Some issues are even more important than vice-chancellors’ pay – such as autonomy.

The summer showed that vice-chancellors’ pay is a matter of public interest. Counter-intuitively, and in contrast to almost every other issue affecting universities, the best way to address the concerns might be for institutions to become a little more inward-looking. In other words, or so I have argued elsewhere (‘On v-c pay, clarity begins at home‘), they could focus a little more on how leaders are performing relative to each institution’s  goals and a little less on how each leader’s pay compares to those of other senior leaders in higher education or elsewhere. More...