Hood to ring in Oxford changes

The first "outsider" to be appointed vice-chancellor of Oxford University in its 900-year history will be officially welcomed this week.

John Hood, who was head-hunted from his post as vice-chancellor of Auckland University, will take control of the university initially for five years, replacing Sir Colin Lucas.

As the oldest English-speaking university in the world, it can lay claim to nine centuries of continuous existence.

The vice-chancellor has previously been picked from within the university, but changes during Sir Colin's leadership meant applicants from any professional background worldwide were considered.

At a centuries-old ceremony, watched by many academics in the ornate University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Dr Hood will be asked, in Latin, to faithfully fulfil the requirements of the job.

He will then receive the statute book, the keys and the seal of office from Sir Colin and deliver his inaugural address.

But the rigid, traditional aspect of university protocol is unlikely to be carried through into Dr Hood's agenda.

Like his successor, who spent a ground-breaking seven years in charge and reformed the university's internal management, Dr Hood could be expected to ring some changes.

Foremost will be the need to secure research funding in an increasingly competitive arena, with Cambridge proudly proclaiming that it received the most funding in the 2002-03 year, just above the £162 million ($440 million) Oxford received.

Of the external sponsors who funded Oxford research, charities, industrial firms and other agencies provided £92 million, with the rest from Government departments and agencies.

Such commercial emphasis is seen in the success of its technology transfer company, which files on average one new patent application a week, the university says, with spin-out companies collectively being valued at £2 billion.

Dr Hood's strong business background no doubt contributed to his suitability for the job.

He spent 18 years with Fletcher Challenge, rising to senior positions, as well as being a chairman and director of public and private companies in New Zealand and overseas.

His new job returns him to Oxford, where he obtained an MPhil in management studies in the late 1970s.

He is expected to provide academic and managerial leadership, representing the university both nationally and internationally and, crucially, he is required "to secure and continue the growth of a financial base sufficient to allow the university to develop its mission".

The university is pessimistic about funding, particularly with concerns about the shortfall in public spending for teaching and research.

Its last annual report said "the university faces financial problems in the short to medium term, with an uncertain longer-term future".

Future problems include the contentious issue of increased fees for students.

A hard-hitting Government-ordered review into the relationship between business and universities, published in March last year, called for the institutions to cast off antiquated management systems.

The Lambert Review, commissioned by Chancellor Gordon Brown, said Oxford and Cambridge in particular should generate more money themselves from private sources than they get from public funds.

- NZPA