Trade unionists, community activists, students and staff from the University of Dundee take part in a rally and march in Dundee after the university announced up to 700 jobs could be cut in order to fill a £35 million deficit, April 29, 2025
A CRISIS at Dundee University deepened today after its chief finance officer quit, just days after taking on the role.
Chris Reilly had started on an interim basis last Monday after a damning report into the roots of the institution’s £35 million cash crisis led to a slew of senior management resignations, but has since left by “mutual agreement.”
The report on Dundee University, carried out by Glasgow Caledonian University principal Professor Pamela Gillies, slammed a senior management “triumvirate” of former principal Professor Iain Gillespie, ex-chief operating officer Jim McGeorge and Prof Shane O’Neill — who resigned last week as interim principal.
M Gillies said the managers had both failed to act to prevent the crisis and fostered a culture where “dissent, or challenge, was routinely ‘shut down’.”
That failure left a fifth of university staff facing redundancy and last week forced the Scottish government into an unprecedented £40m bailout.
Announcing Mr Reilly’s departure to staff, new interim principal Professor Nigel Seaton said the university would be “moving quickly” to find a successor ready to take the university through the “next steps” of its recovery plan.
