The new Scots Parliament could contribute significantly to the future of the country’s higher education system by using its tax-varying powers.
Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Aberdeen, C Duncan Rice, in an open letter to all prospective members of the Scottish Parliament, calls on the Parliament to help individuals and corporations to support higher education institutions, as well as cultural and medical charities, by creating special tax breaks. This would make it easier for them to contribute financially,
The recommendation is just one of three made by Professor Rice in the pamphlet, An Open Letter to all members of the Scottish Parliament, on Scotland and its Universities, at the Outset of Devolution, which is being launched in Edinburgh at the National Museum for Scotland today (21 April). It represents his personal view on devolution, and the role higher education is likely to play in the new Scotland.
The University of Aberdeen launched its Sixth Century Fundraising Campaign on 22 March, aimed at securing £150million from private donors, companies, trusts and foundations throughout the world over the next 10 years. The Campaign, whose Patron is HRH The Prince of Wales, is a recognition that the decline in government funds per student in higher education is a trend that is likely to continue and one which must be addressed by higher education institutions themselves.
The other main suggestions he makes to the Parliamentarians are to:
* Explore new funding models. Where partnerships with private and industrial concerns generate additional income streams, the new Parliament might assign a premium to each pound raised to create an incentive to build constructive partnerships outwith the public sector. In order to give institutions more strategic direction, areas of national importance, including ethical and artistic ones, should receive larger financial rewards and incentives to develop further their recognised areas of strength.
* Tackle inequality in career profession between men and women in a more aggressive manner. This can be achieved, he argues, by removing practical obstacles, such as the lack of affordable childcare.
Professor Rice explains in the document that his aim is to add to the debate on devolution and to invite candidates and sitting MPs to reflect on the opportunity higher education can offer to the new Scotland.
He writes: “I have no illusions about the financial support our new parliament will be able to give universities. It will have so many pressures on its wealth that we will rarely find you are able to be as helpful to us as you or we would like, or even think we deserve.
“The question for those of us who are giving our lives to Scottish higher education is how we can make it better. The question for your is how you can help us do so. Scottish people, through their taxes and in other ways, contribute over £550million to higher education. The questions they will ask you, as members of the Parliament, and us, as their stewards, is whether we are squeezing the maximum value out of every pound they put at our disposal.”
Professor Rice makes the point that universities must prove their value to the nation every generation. Ways in which Scottish universities can be made even better is to build on their areas of strength including diversity, international perspective, a long and extraordinary tradition of scientific achievements and great traditions in the humanities and arts.
Further information:
Christine Cook, Executive Director, Public Relations, (07970) 813854
Alison Ramsay, University Press Officer, (07970) 813579