. Despite this expansion, UCL’s staff student ratio in the complete university guide 2018 is the second best in Britain at 10.4:1. UCL was seventh in the world in the most recent QS rankings of research performance. Our mean rank in international research league tables puts us at sixth in the world.

“In the government’s most recent research ranking UCL was the top-rated university in the UK for research strength by a measure of average research score multiplied by staff numbers submitted. UCL researchers received a ‘grade point average’ of 3.22 (out of 4) and submitted over 2,500 staff to be assessed in REF2014, giving UCL an overall research power greater than both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

“Financial position: UCL is in good financial health and has plans for investment in people and infrastructure in order to continue to deliver world class teaching and research.  This investment has been made possible by astute and careful management to ensure UCL’s financial sustainability.

“In 2016/17, UCL generated a surplus of £80m on a turnover of £1.3bn, one of the healthiest in the university sector. The average performance for research-intensive universities in the UK last year was 3.6%. We have a surplus target for the current year of 5.4% of our total income, increasing to 6.1% by 2019-20. Together with the loan from the European Investment Bank and with our philanthropic campaign which has already raised £370m towards its target of £600m, this level of surplus will enable us to make the investment in our estate and digital infrastructure.

“Consultation and approval: UCL’s strategy (UCL2034), which sets out a 20-year plan to secure UCL’s continued position as one of the top universities in the world was approved by both academic board and council in July 2014 and has been discussed in depth at two of the annual Council away days. The plans for UCL East have also been approved in recent months by both the academic board and council.

Links

UCL 2034 strategy

UCL East

 

As members of Library Services staff, if you receive any enquiries about the above, please refer these to Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost (Library Services): p.ayris@ucl.ac.uk.