The business of being a good v-c 2

It was a reasonably safe bet that recent comments by David Allen, chair of the Association of Heads of University Administration, on non-academics being appointed to vice-chancellor positions would "spark controversy" ("'Allow non-academics to lead,' urges registrar", July 28).

This is such a sensible suggestion that it can only spark controversy. But academics opposed to such views might want to consider that the respect they profess to have for essentials such as tradition, academic integrity and academic leadership is possibly an anachronistic refusal to accept that the demands modern British universities make on their staff, in particular at the highest levels, are inhuman.

At every level, academics do themselves no favours by masochistically accepting the increasing pressure to be researchers, teachers and, because that is not enough any more, administrators, accountants and personnel managers as well.

Welcome though Allen's comments are, they don't go far enough. Glynis Breakwell says that "you would have to change the whole senior management team to compensate". Let's change it then. Let's bring in more people, at every level, who are enthusiastic about administration and budgets. Let academic staff advise where necessary, but let's not carry on deluding ourselves that we have to do everything or that we are capable of doing everything that needs to be done.

Kevin McCarron
London