The boss of a Scottish university was handed a £76,000 pay rise last year while the cost-of-living crisis caused misery for thousands of staff and students, it can be revealed.
Stirling University’s principal Sir Gerry McCormac saw his salary soar by £68,000 to £363,000 between 2022 and 2023, while his total package increased by £76,000 to £396,000 – a rise of more than 23 per cent.
It follows an increase of £23,000 between 2021 and 2022, meaning his overall remuneration has rocketed by just under £100,000 in two years – an uplift of almost 33 per cent.
The “shocking” rise, which came as staff were engaged in industrial action over pay, was branded a “slap in the face” by a trade union leader last night.
Stirling University said the principal’s pay was “appropriate to the size and scale of the job”, and that Sir Gerry had previously declined pay increases recommended by the university’s remuneration committee over several years.
Last year, The Scotsman revealed how university principals in Scotland had shared pay rises worth a combined £300,000 in 2022, after many had agreed to take cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now further increases have been revealed by several institutions, at a time when many have been complaining about the impact of Government funding cuts.
Sir Gerry, who has been in post since 2010, is now thought to earn more than every other higher education principal in Scotland, except Edinburgh University’s Sir Peter Mathieson and Glasgow University’s Sir Anton Muscatelli, although Strathclyde University is among those still to publish its accounts for last year.
