Dundee University’s new Strategy to Recovery, which will see 190 jobs axed, constantly refers to a missing financial section.

Throughout the whole of the Strategy to Recovery, Appendix D is referenced to justify the University’s proposed cuts. However, Appendix D simply says: “A summary of Financial Forecasts will be made available shortly.”

At Monday’s meeting, a Court member said Court was never shown the detail of the cuts and only found out what was being targeted on the Tuesday. A Court member has told the Jute Journal the version they saw did contain a full Appendix D which matches the University’s statement.

The Strategy to Recovery sets out targets. It states that the University “will be financially sustainable by the 2027/28 financial year”. It also commits to spending “consistently lower than income on a sustained basis”, which mirrors what union representatives have been saying when arguing that the University is looking to build profit rather than simply balance the books.

The above-mentioned targets are from section 5.1, titled “A financially sustainable University”. The section ends by saying “A full financial forecast is available in Appendix D”.

As mentioned, Appendix D does not currently include any financial forecast.

After years of uncertainty and a loss of around 700 staff, critics argue the University Executive Group (UEG) should give evidence to back up what has widely been referred to as the “gutting” of the University.

Currently, on top of the roughly 700 jobs already lost, a further reduction of 190 are proposed, alongside plans to close the Botanic Garden, Cooper Gallery, Chaplaincy, and Global Room, plus the suspension of courses like Philosophy, Mathematics, and Languages.

The list is ever-expanding, and the explanation is always the same: to decrease the University’s financial deficit.

However, in an email to students, Dr Edzia Carvalho, Senate Assessor for Student Appeals and lecturer, said:

“No one in the university, not even the University’s governing bodies, has been given financial data for how these cuts will help the revenues of the university. Only the University Executive Group has seen the data.”

In the Strategy to Recovery, under section 6.1, titled “Guiding Principles,” one of the principles the University commits to is “Evidence-Led Action.” Another is “Transparency and Accountability.”

The same document states that decisions “will be informed by robust data, clear performance measures and demonstrable value.” Yet the financial forecasts intended to demonstrate that value remain absent from the plan and the proposed cuts.

The current consultation period runs until July 30. If the £20 million in savings is not met through voluntary means, the University has said it will move to compulsory redundancies. Staff are being asked to accept the loss of their jobs without sight of the data behind it.

A university spokesperson said: “The full set of financial forecasts in the appendices to the Strategy to Recovery, shared with Court and the Scottish Funding Council, contains commercially sensitive information which we would not place in the public domain.

“We will still share a detailed summary which we expect to publish before the end of this month.”