Exclusive : Survey of academics suggests many feel University College London is ‘being run as a business, not a university’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Morale among staff at one of the UK’s most prestigious universities is at “an all-time low” over worries about the management and future direction of the institution, a poll of its academics has revealed.



University College London is rated as one of the best universities in the world, according to international rankings, but a survey of its 1,400-strong academic board seen by the Guardian exposes profound discontent among staff.

Completed by more than a third of the board, the survey reveals doubts about the financial management of the university and scepticism about its ambitious expansion plans.

Student numbers have doubled in little more than a decade to 39,000 and there are plans to expand further.

Asked for additional comments at the end of the survey, many respondents complained about low morale. They said academic staff increasingly did not feel valued and that power was now in the hands of sometimes inexperienced administrators.

“After 15 years of enjoyable and very productive work here, I feel disheartened, disenfranchised and disengaged,” said one respondent. Another said: “We feel part of an anonymous revenue-driven machine and it is currently hard to feel valued by UCL.”

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One academic wrote: “Staff morale at all-time low! UCL is being run as a business and not as a university.” Elsewhere there was a call for a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the university.

“I suspect that if the current situation continues, there will be a mass exodus from UCL unless priorities are realigned,” wrote one respondent. “Pressure on academics is becoming unsustainable,” said another. While there were a few positive comments, the overall tone was critical.

Out of the almost 500 respondents who took part in the survey, nearly seven out of 10 (68%) disagreed with the statement, “UCL is well managed”, compared with 13% who agreed with it and 19% who were unsure.

Asked to respond to the statement “UCL makes good financial decisions”, 60.3% disagreed, 8.1% agreed and 31% were unsure.

Fewer than one in 10 (9.75%) agreed that the increase in student numbers would improve UCL, while more than two-thirds (67.8%) disagreed and 22% were unsure.

The survey, which was conducted last month and closed for responses earlier this week, also revealed widespread concern about teaching facilities at UCL. Almost 86% of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement: “he teaching facilities are adequate for the number of students.”

Some of the comments at the end of the survey expanded on that, expressing concern about the state and availability of facilities, in the face of growing demand from an expanding student body.

“The campus is in awful shape,” said one commenter. “I have taught too many classes in rooms where the windows don’t close and the heat doesn’t work, with half the chairs broken, students sitting shivering in their coats on the floor trying desperately to focus.”

The survey also asked about attitudes to UCL’s plans for a new campus at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, known as UCL East – the first phase of which is scheduled to open in 2020.

More than four in 10 (41%) opposed the plans. A similar proportion were unsure and only 16% were in support.

More than four out 10 (43%) said they felt their research was valued by UCL. Also seven out of 10 had worked at UCL for more than 10 years.

Responding to the survey, Prof Michael Arthur, provost and president of UCL, said the university was undergoing a major programme of change so it was not surprising that not everyone was happy.

Shortly before the Brexit vote, UCL agreed a £280m deal with the European Investment Bank to develop its Bloomsbury and UCL East campuses, the largest sum ever lent by the bank to a university and part of an overall £1.25bn development programme.



“We are undergoing a major change programme and trying to build this fantastic, world class university into one that lasts for decades and centuries to come,” Arthur told the Guardian.

“We are therefore doing some difficult things, getting our finances in good shape for that future. It’s not surprising to me that some people disagree with that.”

Insisting that UCL was in good shape financially with a 4.5% surplus this year, he said: “Of course I’m not happy that the results [of the survey] are such as they are, but they have to be taken in the context of a change programme.”

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He said UCL was in the top 20 universities in the world, according to a variety of different league tables, and was sometimes ranked as high as fourth; in student recruitment it was bucking the overall downward trend in the UK sector.

“Our concern and long-term objective, and the reason I came here, is to make sure we stay at that level for a very long time.

“Therefore we are putting in place what we need to do to allow that. We carry the full confidence of our council, who are impressed with where we’ve got to.”

On expansion, Arthur said the university had been growing over the last decade and he agreed that facilities were under pressure, but extra space had been hired and UCL East would provide extensive new opportunities. “I would not say it’s perfect. It’s pressured - some people don’t like that.”

He added: “The morale issues are not around performance and academic excellence. They are about change and a change programme that some people don’t like.

“I’m hoping that when people get the correct information and the opportunity to discuss it, some of the discontent will settle down.

“It’s not an easy institution to lead, but it’s a very important one.”

A special meeting of the academic board is being held next week where some of the issues raised in the poll will be discussed.