A revived proposal to defer part of university leaders’ pay until their term in office is over has been met with a mixed reception, with some arguing it would incentivise long-term decision-making but others suggesting that “private-sector management models” would not work for the sector.
Last week’s report from the House of Commons’ Education Select Committee recommended that the government should work with the higher education sector to devise a scheme that would see part of the pay of universities’ senior leaders only paid out once they finish the job.
The suggestion was originally made by Philip Augar in his 2019 review of the sector and mirrors a policy that already exists in the financial services world.
Appearing in front of the committee as part of its inquiry, Augar argued that nobody was “really on the line” if a university were to fail and the proposal would introduce more accountability.
Helen Hayes, chair of the education select committee, told Times Higher Education the group came to a similar conclusion: “At the moment there is no peril for senior leaders in universities who make poor financial decisions that drive a university to the brink of insolvency. They can walk away with no consequence at all.”
