University of Kent vice-chancellor’s £40,000 pay rise

Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, received a £43,000 pay rise last year.

The Vice-Chancellor’s wage increase has been calculated as the fifth largest annual percentage increase of anybody in her position in the financial year 2013/14. Goodfellow’s salary was £222,000 in 2012/13 and now stands at £265,000.

The University and College Union (UCU) accused the University of attempting to “obscure key information” by providing heavily modified records of the meeting that decided the Vice-Chancellor’s salary.

Michael Moran, regional official from the UCU, commented on the report findings: “This report exposes the huge variations in senior pay in our universities, and institutions’ refusal to be open and transparent about why university bosses are paid what they are.”

Moran further believes that “many staff and students will be amazed at the size of the Kent University Vice-Chancellor’s pay increase, especially as it came at a time when staff were having to take strike action just to secure a two per cent pay rise.”

As Vice-Chancellor, Professor Goodfellow’s responsibility lies in the administrative and academic running of the University of Kent, primarily upholding the university’s high reputation with politicians and industry leaders.

A spokesman in defence of the University of Kent claimed that the pay rise reflects “what it takes” to attract the best:

“The University of Kent believes that senior management pay needs to reflect what it takes to attract and retain the very best leaders, in what is a global market for leadership talent. Higher education continues to be one of the UK’s most successful sectors.

“The University is worth £0.6 billion to the economy of the South East, with its students contributing £211 million to that total, and directly or indirectly supports almost 6,800 jobs in the region.”

The spokesman defended the accusation towards hiding key information and said the meeting “contain[ed] a significant amount of personal data”, withheld under the Freedom of Information Act.