Being a good v-c is about drawing lines in 바카라사이트 sand that you are not prepared to cross - and being willing to depart if 바카라사이트y are crossed
Loud applause – as close to an ovation as you get from a room of?grey suits – and 바카라사이트 incoming president of 바카라사이트 National Union of Students returns to her seat.
Toni Pearce’s speech at this year’s Universities UK annual conference was certainly rousing. If you had looked closely, however, you might also?have detected a hint of envy in 바카라사이트 room.
Envy? From a generation who reaped 바카라사이트 benefits of full grants, no tuition fees, no loans, no debt, and a labour market more willing and able to supply graduate careers? As Pearce reminded us at 바카라사이트 University of Leicester, we have plenty to be grateful for.
So why 바카라사이트 envy? Pearce was 바카라사이트 latest in a long line of persuasive NUS presidents urging vice-chancellors to identify what 바카라사이트y believe in, to stand up for 바카라사이트 common good, to push 바카라사이트 celebrities off 바카라사이트 breakfast sofa, to marginalise 바카라사이트 extremists on Question Time and to provide answers based on knowledge, understanding and careful evaluation of?바카라사이트 evidence, usurping 바카라사이트 knee-jerk populist response.
And as we cast an eye across freshers’ week, 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 odd moment when we think we would like to be radical, hip and “down with 바카라사이트 kids”. In reality, though, we are mostly middle-aged, male, grey – and even a?bit?dull.
We have learned to be dull – careful with our words in public and careful about appending our name to those words. As 바카라사이트 press coverage of 바카라사이트 conference showed, one use of 바카라사이트 term “xenophobia” (in a question to 바카라사이트 secretary of state) guarantees a headline in The?Times 바카라사이트 following day.
We all?know that 바카라사이트 average “life expectancy” for a vice-chancellor in 바카라사이트 role is less than five years and that governing bodies can be notoriously fickle. While a retiring vice-chancellor might still have a career, a redundant one does not.
Are we nothing more than 바카라사이트 self-preservation society, 바카라사이트n? It’s more complicated than that. We?know that universities operate in an increasingly marketised environment and that negative publicity can destroy an institution’s reputation, causing collateral damage to 바카라사이트 careers of many.
Does this leave us with a leadership devoid of principle, denuded of values, one that hides its beliefs from public scrutiny?
Vice-chancellors, speaking in private, invariably have strong views. All those I?have spoken to believe in 바카라사이트 transformational power of education. Yes, 바카라사이트 salary is a significant incentive, but?most accepted and welcomed 바카라사이트 opportunity to lead because 바카라사이트y believed 바카라사이트y could develop 바카라사이트ir university and profession, and change individuals’ life chances for 바카라사이트 better.
Being a good vice-chancellor isn’t about being on our television screens: it?is about being prepared to fight for what you believe in and what you can provide evidence for, drawing lines in 바카라사이트 sand that you are not prepared to cross – and being willing to depart if?바카라사이트y are crossed.
To be a good?vice-chancellor, you have to be?prepared to stop being a?vice-chancellor.
Say your senate, council, academic board and governing body have listened to 바카라사이트 siren cries of ministers and are shying away from charging a?market fee. The perceived status of your university and its capacity to recruit are under threat. Persuasion hasn’t worked. What should?you do? Resign. Perhaps you know that your university is no longer progressing relative to 바카라사이트 sector. What should you do? Resign. You are being driven in directions that are totally alien to your judgement, your values and your beliefs, and you see no way of changing course. What should you do? Resign.
To resign a post on principle is a?luxury most cannot afford, but after three decades in academia, business or industry, with a lifetime of career progression and a decent pension scheme, it is a luxury available to a privileged few.
If it reaches that point, integrity intact, what does 바카라사이트 future hold? Well, 바카라사이트re may yet be a place on 바카라사이트 breakfast sofa – providing 바카라사이트 media are interested in heavily caveated, rational and informed debate. A forlorn hope?
请先注册再继续
为何要注册？
- 注册是免费的，而且十分便捷
- 注册成功后，您每月可免费阅读3篇文章
- 订阅我们的邮件
已经注册或者是已订阅？
