Sarah Smith
Exclusive

Guardian has obtained minutes detailing the extent of the Hetherington Research Club’s (HRC) problems in the months before it was forced to cease trading in February.

The minutes, from a meeting of the Committee of Management (CoM) on January 25, 2010, indicate that the Club had been in trouble for months before any action was taken. At the meeting it was reported that there were “systematic failures in Club management”, with the Club’s manager, Fiona Dalrymple, attributing the financial deficit to “significant costs incurred due to the [CoM] not having time to run the club”.

The document also shows that the CoM knew by the date of the meeting that the club was operating illegally due to its “VAT issues and debtors”. After being made aware of the HRC’s financial situation, David Newall, Secretary of Court, commissioned a review by the auditing firm, Deloitte.

The HRC’s debts were so high that some of its suppliers refused to continue deliveries, leaving the Club without toilet paper, food and drink, and gas for the beer pumps.

The minutes show that the CoM was planning to use £10,000 of the Club’s annual grant from the University — which last year totalled £45,000 — to pay its suppliers as well as its outstanding tax.

The HRC was suffering from more than financial problems in recent months. The minutes also show that police were notified after concerns were raised regarding a sum of money that “disappeared” and was “unaccounted for”.

Strathclyde police confirmed that they are investigating a former employee of the HRC for alleged breach of trust and embezzlement.

According to the former staff representative, Eileen Boyle, the debt accrued was too much for one individual to be held responsible.

A statement released on behalf of the former staff said: “One of the main failings at the club was that accurate, verifiable financial records were not maintained and could not be provided to either the incoming Committee or the accountancy firm … appointed by the University to investigate the situation. In those circumstances, it is difficult to see how an allegation of theft could be made or substantiated.

“The individual concerned approached the police of their own accord in an effort to clear their name, and they have the support and confidence of the non-managerial bar and kitchen staff in their attempts to do so.”

At the January 25 meeting it was reported that cleaning had been “inadequate” for months, causing health and safety issues. The minutes say: “There is vomit and excrement in toilets for days after a major event, toilets blocked for days.”

As part of the audit, Deloitte requested a copy of the Club’s membership database, but this was “inadvertently deleted” by Dalrymple.

A petition containing 594 signatures for the return of the HRC’s facilities and for Hetherington House to be re-opened was submitted to David Newall on March 9. Newall’s response reiterated the University’s position that, whilst the Club’s closure is regrettable, it can only be re-established on the acceptance of a viable business plan.

He explained: “The University’s managers are also disappointed at the Hetherington’s closure and we have stated that we will give serious consideration should a business plan be submitted seeking support to re-establish a Postgraduate Club.

“Such a plan will require to be robust, particularly in the light of the business difficulties experienced by the Hetherington.”

The total debt is thought to be around £50,000 but the CoM is unable to confirm any figures due to a lack of paperwork as the Club’s accounts had not been audited since June 2008. Despite assurances that any money owed to those made redundant by the Club’s closure will be paid, the University has admitted that it cannot make any commitments to taking responsibility for the Club’s debts until the total owed has been calculated.

A spokesman said: “The University will provide funds to ensure that all the Club’s staff receive in full the sums they were due.

“The administrator for the Hetherington Club is in contact with the suppliers to establish exactly how much is owed. The University cannot make any decisions on how this will be dealt with until the full figures are known.”

At a general meeting on March 10, after only four months in office, the current committee members resigned and a new CoM was elected.

The HRC’s new president, Seumas Bates, was unable to comment on the events leading to the Club closing but was positive about its future.

He said: “The Club has been given the opportunity to reinvent itself, to renew itself, and to go on to provide even greater support for the students and staff of the University of Glasgow.

“By learning from the mistakes of the past we have the opportunity of developing a stronger and more relevant Club for our membership … it is important to remember that although the building we all knew and loved has closed, the spirit of the Club lives on in its membership. In a very real sense they are the HRC, not bricks and mortar.”

More on this story:

Editorial

Scotland’s only postgrad club shuts down

Sarah Smith

Hetherington House has closed its doors for business after the Hetherington Research Club (HRC) Committee of Management (CoM) were told that any continued trading would be illegal.

