Southampton staff issue list of demands for new vice-chancellor

Any vice-chancellor appointed by the University of Southampton must commit to paying the real living wage to all staff, and should earn a salary of no more than 20 times greater than the lowest paid employee, university staff have said.

Employees at Southampton have launched a petition calling on the university’s governing council to appoint someone who seeks to “avoid further cuts to frontline staff”. The vice-chancellor must also be dedicated to a vision of universities “as public goods, not just private economic ones”, and recognise the need to avoid “further unnecessary and unhelpful restructuring”. At the time of writing, more than 300 people had signed the petition. 

Current vice-chancellor Christopher Snowden was appointed in 2015 and announced his retirement in September. He is to step down next year. Snowden is one of the UK’s highest-paid vice-chancellors, with an annual pay package worth more than £430,000.