The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Debra Humphris, leads a large and complex organisation with over 2,000 staff and 20,000 students across four campuses that generates £700 million for the regional economy.
Her annual salary of £244,040 is well below the sector average and her remuneration package does not include a range of benefits available to senior staff at other universities (eg free accommodation) and she does not take the pension contribution and personal car allowance to which she is entitled.
Since arriving at the university, Professor Humphris has taken the same annual salary increase awarded to all other staff at the university and has waived her contractual right to a performance bonus, instead using this money to support staff and student-related activities across the university.
When combined with a carryover from last year and Gift Aid, the Vice-Chancellor’s personal philanthropic giving to the university last year totalled £19,884 (and since taking up tenure as Vice-Chancellor totals over £77,000). This included:
- £1,000 to support a student team entry to the Fly Your Thesis competition
- £1,000 to support creative writing projects
- £1,500 to support staff Christmas coffee and mince pies
- £1,400 to purchase new VR headsets for the Computer Simulation Lab
- £1,300 to support a team entry to the Formula Student competition
- £800 to support staff and students to celebrate our Stonewall Top 100 place
- Plus numerous smaller donations via our Springboard crowdfunding platform.
The university’s Remuneration Committee, made up of members of the Board of Governors, sets the Vice-Chancellor’s salary in line with the ACEVO Good Pay Guide, ensuring that remuneration levels are linked to a regular and objective system of performance appraisal and benchmarked against comparable roles.