After 54 years, Scotland’s only club dedicated to postgraduate, mature and international students ceased trading on February 19, after a period of operating on a day-to-day basis whilst its finances were being investigated.

The results of this investigation revealed that the Club could no longer operate as a business legally, due to its debts.

Treasurer and Convenor at the CoM, Desmond McKenna confirmed to Guardian that a meeting would be held for general members in the next fortnight to explain the situation.

Although unable to answer any specific questions relating to the Club’s accounts, McKenna did admit that the decision to close the business was taken for monetary reasons.

He said: “It was basically a financial decision and to keep us within the confines of the law.

“If you’ve got a business and you’ve run up a certain amount of debt with your creditors and you don’t have enough money to pay […] you’re actually trading illegally. Every time you open your door you’re incurring more and more debt […] so that’s why the club shut.”

McKenna was unable to confirm the amount of money currently owed by the Club to its creditors.

In a statement from the HRC’s staff representative, Eileen Doyle, it is claimed that the total debt is around £50,000.

“Staff were devastated to be told they had been made redundant and had to vacate the building.

Despite having to mortgage, rent, maintenance costs or council tax to pay, apparently the Club has been running at a loss for several years.

“The deficit is now somewhere in the region of £50,000 and the University and the Committee took the decision to close the club with immediate effect.

“The staff put forward a proposal to run the club as a co-operative, saving management costs apparently in the region of £40,000, but this was rejected by the University.”

Three full-time and twenty part-time members of staff have been made redundant as a result of the HRC closure.

A statement released by the CoM confirms that the business is no longer viable but that the HRC remains as an “entity”.

“Regrettably, the business is no longer viable and cannot continue in its current form. Therefore, after a period of consultation, the committee voted to wind down the business and asked for the assistance of the University in order that this be done in an appropriate manner.

“The HRC remains as an entity and the CoM will be meeting in order to discuss how this will continue in the future.”

For many members, the club provided more than simply somewhere to study or to drink.

Postgradate student Mark West explained: “I’ve been a postgraduate for a year and half and it’s a place we all go to […] It’s a great space for a postgraduate community — we’re not just lots of individuals working on our own. The Research Club allowed people a space that wasn’t just a study space or a bar.”

West also commented on the lack of communication between the CoM and club members.

“I’m in there two to three times a week and there was nothing posted on the notice board about this. Clearly [the CoM] could have been more communicative. Clearly they knew something might happen before [it closed]”

A University spokesman said: “HRC is an independent organisation, whom the University has supported with rent-free accommodation and an annual grant. It has been experiencing trading difficulties and the Club’s Management Committee felt it had no option but to cease trading.

“The University regrets the loss of the facility and senior managers will be considering the impact this will have on social facilities for postgraduate students.”

Sarah Smith

A Glasgow University Student has pled guilty to 32 charges related to the sexual abuse of children .

Andrew Byrne, 20, submitted his guilty pleas at the High Court in Glasgow on February 11.

The court heard that Byrne used the internet to groom children aged between nine and sixteen years and manipulate them into vulnerable situations where some were subjected to indecent behaviour and sexually assaulted.

Byrne also had unlawful sexual intercourse with several of his young victims. 591 indecent images were found in Byrne’s possession, around sixty of which were classed in the worst category.

Byrne enrolled at Glasgow University in 2007 and was studying Microbiology until his arrest. Upon conviction of a serious crime, the University has the right to act immediately according to its disciplinary code and Byrne is therefore no longer a student at Glasgow.

A student who shared a flat with Byrne in 2007, the year in which he began offending, said that the news came as a shock.

“It took a while to sink in […] He was a weird guy but you don’t expect that sort of thing from anyone.

“The funny thing was, considering what was on it, he was okay with me using his computer once when my laptop had broken.”

The student, who asked to remain anonymous, remembered Byrne as seeming “odd” and has not had contact with him since October 2008.

Byrne was caught under Operation Defender, a large scale major inquiry led by Central Scotland Police working in close co-operation with the National Sexual Crimes Unit, based at the Crown Office, and the Area Sexual Crime Unit in Stirling.

