All in a Day’s Work

The Economist reports on ructions to repair the dire finances and arcane structure at Oxford University. Proposals by new vice chancellor John Hood to centralize decision-making and change the way in which dons’ work have stimulated an outcry from the dons. “A brisk New Zealander, Mr Hood has little time for self-indulgent eccentricities. Many dons think he’s insufficiently respectful of Oxford’s age and grandeur. “It’s not as if we’ve been sitting around wishing we were as good as the University of Auckland, it’s not as if he were from Harvard” sniffs a college head.” The Guardian has several reports featuring mixed opinion, proposing Hood both as a “businessman, not an academic”, and as “highly accessible … with the express intention of stimulating debate.”  The subsequent appointment of Oxford’s first female senior administrator (from Auckland University) brought cries of Hood “hand-picking the executive”. Meanwhile The Independent commends John Hood, for his foresight and quick-thinking in regards to the institution’s financial situation. “Hood deserves congratulation for asking the right questions and hiring a firm like McKinsey (on a pro bono basis) to come up with the answers. He has done the job amazingly speedily considering he arrived only last autumn. His action shows what can be done if you hire a vice-chancellor from outside the system – especially when that man has a background of running NZ’s second biggest conglomerate.”