QUANGO executive Peter Humphreys has been appointed as the new chief of the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association. Mr Humphreys, special projects manager for the Environment Agency, will take over from UCEA chief executive Steve Rouse who steps down on September 30. Mr Rouse, who has headed UCEA since its creation by the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals in 1994, is to become a full-time student at London University's Royal Holloway college. He is to study medieval and modern history. Mr Rouse, 57, represented the employers in pay negotiations with lecturing unions during last year's industrial action.