The investigation has so far resulted in the removal of a number of highly vulnerable children throughout the United Kingdom from the danger presented by sexual predators like
Byrne who use the internet to gain access to their victims.

It was through Operation Defender that the police were able to trace Byrne’s victims in Scotland, throughout the rest of the UK and also abroad.

Detective Inspector Charlie Mitchell, of Central Scotland Police, said: “Andrew Byrne was a prolific offender against young teens and children who he met on the internet using chat rooms.

“He had multiple victims, both boys and girls, who he groomed systematically over periods of time, committed offences against online and in some cases went on to meet and sexually abuse.

“Offenders such as Byrne exploit young people’s use of the Internet and social networking for their own sexual gratification.

“Our focus is on stopping that exploitation and raising awareness of the need for safety online amongst young people and parents.”

Speaking after the conviction, Michelle Macleod, Area Procurator Fiscal for Central Scotland, said: “Today Andrew Byrne has been convicted of some of the most damaging and disturbing crimes that prosecutors ever encounter.

“While using the internet to seek out his young victims, he sought to abuse and exploit more than twenty children, without any regard to their age, all for the purpose of fulfilling his own sexual gratification.”

After pleading guilty to the charges, Byrne was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on March 22.

Sarah Smith

The founder of Scotland’s oldest public museum has been linked with murder and grave robbery in new research published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JSRM).

According to respected historian Don Shelton, Dr. William Hunter, widely considered one of the fathers of modern obstetrics and founder of Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, and Dr. William Smellie were together responsible for the ‘burking’ murders of a number of pregnant women and their unborn children.

The resulting death toll is greater than the combined murders by Burke and Hare and Jack the Ripper. “Burking” refers to murders committed on order, often in the name of medical research and named for the infamous Burke and Hare, who were responsible for seventeen murders in 19th century Edinburgh.

In his paper, Shelton alleges that the probability of randomly locating the corpse of woman in the latter stages of pregnancy that had died before miscarriage or birth was only 0.1%. Despite such odds, the anatomical atlases of Smellie and Hunter indicate that the doctors “procured twenty undelivered and mainly ninth-month and healthy subjects in the five years 1750-1754, and Hunter another dozen pregnant subjects in 1766-1774”.

Shelton’s investigation into this area came about through research for his biography of 19th century surgeon and anatomist, Sir Anthony Carlisle.

He said: “I found [Carlisle] was a favourite student of John Hunter, younger brother of William Hunter and thus in the position to know ‘trade secrets’, such as the source of the subjects in the atlases of Smellie and Hunter.

“When I realised how many ninth-month dissected pregnant women appeared in their two atlases, and with the images all mainly drawn by the same artist, over the same period 1749-54, I became very suspicious about the number dissected and found no-one else ever seemed to have questioned the legitimacy of the subjects in the atlases.”

Hunter died in 1783 and bequeathed his collection to the University of Glasgow. The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery first opened in 1807, becoming Scotland’s first public museum.

Although the findings came as a shock to the staff at the Hunterian Museum, they are now reviewing the evidence put forward by Shelton before coming to their own conclusion.

A spokesperson said: “The Hunterian was concerned to hear of recent sensational allegations that its renowned founder, Dr. William Hunter, had been involved in murder to obtain bodies for dissecting and research. Being a mass murderer would see so out of the character of Dr. Hunter, as revealed by wide-ranging research over two centuries, that staff are confident the claims will prove unfounded.”

For more information on the e-book containing the detailed evidence supporting the JRSM article, The Real Mr Frankenstein by Don Shelton, see: http://therealmrfrankenstein.blogspot.com

Sarah Smith

The University’s plans for restructure were passed by the University Court on December 16, despite the fact that many members of staff still have concerns and that many students have still received no information about the plans.

A Guardian poll of 116 students has revealed that 73% are unaware of the plans for restructure, calling into question the University’s claims that the consultation period took into account the views of the entire University community.

Only six of the students who were aware of the restructure had heard about it through the SRC — with the rest having learned about the plans through Guardian or petitions and literature distributed by the Glasgow University Anti-Cuts Action Network (GUACAN). The majority of those questioned said that there had not been enough information distributed to them about the restructure and its effects. One student said it felt like the student body were “being kept in the dark”.

