Durham University suffers from a “real culture of fear”, according to evidence cited by a review of governance that was debated the week before the vice-chancellor announced his retirement.
The interim review – released this week to Times Higher Education under the Freedom of Information Act – mentions a series of concerns, including the influence of “personal relationships” on decision making, the dominance of management staff in the university’s senate and the “undermining” of junior decision-makers by the executive.
The report quotes one respondent to the review who says that “a real culture of fear has developed in the university” and that there was “little confidence” that governance gave a “fair and transparent route to recourse”.