One in five UK universities changing leaders as problems mount

Exodus of experienced hands in midst of financial crisis leaves institutions seeking new generation of ‘risk-takers’

July 4, 2024
Tom Williams
Leaders exit one in five universities as crisis bites
Source: Adrian Dennis/Getty Images

At least one in five UK universities is set for a change in leadership in 2024, with the financial crisis in the sector precipitating the departure of many longstanding vice-chancellors, leaving questions about who will replace them and whether the skills needed for the job have changed.

Alistair Fitt became the latest vice-chancellor to announce his retirement, saying last month that he would step down at Oxford Brookes University after nine years in post, having recently overseen measures to close the institution’s music and mathematics programmes.

The universities of Kent and Brighton are also looking for new leaders, having undergone similarly painful restructuring programmes, with Karen Cox and Debra Humphris departing after serving for seven and nine years, respectively.

Analysis by Times Higher Education shows that 30 institutions this year have either had a new leader start or have begun the process of finding a replacement, with the second tier of university management also experiencing considerable churn.

“The last few years have undoubtedly been really tough and draining on senior teams,” said John Rushforth, executive secretary of the Committee of University Chairs.

“It has been particularly draining in the last couple of years due to having no real sense of direction from government about where the sector is going or what the light at the end of the tunnel is,” he added, saying this had been “profoundly demoralising” for some.

“Some vice-chancellors are on their fourth round of redundancies. Once you start seeing that you are going to have to cut things you really hold dear in an institution, that is really hard, and it has certainly got tougher over the last couple of years.”

Such a context was feared to be deterring some potential candidates who might be weighing up taking on a leadership role.

“Who in their right mind – what really great leader – is going to think about diving into a job at the top of a British university right now?” asked Amanda Goodall, professor of leadership at Bayes Business School, City, University of London.

She said that on top of higher education’s financial crisis, increased bureaucracy and regulation in the sector had made leadership positions ever more challenging.

“It makes me think about what the quality of leaders coming forward will be like,” added Professor Goodall. “Maybe very good people will take this as a challenge and want to step forward, but my worry is that a lot of researchers will feel this is too much to take on.”

Those close to university hiring committees have stressed that there are still several good candidates coming forward.

Two recent appointments have seen Shearer West agree to take on the University of Leeds’ vice-chancellorship, leaving the same role at the University of Nottingham, while former University of Sydney deputy vice-chancellor Duncan Ivison has been lined up to replace Dame Nancy Rothwell at the University of Manchester.

Even if there are enough individuals interested in stepping up, those in the market for senior leaders say the skills and experience that institutions are demanding has shifted given the challenges – with financial nous becoming ever more vital.

“Governing bodies are aware they have to look for something slightly different, and that is people who can manage not just change, but transformation,” said Mr Rushforth.

“That really is going to be quite tough for the future. That transformation will probably be focused on some of the fundamental dynamics of how universities work in a way probably that we haven’t seen previously.

“You’ve got to be able to manage resources, of course. But you’ve got to be even better at communications internally and taking people with you and explaining your case. Leaders across the board have also got to be prepared to have a bit more appetite for risk.”

Jill Cloke, managing partner and joint head for higher education at recruitment firm Perrett Laver, said that while universities continued to look abroad for candidates, circumstances were favouring those with sound knowledge of the UK system.

Despite the current challenges being “probably the biggest the sector has faced in living memory”, she said, it was far from the first crisis that universities have had to deal with and there were plenty of people with the “battle scars” and experience to take on the top roles.

Others were less sure. Mike Shattock, visiting professor at the UCL Institute of Education, said it was not a good time for universities to be seeking a vice-chancellor. While “ambition springs eternal” and many would-be vice-chancellors will not be discouraged, there were “almost certainly not” enough candidates with the relevant financial experience available.

In the current conditions, Professor Shattock said, internal candidates might enjoy a distinct advantage, given that they “know where the bodies are buried”.

Professor Goodall agreed, saying it might be a moment to question universities’ “obsession” with hiring outsiders because they are seen as more effective in implementing change.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com

Changing times: full list of universities getting new leaders

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Reader's comments (2)

#1 Submitted by An Academic Somewhere on July 4, 2024 - 10:01am
Sinking ship and all, comes to mind ;) Please do not call them "leaders". These people are mainly co-responsible for the current mess for not standing up to successive conservative governments and their foolish policies (since 2010). On the contrary, most, if not all of them fully embraced the marketisation of HE in the UK (and the concomitant obsession with rankings and metrics, growth and “efficiency” as main mantra, corporate speak and PR fluff full of empty promises and hollow principles that act as a thinly veiled smokescreen of (non-existent) ethical and moral virtues.
#2 Submitted by An Academic Somewhere on July 4, 2024 - 10:06am
Also, it is high time that we re-think and overhaul the governance of universities in the UK; going back to a more collegiate and democratic approach of collective decision making and distributed leadership, and moving away from the pseudo-corporate model of an heroic single-minded CEO and TOP down management.

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