Philip Neal, a third year Politics student, speaking on behalf of the GUACAN, outlined the main issues the organisation wants Glasgow University to address. He said: “[GUACAN] is not fundamentally against restructuring — it’s looking for a release of more information and a lot more consultation. We’re looking for more openness about the process which we feel hasn’t been properly echoed around the student community and the University community in general.”

The Court paper on the restructure states that one of the aims is to introduce “streamlined administrative support”, which has caused concern for some members of University staff. The paper itself states: “some concern has been expressed by administrative and support staff with respect to … uncertainty around their roles”.

A senior lecturer told Guardian: “The group that senior management needs to listen to most attentively is the departmental secretaries … if the secretaries that are used to our existing systems were not happy with the new arrangements then that will be a disaster.”

The lecturer also voiced concerns echoed in the court paper feedback about the way in which the University consulted with its staff and that the way in which the restructure is implemented could result in senior academics leaving the University. “It wasn’t so much a consultation period as it was a period in which it was desired that there would be ratification [of] the proposed changes. I’m not really sure just how serious the consultation process was.

“There might well be some cases where senior staff are looking outside the University at other possibilities. If [the restructure] negatively affects the University in the next research exercise or student survey then I think it may well have an effect on some senior members of the University.”

As a student, have you heard about the plans for restructure?

The court paper also reveals that, across all current faculties, there are worries from staff that the academic identities of some departments could be compromised or lost altogether under the new school structure.

David Anderson, President of the University and College Union Glasgow (UCUG), said that the union is working with the University to make sure that the concerns of staff are addressed. He said: “We will be seeking to ensure that there are no redundancies resulting from assimilation, that academic units maintain their identity — built over many years in some cases — and that the new structure does not disadvantage any staff member.”

Addressing the feedback from staff regarding the speed of implementation — that the “timescale for change is too rapid” — a spokesperson for the University said: “The new structure will come into place on August 1. The reason for setting this timetable is to allow the new structure and the new University strategy to come into effect at the same time.

“In addition, with this timeframe in place, the period for uncertainty for staff is reduced and we have had many comments from across the University welcoming this fact.

“We believe that the seven week consultation period was sufficient to allow the University community to express their views on the changes and many of these have subsequently been incorporated in the project.”

Student Representatives’ Council (SRC) President Laura Laws said that the SRC was continuing to ensure that students’ opinions are represented throughout the restructure.

“The SRC consulted with student reps from across the university on the Principal’s plans to restructure. Students’ main concern was that they did not know enough about restructuring and how the plans would affect their education. The SRC has made sure that the University will email students in the next week to fill them in about the plans. The University is also developing an information section on the University website.

“The major changes will affect the management structures of the University — this means that most students’ education will not be affected. The SRC are working with the University to ensure that every opportunity is taken to improve the student learning experience and that the existing student support structures at Glasgow University will not be damaged as a result of the restructure.”

An email detailing the restructure was sent to students on February 1, two months after the consultation period ended. No information has yet been posted on the Current Students section of the University website.

Photo: Olivia Vitazkova

Sarah Smith

New Principal, Anton Muscatelli, is facing “the worst piece of staff relations … in a very long time”, according to one senior academic, after announcing plans for a complete overhaul of Glasgow University’s teaching and management structure.

The restructure is to help Glasgow become one of the top fifty universities in the world, with the proposed changes bringing it more in line with its Russell Group counterparts. Only three other members of the elite research group have the same or higher number of academic units as Glasgow’s nine faculties: Kings College London and the Universities of Cardiff and Leeds.

The proposals were approved by the University Court and the Senate in October, with the first staff consultations taking place shortly afterward. Since these consultations, staff have been invited to send their feedback to the University.

A University spokesperson said: “The University of Glasgow is operating a consultation process to allow staff to give their views on the restructuring. Overall, the majority of opinions expressed have been positive. All opinions gathered as part of the consultation process will inform a paper which will be presented to Court on December 16.”

Although the University reports very little negative feedback, some members of staff feel that this is not an accurate reflection of the general feeling on campus.

