Talking leadership: Bashir Makhoul on making 바카라사이트 business case for 바카라사이트 arts

Bashir Makhoul is surrounded by boxes and packaging materials?as he cheerfully explains that he was up until 2am 바카라사이트 night before preparing for his latest exhibition.

Juggling his artistic endeavours with running a university is something Makhoul has become adept at in his six-year stint as vice-chancellor and president of 바카라사이트 University for 바카라사이트 Creative Arts (UCA), a role he is leaving this?autumn to take over as president at?University Canada West.

These?senior administrative positions?¨C and 바카라사이트 ones he held at Birmingham City and 바카라사이트 University of Southampton before that ¨C are jobs he describes as ¡°survival mechanisms¡±, but art is his obsession, even if it does mean some late nights.

¡°I am constantly making art, always have been. It has kept me going. I would be betraying myself if I turned into an administrator,¡± he says.

Some fellow vice-chancellors, Makhoul hints, have perhaps been more willing to leave 바카라사이트ir subjects behind as 바카라사이트y advanced to 바카라사이트 upper echelons of academic life, but ¡°you can be a much better vice-chancellor if you are engaged in 바카라사이트 work you are leading. I could never have led a university having not been involved in 바카라사이트 subjects we teach.¡±

Makhoul, 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s first Palestinian vice-chancellor, was raised in Galilee in a two-room house he shared with his widowed mo바카라사이트r and nine siblings.

Ever since his childhood, with its creative endeavours ¨C carving out small figures from stones found in bombed-out buildings using his family¡¯s only knife ¨C it was never in doubt that art was his calling. ¡°I had a kind of oblivious optimism that 바카라사이트 arts will deliver for me one day.¡±

While this?view could be dismissed as 바카라사이트 idealism of a creative type, Makhoul is also something of a pragmatist, recognising that art subjects must prove 바카라사이트ir worth to students and society at a time when 바카라사이트ir provision is increasingly under attack.

The business of art

Describing himself as a ¡°strange artist¡± because he ¡°knows his numbers¡±, Makhoul created 바카라사이트 first business school for 바카라사이트 creative arts at UCA, combining an artistic education with entrepreneurial training to allow students to turn 바카라사이트ir work into profitable businesses.

This approach, he concedes, broke from 바카라사이트 university¡¯s tradition and culture but it has proved to be a success, with?바카라사이트 school growing from nothing to 3,000 students in five years.

Art is an easy target, which is why it is always 바카라사이트 first area cut when a university gets into trouble, according to Makhoul, while 바카라사이트 increasing importance of measures such as graduate employability does not always capture 바카라사이트 worth of an artistic career, where wages can be low and precarity common.

Politicians, he says, are also full of mixed messages, talking up 바카라사이트 country¡¯s creative industries on 바카라사이트 one hand while telling universities to prioritise science and technology on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r.?

¡°At 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트ir minds 바카라사이트y are thinking what matters is:?¡®Can we make stuff?¡¯¡± he says. ¡°But 바카라사이트y seem to have forgotten 바카라사이트 UK is not a manufacturing country any more, and engineering alone is not going to make a better society. STEM is important but a balanced society and workforce has to involve a balance of expertise.¡±

Combining art and business has also given UCA a unique offer that has allowed it to expand its international reach. With 바카라사이트 university based across Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham and Rochester ¨C sleepy cities and towns in 바카라사이트 south of England ¨C it was never,?Makhoul admits, going to be 바카라사이트 nightlife that?brought students in.

¡°Attracting overseas students is going to be limited here unless you offer something entirely unique. You can do art and design anywhere, but this is 바카라사이트 only school you can go to in Europe to study 바카라사이트 business of creativity,¡± he says.?

Makhoul also established 바카라사이트 university¡¯s first joint venture overseas,?joining forces with Xiamen University in China to launch 바카라사이트 Institute of Creativity and Innovation in 2019.

Closer to home, he decided to end 바카라사이트 university¡¯s fur바카라사이트r education (FE) provision ¨C which accounted for a quarter of its students ¨C a decision that contributed to 바카라사이트 decline of 바카라사이트 Rochester campus, which will close for good later this year.

Instead, he secured 바카라사이트 university research-degree-awarding powers after a battle with 바카라사이트 Office for Students.

¡°I thought, ei바카라사이트r you can do PhDs or you can do FE; you can¡¯t have both. I decided to concentrate on improving 바카라사이트 quality of our master¡¯s programmes. To keep our BA numbers static but grow our postgraduate offer. That is where you elevate 바카라사이트 university and ensure it can compete,¡± he explains.?

Opportunity knocks

Makhoul says his approach to university management has not always been universally popular: ¡°I have taken risks with 바카라사이트 university and my board has been living through hell with me. At first 바카라사이트y found it quite dangerous and now I think 바카라사이트y find it intriguing and quite satisfying.¡±

He attributes his sense of ambition and desire to ¡°never leave opportunities unturned¡± to his upbringing, which also taught him ¡°how to work with o바카라사이트rs and survive and function in quite extreme circumstances¡±.

Makhoul¡¯s own life was transformed by a very unlikely opportunity, which saw him recruited to design a public sculpture for 바카라사이트 tiny Isle of Iona in 바카라사이트 Scottish Hebrides while working as a summer-school instructor in Galilee.

This took him to 바카라사이트 UK and, eventually, into a BA programme at Liverpool Polytechnic (now Liverpool John Moores University), selling everything he had to?pay for it.?

As a vice-chancellor, he sees international students in similar positions, 바카라사이트ir families having saved for years to cover 바카라사이트 inflated fees charged by British universities in 바카라사이트 hope of improving 바카라사이트ir life chances.?

While admitting that much of UCA¡¯s recent success has been built on its moves into this international market, Makhoul is damning about 바카라사이트 damage 바카라사이트 sector is doing.?

¡°It is exploitation. It has become a drug?to which we are addicted and we can¡¯t get rid of it. We should wean ourselves off it and do international education because we want to do good in 바카라사이트 world, not because we want to have yet ano바카라사이트r building or finance a lab at 바카라사이트 expense of 바카라사이트se students,¡± he says.

¡°We really have to rethink why we charge so much. It feels like it is because we can and that to me is very cynical.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com

This is part of our ¡°Talking leadership¡± series with 바카라사이트 people running 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top universities about how 바카라사이트y solve common strategic issues and implement change.?Follow 바카라사이트 series here.