Uni furloughs staff whilst Vice Chancellor keeps £450k salary

Oxford Uni is furloughing staff but not making changes to its Vice Chancellor’s £450,000 salary.

The uni is trialling a furlough scheme in six departments, reports the Mail, whilst Professor Louise Richardson’s salary remains untouched.

Other uni bosses are volunteering to cut their pay. Imperial’s Alice Gast, the country’s highest paid uni boss, has taken a 20 per cent pay cut for six months. This equates to around £50,000, and will go to help students and staff facing hardship.

Elsewhere in the Russell Group, unis consider action. Liverpool, who pay their VC £410,000 a year, said “measures in relation to some senior pay are also being taken forward”, whilst LSE, where top dog Dame Minouche Shafik makes £491,000, said a 20 per cent pay cut was being considered.

Sheffield will be furloughing staff unable to work from home, however will also be contributing an extra 20 per cent of salary to those workers.

However, when The Tab asked other universities – including Bristol and Manchester – whether they were doing the same, there was no reply.

Oxford’s stance has been slammed by UCU General Secretary Jo Grady. “It is not clear whether an institution of the size and strength of Oxford does need to furlough staff, especially while protecting the salaries of its highest paid,” Grady told The Mail.

In January, The Tab revealed the extent of Vice Chancellor pay, with 10 uni bosses making over £400,000 a year.

See how much your uni gives your VC in a year:

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Featured image: Alan Richardson