One staff member explained: “There is a general feeling of demoralisation and dissatisfaction. No-one can see the intellectual advantages, although it makes sense for the vice-principals and administration.”

Another lecturer thinks that staff are responding positively because they feel that the restructure is inevitable.

“It’s certainly not what people feel — it may be a good account of what people say because they feel that they’ve been bludgeoned into going along with it. In terms of university morale it’s probably the worst piece of staff relations we’ve had in a very long time.”

The lecturer also felt that the pursuit of better positions in league tables can damage the academic ethos of universities:

“I don’t in any way disagree with the idea of striving to make Glasgow a dynamic university … [but] I think the obsession with how you’re doing against everybody else is destructive of the whole spirit of academic collaboration.”

One of the main aims of the restructure, according to the Senior Vice-Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Andrea Nolan, is to improve the level of interdisciplinary research and teaching within the University.

She said: “This college structure I hope will … encourage [the] mixing of disciplines in innovative new courses … what it will do is to take away some of the barriers.”

But how this aim is to be achieved has not been made sufficiently clear to some members of staff.

A lecturer told Guardian: “We’ve been told it will encourage interdisciplinarity and yet it runs completely across most of the actual interdisciplinary activities that we’re conducting.”

Another senior academic disputed whether the restructure would improve the working relationships between subject areas.

“Whilst I have no objection to — indeed I am strongly in favour of — interdisciplinary approaches, I fail to see how changing structures will necessarily facilitate them.

“The current academic identities of staff within subject areas will potentially be undermined by their locations within broader units … they will have less immediate control over decisions taken about their subject area.”

The lecturer went on to voice concerns about how much choice staff have been given over the initial proposals, saying: “This is not a consultation process about what is going to happen, it’s … about how it’s going to happen. Contrary to the impression being given it is a top-down imposition … in my own view, the consultation process is pretty much a sham.”

In a statement on its website, the Universities and Colleges Union, Glasgow (UCUG) has explained its “very real concerns” about the affect the restructure could have on staff. The agenda from November 4 lists a summary of the main questions and concerns collated from members’ responses.

These include worries that the restructure is a “sudden radical change” and that the short timescale means that all sections of the University have had to respond very quickly, “without sufficient time … to fully formulate a coherent view”.

The UCUG also raised concerns that the restructure would fail to improve interdisciplinary approaches. “Existing cross-disciplinary programmes may be more difficult to establish and maintain across future colleges rather than across faculties as at present.”

The union wrote to the Principal on October 9 to outline their “immediate concerns” and to ensure their place in the consultations.

The letter states that: “members are undergoing a real increased level of stress and anxiety due to the uncertainty of the processes and final outcomes.”

In response, Muscatelli claimed that the restructure was not an attempt to reduce the number of staff working at the University and that most staff will see few negative effects.

Muscatelli wrote: “I have said that this is not a staff reduction exercise: the roles of a few may change but as we continue to deliver the same academic and support services, for many staff, the change will be minimal, apart from being in a new organisational structure, and with potential for significant opportunities to widen their academic interests.”

Andrea Nolan explained that the University would be looking for feedback from students as well as from staff.

She said: “We … will ask them for feedback on how they feel the shape is going to support [their degree programmes] so that we can make it even better.”
The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) is currently working with the University to limit any disruption to students.

SRC President, Laura Laws, said: “The University isn’t anticipating there will be any disruption to students caused by restructuring and the SRC is working closely with senior staff to ensure this is the case, and that students will benefit from the plans.

“The plans have huge potential for improving our experience at the University of Glasgow and it’s great that the University is really listening to its students and what we want.”

Photo: Ruby Wight

Sarah Smith

The Scottish Government has indicated to Guardian that, due to the economic climate and “a lack of parliamentary support”, a lesser priority is now being placed on its manifesto pledge to abolish student debt in Scotland.

The Government is instead changing its focus to reduce the overall levels of debt and offer more financial support in the form of loans and grants.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “By scrapping the £2300 Graduate Endowment Fee … we have already removed a significant part of most students’ debt.

“Given the tightest spending settlement received from the UK Government since devolution, the prospect of £500m in cuts to the Scottish budget next year and a lack of parliamentary support for such a move, we have had to make difficult choices.

