Universities must not become commercial graduate factories, says Dundee’s rector

Universities must not be turned into “commercial graduate factories”, Maggie Chapman has said as she was installed as rector at the University of Dundee.

Addressing staff and students in her installation speech on Friday, the Green MSP said a rector must be a “fierce advocate for students, a defender of democratic governance, and a champion for meaningful change”.

She added: “Everyone in the university has a role to play and a voice to be heard, and good governance means ensuring all those roles and voices are acknowledged and included.

“I believe it is incumbent on me to resist the pressure to turn universities into commercial graduate factories and to challenge the use of international students merely as revenue streams.

“Education is not a commodity; it is a public good. Our decisions must have learning, justice, and the wellbeing of our world at their core.”

Dundee University’s principal Professor Shane O’Neill and two senior members of its governing body resigned in June after the release of a report into the institution’s financial difficulties that led to a £22 million Scottish Government bailout.

Prof O’Neill’s predecessor as principal Professor Iain Gillespie resigned in December 2024, and he was identified in the report as having had an “overbearing leadership style”.

Prof Gillespie stood down weeks after he told staff job losses at the university were “inevitable” due to a deficit.

It was announced in March 2025 that the university had a £35 million black hole in its finances and it had to be bailed out by the Government.

The Scottish Funding Council commissioned an investigation into the financial issues at the university.

The independent report was led by Professor Pamela Gillies, who found almost £40 million of ringfenced money had been spent elsewhere and an £8 million hole due to a fall in international student recruitment had not been addressed.

Earlier this month, university staff staged a five-day strike over plans to cut staff to tackle the deficit.

Ms Chapman addressed the ongoing issues in her speech, saying: “Let me be very clear: the demands of our campus trade unions – for fair pay, safe workloads and protection from compulsory redundancies – are non-negotiable foundations of a healthy university.

“They are student issues too, because staff working conditions are student learning conditions. When staff are undervalued, students lose opportunities; when staff are exhausted, students lose support.

“To staff, I say: I see you, and your fears, struggles, your expertise and commitment. You are the backbone of this institution, and your voice must guide its recovery.

“To students, I say: your education, your wellbeing, your future – these are at the heart of my role. You deserve rigorous representation, and I will work every day to ensure you have it.

“I bring to this role my experience in the Scottish Parliament as your MSP, and in public life as someone who has long fought for social justice, equality, and workers’ rights – someone unafraid to stand firm in the face of adversity.

“But above all, I bring a heart full of hope: hope in your generation and your potential, and the conviction that together, we can build something better.”

The North East Scotland MSP was rector of the University of Aberdeen for six years until 2021 and has previously lectured in cultural geography and environmental ethics at Edinburgh Napier University.