Picking the New VC

This time next week, a little bit of student history will have been made in Oxford. On Wednesday morning, along with other OUSU representatives, I’ll be attending the Nominating Committee for the Vice Chancellor – the committee charged with selecting the next VC of the University, replacing John Hood in September 2009.

Picking a VC is a little like picking a Pope. A number of well established senior members of the organisation retreat behind closed doors and deliberate on the question of who will lead the University over the next five-year term. Rumours of who is under consideration may fly around, but the successful candidate is not revealed until their name is put to Congregation for approval.

Unlike the Papal Election, however, there have been some refreshing nods to modernity this time around. Firstly, the Committee are employing the help of headhunters to assist them in the worldwide search for the new VC. Secondly, they opened up the process slightly to members of the University community, by allowing submissions to a dedicated email address – nomcomm@admin.ox.ac.uk - about the qualities people want to see in the new VC.

Both changes are to be welcome, but they still don’t go far enough. Other Universities – both in the UK and internationally – have been including Students, staff representatives and others on selection committees for years. At Universities in the Netherlands, student representatives are so integrated into the process of selection that they can veto appointments to many posts and the entire budget of their institutions. The fact that the membership of the Committee at the moment almost exclusively comes from among the senior academic community is shocking.

Academics should, of course, make up the bulk of the Committee (reflecting the fact that Oxford is a self-governing academic Community), but the decision of who will lead this organisation should be taken collectively by students, staff and members of wider society through external members brought in on the basis of their expertise.

For me, this is one of the “key qualities” that the Vice Chancellor is going to need to possess: an ability to formulate and implement radical changes to the governance of the University that seeks to include all parties in the decision making process. There has to be an understanding that process and policy discussed on committees ultimately impacts on students across the University and that consultation with those groups is essential for long-term success.

In inviting student representatives to the committee for the first time, they are recognising that student views are important. The next logical step is to accept that the importance merits a place on the Committee. This will be a point I’ll be making at the meeting next week, and I hope they take on board for future Nominating Committees.

To maintain our standing as a “world class” institution, we need to not only compare our educational experience with those of our international competitors, but also our structures and processes. Integrating students into the decision making process is an essential part of that.