“We must therefore prioritise funding on policies we can deliver. This Government is focusing on reducing student debt at source by introducing numerous policies to tackle hardship, improve student support and increase student income.”

In an upcoming Guardian interview with Alex Salmond, the First Minister confirmed that the SNP is still working to support students but that the current economic climate must be taken into consideration.

He said: “We will continue to try and fulfil our obligations to students, and [the extra funding] will be widely welcomed by many people.

“We intend to fulfil as many [manifesto commitments] as we possibly can but we live in a world where economic and financial circumstances have changed dramatically.”

Pauline McNeill, Labour MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, was sceptical as to how realistic the pledge was in the first place, regardless of current circumstances.

She said: “This was never a realistic policy and was actually a cynical election ploy. It is mine and Labour’s position that we should be focusing on resources tackling student hardship, through measures such as a £7000 minimum income for the poorest students and other policies such as a Tenancy Deposit Scheme which would protect students’ rent deposits.”

This comes after an announcement on October 7 that £30m — originally set aside as part of the spending review for improved student support — will be used to increase the income of up to 75,900 students in Scotland.

The new measures include providing £2m to increase the funds available to students who need help with their childcare expenses; and creating a grant for the estimated 14,000 students who do not receive parental support and previously relied solely upon loans.

The Government also plans to increase the maximum level of the income-assessed student loan by £422 in the hope that this will reduce the numbers of students relying upon commercial loans to help with their studies.

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, believes that these measures will continue to reduce student debt and increase the levels of support provided by the Scottish Government.

She said: “We recognise the pressures on students during the current economic climate, including the fact that it is now more difficult for them to find part-time work.

“The abolition of the graduate endowment fee is already benefitting more than 50,000 graduates and students by more than £2000.

“[These] measures will help us build on that and increase the income of around 75,900 students across Scotland in the next academic year, particularly those in greatest need such as students with children and independent students who don’t receive any parental help.

“They have been put together following our consultation and will ensure that, despite the financial constraints now facing us, we are able to ease some of the pressures on students at this difficult time.”

The measures are as a result of Supporting a Smarter Scotland, a Scottish Government consultation to review student finance involving opposition parties, NUS Scotland and other student bodies, including Glasgow University’s Student Representatives Council (SRC).

SRC President, Laura Laws, said: “The SRC is delighted to hear that the Scottish Government is finally planning to provide students with improved means of financial support.

“We have been working hard to ensure that financial support is increased for Scottish students and have been involved in funding consultations with the Scottish Government over the past year. It’s great to see that the Scottish Government is finally taking the financial needs of these students into consideration as a result of this consultation process.

“The planned investment shows that the Government is committed to increasing support for students living in Scotland and the funding increase will hopefully result in students, who were previously under the most financial pressure, being given more support.

“However, as many students are aware, the financial support given to Scottish students over the past few years has been far from ideal. While we welcome the new proposals, we would also like to encourage the Scottish Government to further increase the funding available to students to ensure that students are given the best financial support possible.”

The final level of increase in the Young Students Bursary and the level of grant for independent students will be decided in the coming weeks.

Photo: James Porteous

Sarah Smith

A 17 year-old woman was raped during the early hours of September 20 whilst walking down Bank Street in the direction of Great Western Road.

At around 3am, the victim was grabbed from behind before being forced into a doorway where she was subjected to what police are describing as a “horrifying” assault.

Although the woman did not require hospital attention, she was severely traumatised by her ordeal. Following the attack, the suspect ran off across Great Western Road towards Belmont Lane. He is described as being well tanned, with particularly dark eyes — possibly European — and did not have a local accent. He is of a slim build, approximately 5’8” in height and aged in his mid-30s. The suspect had shaved dark hair and was wearing a black hooded top and dark jeans at the time of the attack.

President of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Laura Laws is urging students to take advantage of the services offered by the University, especially considering the proximity of the attack to union and university buildings.

She said: “It is disgusting that attacks like this take place anywhere. Even though the West End is one of the safest areas of the city, residents need to bear in mind that they are still at risk. We’ve been telling students to take every precaution — not walking alone at night — walk with friends use public transport or take a taxi.

