The Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University has been told he needs to “learn his history or not comment” after claiming his predecessor reduced the percentage of students in Derry.
Appearing on BBC Talkback last Thursday, Professor Paul Bartholomew was asked if an independent north west university, which doesn’t have the competing priorities of a multi-campus institution with a focus on Belfast, would be a better option for Derry.
Mr Bartholomew dismissed that saying “off you go” to anyone who believes that option should be explored, suggesting that there is “no market for it”.
Experts from the Royal Irish Academy, including former UU Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerry McKenna, wrote a report which recommended an “ambitious” federal cross-border university with coordinated oversight of planning across the north-west region.
Mr Bartholomew told the BBC: “The author of that report, I’m afraid was Vice-Chancellor for six years and during that period made a choice to reduce the percentage of Ulster University students going to Derry-Londonderry, so, you know, that’s not been my track record.”
UU has since claimed “the percentage share of students going to Derry~Londonderry was reduced by 0.3%” during Professor McKenna’s time.
Professor McKenna was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) in 1997, Vice Chancellor in 1999 and retired in 2005.
Figures from reports at the time show that full-time student numbers at Magee grew from 1,754 in 1998/99 to 2,893 in 2004/05 – a 65% increase.
Total numbers climbed by 990 (35%), from 2,807 up to 3,797 in those six years.
In the almost 20-year period from the end of Professor McKenna’s tenure until now, UU has grown total numbers by 1,538 (40%) up to 5,335.
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The Derry University Group, which campaigns for an independent institution, said Mr Bartholomew “needs to learn his history or not comment”.
They added that he is “clearly unaware of the North West’s autonomous development needs”.
When UU was established, its statutes contained a clause that the university should establish an independent review of its activities every seven years to assess how well it was fulfilling its mission and to offer advice for the next seven years.
The third such review took place in 2006 and covered the period 1998-2005.
It was chaired by the eminent academic Sir Graeme Davies, former chief executive of the Higher Education Council for England, and former Vice-Chancellor of the universities of Glasgow, Liverpool and London.
Dr Denis Bradley, then Vice-Chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, was a member.
In its three-volume report, which covers the period Professor McKenna was Vice-Chancellor, it notes that “a key achievement” was the continuing expansion of full-time student numbers at Magee.
The final report in 2006 also mentioned the active endeavour to establish a medical school at Magee.
A medical school would not open until 2021 and is still awaiting a new-build.
The 2006 report outlined a future strategy with regard to student numbers.
“Against the background of recent target overshoots, it will have to reduce full-time undergraduate numbers somewhat in the years immediately ahead,” it stated.
“Subsequently, it intends to restore and then to maintain current numbers at Coleraine and Jordanstown, to cater for modest growth at Belfast and, as soon as possible, to expand numbers at Magee.
“We have drawn attention above to the successful growth of the student population at Magee which has been a striking feature of the university’s performance during the current review period.
“There is now a critical mass of disciplines on the campus which will provide a healthy basis for further growth.
“We also note that there are now real prospects that the University will be able to augment its estate near Magee.
“The importance of a sizeable university base for the economic development of a sub-region has been well attested in numerous studies over the past quarter of a century.
“Moreover, there is widespread support both in the university and among stakeholders in the North-West for further expansion at Magee.”
A source said the new UU regime, while accepting the findings of the last published seven-year review, “largely buried it and then lobbied successfully to remove the statute requiring further seven-year reviews”.
By then the plan to move from Jordanstown into Belfast was already in embryo form and ran counter to the recommendations of the Davies review.
The source added that it would have been difficult to explain why the University was embarking upon such a “radical and expensive move” into Belfast, contrary to the expert advice it had received from Sir Graeme and his colleagues.
A Belfast campus costing around £360m opened in 2022.