UTS taps deputy Andrew Parfitt as vice-chancellor

One of Australia’s top universities has broken with recent practice by selecting its next leader from inside the tent.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has picked its provost and senior vice-president Andrew Parfitt as its next vice-chancellor, succeeding Attila Brungs, who has left to become head of nearby UNSW Sydney.

Professor Parfitt, a telecommunications engineering expert and space industry pioneer who has also held senior executive roles at the universities of Newcastle and South Australia, has been acting vice-chancellor at UTS since Professor Brungs left in October.

Chancellor Catherine Livingstone said that the selection panel had unanimously chosen Professor Parfitt after considering candidates from across Australia and around the world. She said he had the experience, skills and “comprehensive understanding of UTS” required to deliver on its vision to be a public university of technology known for its global impact.

Ms Livingstone said that the selection process had taken four months, which was more typical of corporate than university leadership recruitment exercises. She said that the university had been willing to consider overseas candidates notwithstanding the challenges of interviewing them during lockdowns, but Professor Parfitt had best met the selection criteria.

“There was very strong alignment around the council as to the attributes that we needed in the next vice-chancellor, starting with someone who is clearly very aligned in terms of the purpose of the university, its social justice values and its emphasis on indigenous,” Ms Livingstone said.

“We needed someone who had experience in terms of managing large complex organisations, particularly a university, and we wanted someone who had a track record in execution. It doesn’t matter how good your strategy is [without] that rigour of execution.”

The appointment breaks a recent trend of universities recruiting new leaders from outside academia, or outside Australia, amid unprecedented leadership turnover during the pandemic.

So far this year, the University of Sydney and Charles Sturt University have installed public servants with no experience running tertiary institutions. And while RMIT, Wollongong and Curtin universities have made more conventional choices of experienced university administrators, they have recruited their new chiefs from the UK, US and New Zealand.

UTS’ choice of the incumbent means Professor Parfitt, who has been with the university for five years, takes over immediately as substantive vice-chancellor. Since arriving at UTS in late 2016, he has led the university’s academic activities and response to Covid and shaped the development and execution of its 2027 strategy.

Professor Parfitt said he looked forward to working collaboratively with staff, students and partners to help deliver on the university’s mission. “Now more than ever, universities have a critical role to play in the economic and social cohesion Australia needs to thrive,” he said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com