“The SRC provides free attack alarms and minibuses to and from campus and student halls during term-time as well as giving welcome talks alongside the fire brigade, police and university staff to help our new students think about staying safe. Hopefully we can enforce this message so that these horrific attacks will happen less in future.”

Laws also explained that the SRC would be campaigning on behalf of students for the council to improve the lighting in and around Glasgow’s West End.

“Bank Street is one of a number of notoriously dark areas around the West End. This year, the SRC will be campaigning for Glasgow City Council to install more lights and to take the fear and risk such dark streets expose the public to more seriously that the cost of lighting installation itself.”

Despite the SRC’s efforts, it seems that their message isn’t reaching all of the students at Glasgow.

Simone McSeveney, a 3rd year student of Molecular Cell Biology, told Guardian:

“I’ve never seen anything from the SRC about awareness myself and I’ve never seen any literature about it. I never really thought about it being the SRC’s place to educate students about this kind of thing but I think they should if it’s happening so often.”

According to Strathclyde Police Crime Statistics, there have been 57 indecent assualts, rapes and attempted rapes in Glasgow’s West End since April 1 2009.

Kate Armstrong, studying her final year in Slavonic Studies with Russian, explained that she felt that such incidents have become a fairly regular occurrence.

She said: “I feel it’s something that happens every year around the time of Freshers’ Week. After hearing about this I did think that I would buy a bike and cycle instead of walking. It’s terrible but I get freaked out walking through Kelvinway at 8pm — I’d be anxious about doing even that because I’m quite careful.”

Detective Sergeant Charlie Craig of Glasgow West End CID is appealing for witnesses.

He said: “This was a horrifying attack on a local young woman. I will do all I can to ensure this person is caught and I would urge anyone who was in the general area of Bank Street or Great Western Road in the early hours of Sunday September 20 and saw this attack to come forward.

“I would also appeal to anyone who recognises the description of the suspect to get in touch. Any person with information is asked to telephone the CID at Partick 0141 532 3583 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be maintained.”

The West End is often thought of as a relatively safe part of Glasgow but this incident shows that awful crimes do take place here and personal safety should never be taken for granted. Sadly, it is unlikely that the man responsible for this attack will be caught and we should all therefore be thinking about how we can prevent this happening again.

The attitude of many of the older students on campus is that these attacks happen often enough that they lose some of their shock. It should always be shocking when something like this happens and it is important that when they do, they make people sit up and pay attention to the way they look after their own safety.

How many times have you decided not to take a cab home because you didn’t want to spend that extra fiver? How many times have you walked home on your own because you didn’t want to ask others to go out of their way? The feelings of embarrassment or awkwardness will fade far more quickly than those suffered after being attacked in this way.

The girl involved in this particular incident was not a student at the University of Glasgow but she was only 17 years old. There will have been many other girls who walked down Bank Street on their own that night, possibly from one of the unions’ Freshers’ nights. We should all use this opportunity to examine exactly how much care we take to look after ourselves and try to ensure that the idea of attacks like this happening every year becomes old news.

Photo - University of Glasgow

As he prepares to say goodbye to Glasgow University, Sir Muir Russell looks back on his six years as Principal and Vice Chancellor with Sarah Smith

How does it feel to be at the end of your time at Glasgow University?

It feels as though a lot has been done. I’m pleased with a lot of the things that have happened but I’m still working pretty hard. It’s not one of those things where you can close down towards the end – there are new challenges every five minutes and the job is still absolutely full-time.

In that sense it seems in one way as though I’m just going ahead quite normally but, of course, there are things that happen for the last time. Various things have gone on that are happening for the last time for me so I’m conscious of that.

Why have you decided to leave this year?

When I came here I signed up for a six-year term to take me to when I turned sixty. This is the end of the term so it just feels the natural thing to do. I’m not moving on to another executive job – I’ve been doing things like this since about 1995, which is quite a long time to have been doing this sort of thing. It feels right to retire and move on to a different world.

What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as Principal?

