Buckingham chair resigns after ‘losing confidence’ in v-c

The chair of the private University of Buckingham’s governing council has resigned, saying that he has lost confidence in the vice-chancellor and “anyone who thinks the university is in good shape is deluded”.

The resignation of Mark Rawlinson, a former chair of UK investment banking at Morgan Stanley, appointed as chair in December 2021, sees a continuation of recent turbulence at Buckingham, which was backed in its early days by Margaret Thatcher.

Times Higher Education reported last month that auditors for the university said in its recently published 2019 accounts that there was “material uncertainty” over the institution’s ability to keep running, while it recorded a £17 million deficit that year and a potential £119,000 fine for late filing of accounts. A Buckingham spokeswoman insisted that the university was now “in a very sound financial position” and that the issues flagged in the accounts were “historical”.

Sir Anthony Seldon, the former public school headmaster, left his post as Buckingham vice-chancellor in October 2020 at the end of a five-year term, saying student numbers and finances “have been a 24/7 anxiety”.

James Tooley, former professor of education policy at Newcastle University, succeeded Sir Anthony as vice-chancellor.

Mr Rawlinson writes in his resignation letter, seen by THE, that he has been “unhappy for some time with the way the university is run, including the performance of our vice-chancellor”.

The “chair of council has lost confidence in the vice-chancellor and the vice-chancellor I suspect feels unsupported by the chair”, he says.

He continues: “One of us needs to fall on our sword and (given the divided views on council) that has to be me.

“However, my departure will not cure the divisions in council or mend the model for running the day-to-day business of the university which has not been working for some time. Anyone who thinks the university is in good shape is deluded.”

Professor Tooley “is a well-respected academic and inherited some very difficult legacy issues”, says the letter. “It is also incredibly hard to carry out what is effectively the chief executive role when you have a different skill set and little relevant experience.”

A Buckingham spokeswoman said: “Mark Rawlinson joined us as chairman in December 2021, before serious ill health prevented him from being with us from March 2022 onwards. He has now resigned. Mark was very experienced in law and finance but had no previous HE experience.

“The vice-chancellor inherited very challenging legacy issues which he has now gone a long way to resolving. However, there have been some differences in opinion as to how to run a university.

“Nevertheless the vice-chancellor was pleased to oversee a rise of 8 per cent in student numbers in September at a time when the sector was being impacted by Covid and lockdown. The vice-chancellor has the confidence of the university and it is going from strength to strength.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com