Politicians and policymakers must be more ambitious for different kinds of universities across the UK rather than expecting they should all look like “a medieval theme park”, while the sector risks being “tone deaf” by lobbying for a rise in tuition fees, according to a leading vice-chancellor.
Sir Chris Husbands’ retirement from Sheffield Hallam University at the end of 2023 was recently confirmed after the appointment of his successor, University of Lincoln provost Liz Mossop.
That brings the imminent exit of one of the sector’s most influential leaders: closely engaged with higher education and schools policy at national level, a key voice on the civic role of universities, with a different set of life experiences from those of most vice-chancellors.
A former director of the UCL Institute of Education, since taking over at Hallam in 2016 Sir Chris has sought to cement its role in “serving the city, serving the region, connecting the city and the region to the world; but fundamentally driving opportunity in, for, around South Yorkshire”, he told Times Higher Education.