I’m very proud of the way in which the whole learning and teaching activity of the University has developed. When I came I talked to the interview selection board about teaching and about the student experience. It’s been great to see all of the support and professionalism strengthened there.

Other big achievements have been helping to get the University more focused with more direction and more strategy. We’ve developed a feeling of people really pulling together and communicating more with the outside world. I get the impression that people know rather more about Glasgow University and what it’s doing so I’m proud about that.

I’m also proud that the University is back in the black – it had been operating in deficits for over ten years and it’s now in a position where it’s much more stable. We now have what we call a ‘small but sustainable surplus’, which makes it much easier for people to plan ahead and make responsible decisions.

Has there been anything you have been disapointed with?

There have been no big failure-style disappointments. When you do a job like this there are some times when you say ‘I wish that little thing had happened better’ like if a colleague misses out on a grant or somebody goes for a prize and doesn’t win it.

You do think ‘that’s a pity, could we have handled that better?’ but really the disappointments are at that kind of level rather than some big strategic objective that I had that didn’t work. I hope that doesn’t sound too smug but things have gone quite well.

What do you feel has been your biggest challenge?

Getting and sustaining the strategic focus of the University, remembering what it’s for and having people operate on a basis that really aims at the excellence of the teaching and research, the good facilities and experience. When you’re doing stuff like that you need to be watching almost everything that’s happening to make sure it goes with the strategy. You’re watching and cajoling and moving things forward all the time – that’s the essence of the way you go about it, which is the challenge really.

What is the strategic focus?

The whole strap-line has been ‘building on excellence’ so we’re saying this was a good place; let’s make it great. The focus has then been to drive up standards to make sure that the focus is on teaching and the student experience. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of post-graduate offerings and that’s part of the business of raising the quality, standard and content of what we do.

You mentioned your aims to ‘build on excellence’ with a particular focus on teaching. Earlier in the year, Graduate Teaching Assistants claimed that they weren’t being paid enough to ensure quality of teaching. How have you addressed this?

The essence of the approach has been to provide proper training and induction in the techniques of teaching and that’s something that we will continue to work on. As far as the issues that the GTAs raised, I know that the Human Resources people are trying to get together some of the facts of the background and the information to work with them there. It looked quite a complicated set of propositions about hours and times and what the hourly rate actually turned out to be and we’ll have to go through that. I don’t know quite where the discussions have got to but there are people on the case.

The UCU have warned that there may be strike action over job cuts. In 2006 you were criticised over your handling of the industrial action. What advice would you offer the new principal if he faces a similar situation?

I think the key thing with actual or potential disputes is to communicate as clearly as you can to people and to make sure you tell them the truth, tell them straight and tell them often. You must adopt policies that are evidence-based, defensible and explicable. With the last industrial action, which was in ’06, the criticism was really about the fact that folk were being told how it was.

You have also faced recent criticism over the revelation that you are the highest paid university principal in Scotland – what is your response to this?

I don’t decide my pay – a committee decides it and although I am on that committee for the purposes of other people’s salaries, when they are talking about me I am asked to leave. It’s a completely independent process and they have evidence of what are the going rates and the trends across the sector. My salary may be high in Scotland but it’s well within the normal average for the big universities like us. It’s a very responsible job: the budget here is about £400 million; there are pushing 6000 members of staff; and 24,000 students. It’s quite a big business with a lot of representational and corporate activity. There’s a huge amount that you do in this job so I think it’s a pretty reasonable salary.

Do you have any advice for your successor, Professor Anton Muscatelli?

The advice is keep on doing what you’re doing. He’s been a good principal at Heriot Watt and he’ll do a good job here. He’s getting a fair start with a stable foundation that I’m quite proud to hand on to him.

When you first started was that foundation not as stable?

I’ve said the things that needed to be done about strategy and money and some of the changes that I had wanted see around the excellence in teaching particularly. I wouldn’t say it was unstable but there were things that needed to be improved on.

What will you miss most?

People like me say universities are their people but it’s actually true and it’s been a great privilege to meet so many folk with so many ideas. You can fill a room with the most amazing people and I shall miss that. I will miss the friendships that come with those relationships. I also like the graduation ceremony and people saying how proud they are. I’ll miss that really rather a lot.