Cardiff University must cut or limit some of its activities as it faces an “unsustainable” financial situation, its new vice chancellor has warned. Professor Wendy Larner, who became the university's first woman VC when predecessor Professor Colin Riordan stepped down from his £289,275 job, said “tough decisions” must now be made.
Speaking on Thursday, November 2 she warned that home tuition fees no longer cover teaching costs for universities, leaving Cardiff and other institutions in “a challenging position” as prices rise. Writing in WalesOnline’s sister publication the Western Mail on Thursday social scientist Professor Larner said doing things the same was not an option, and changes must now be made.
Marking two months in the role as vice chancellor she said a new strategy for Cardiff University would be developed in the new year and some work would have to stop - although she did not say where any cuts might fall. Professor Larner has asked staff and others to be part of a debate about that, admitting she did not have all the answers. Cardiff, like other universities was hit by strike action last year, affecting summer graduations.
“I can already sense acceptance among our staff that staying the same is not an option. We will need to prioritise,” Professor Larner warned, adding: “This will inevitably involve making tough decisions about stopping or limiting some activities, changing the way we work and cutting out tasks that don’t add value.”
With home tuition fees no longer covering costs and the “government’s rhetoric on immigration” making the UK increasingly unpopular to higher paying international students, the way universities have worked for the last few decades is now in question, she added.
Before joining Cardiff University at the start of this term Professor Larner, was Provost of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Before moving to Wellington, she was Dean of social sciences and law and professor of human geography for ten years at Bristol University.
