Like most academics, I have never wanted to take on senior leadership roles, let alone rise to be a vice-chancellor. But I do want those jobs to be done by people who think like I do about university values, mission, community and stakeholders.
Over recent years, v-cs have increasingly been cast as universities’ CEOs – tough, competitive, decisive and all that. Perhaps as a result, the people attracted to these roles have tended to have big egos and, sometimes, a level of narcissistic self-belief and ambition that can be experienced by others as bullying and harassment.
There have been several scandals in which v-cs have spectacularly crashed and burned. But, perhaps more importantly, some v-cs’ messianic behaviours and grandiose thinking have adversely affected their institutions’ cultures, performance, finances and long-term futures.
I am not at all falsely nostalgic for some imagined past when academics were allowed to do whatever they liked, nothing ever changed and the v-c was a kindly old gentleman who seemed to pop up only at graduation ceremonies. But I do think some v-cs have lost sight of their real job – which, I believe, is to be the custodian of their university’s heritage, guiding it wisely and thoughtfully in the present and safeguarding its future.
So as my own university, Manchester, prepares to welcome a new vice-chancellor later this year, I had a go at writing the letter I would like the appointee to send out to all staff on their first day in the job. And the reaction when I tweeted an earlier version of it a few weeks ago seemed to suggest that many academics would agree.
Dear colleagues,
As I take up my new job as vice-chancellor, I want to start as I mean to go on – by writing to all staff to set out, plainly and honestly, how I plan to lead this university.
I want to start with some practicalities. I took this job on three conditions. First, I wanted at least a day a week reserved for continuing to teach and research. The appointments panel asked me how I could possibly do such a demanding job part time, and I responded that I could not see how I could possibly do it well without continuing to be an academic. This isn’t some sort of gesture – I love teaching and research and may well want to return to them after my time as a v-c. But, also, I think continuing to teach and research will keep me grounded in the realities of what this institution exists to do. I will encourage all my senior colleagues to similarly stay involved – teaching and research are not just what we do, they are central to who we are.
Second, I wanted to stay on the normal professorial salary scale. The salary on offer was more than three times the average professorial salary, and I did not think I (or anyone else for that matter) deserved to be paid that much. I am pretty well rewarded as a senior professor already.
Third, I have agreed to serve a single five-year term and have made it clear that I will continue beyond that point only if I am sure I have the support and confidence not just of the board of governors but also of the great majority of staff. Again, this is not an empty gesture – I don’t think you can lead a university like this unless most staff are with you; and even though sometimes very difficult and painful decisions have to be taken, I believe in doing so in ways that retain and sustain staff engagement and support.
I am sure that over the next five years we will face some pretty difficult times – the future for British universities has never been more uncertain than it is today. But I think we have an incredibly talented, creative and able workforce – both academics and professional support staff. My job, as I see it, is to find ways to liberate, support, promote, encourage, celebrate and reward those staff and their achievements, while keeping the organisation heading in the right general direction. I cannot do that without your support.
This is a big university, and I am acutely conscious of the risk that I and my senior colleagues become remote from the front line of academic life and work, or seem more concerned with numbers, strategies, spreadsheets and reports than with our people – staff and students. This university needs to be managed and led – but that is a means to an end, not an end in itself. We exist to research and teach; to generate and spread knowledge; to promote and defend freedom of thought and speech; and to make our world a better place. Our core values should be our humanity, compassion, decency and respect for others.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the next few months, and I will write again to all staff every so often to update you on progress. But, more importantly, I encourage you to write to me about how the university is doing and how I am doing, and sharing your ideas for improvements in the future.
Yours,
The vice-chancellor
Kieran Walshe is professor of health policy and management at the University of Manchester.
