Interview with UEA's New VC (19/09/2023)

INTERVIEW

19th September 2023

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Co-Editors-in-Chief, Matthew Stothard with Professor David Maguire, Professor David Maguire became ViceChancellor of UEA in May this year. He has presided over a turbulent time for the university, joining mid-way through the Accelerated Strategic Review Program which aimed to reduce UEA’s financial deficit. However, when we met with him he was keen to start looking forward, suggesting that “we’re turning a new page to start a new chapter. The last six months have been pretty horrid, but it’s something we needed to do because we got into a difficult position, but now I think that’s behind us and I’m certainly looking forward with renewed enthusiasm to a more prosperous future for us.” * * * We started by asking Prof. Maguire what brought him to UEA, and he told us he’d “always been impressed by the quality of research and teaching that takes place here. It’s an amazing location so I was only too thrilled to be given the opportunity to come and work here.”

Now as we enter a new year off the back of staff reductions, we then spoke about what the university is doing to reduce the impact of these cuts. He made clear “it’s still a work in progress, and it is regrettable that we’ve had to quickly reduce staff numbers.”

However, he also highlighted that the staffing levels were still on par with peer universities across the country, suggesting “our staff-student ratio is actually still one of the better in the sector, and whilst there will be some gaps in some areas which we need to work on, I feel as though we’ve got sufficient staff resource and we’ve still got great facilities here. There is a period of readjustment, but we’ve got every prospect of continuing to deliver world-class teaching and learning opportunities for the students.”

He added that the university has found all “the expenditure reductions we needed to make for this year… We are ahead of our plan and we’ve had a really good recruitment round for the coming Autumn” (see page 4). “We’re not completely out of the woods, it will probably take two to three years to finally get the monkey off our backs and be into a place where we can be really confident about our long-term stability, but I think we’re able now to plan a bit more strategically, a bit more purposefully, a bit more carefully about how we make choices for this year.”

Throughout the ASRP, the arts and humanities were often at the centre of the conversation as the most academics were put at risk of redundancy at the faculty.

UEA has a strong reputation in the area, and Prof. Maguire did emphasise that “arts and humanities are amazing, and we’ve got some incredible people here who’ve done brilliant work and we have a fine reputation for that without question,” but he ‘slightly

disagreed’ with the idea the university’s reputation was built on that alone, pointing to strengths across all the faculties which the university hopes to grow in the future.

He said that the idea the cuts have differentially impacted the arts and humanities is “a myth.” He highlighted that the highest staff reductions were made in Professional Services, and that “all four of the faculties have been asked to make savings in order to keep the university on the straight and narrow, it’s just that I think they were seen slightly more visibly in arts and humanities because other areas managed to do it through other means. They were, if you like, more proactive, or perhaps had other opportunities that weren’t easily available in arts and humanities. [He clarified that other faculties had been able to find savings through “less intrusive means” like voluntary severance and vacancy management, as well as cuts to non-staff costs.] So I know it looks like there were more difficulties there but actually it’s been spread across.”

Prof. Maguire also told us UEA will be “relaunching the arts and humanities,” this autumn, “to make sure we highlight the strength of the people and the work that we do,” although precise details for what that will involve are still in development. He said, “I want to talk up arts and humanities, because of the quality of the work it does now and will do in the future, not dwell on the recent past.”

He emphasised that, across all subject areas, “we need to be talking up the university much more and really getting our message out. We’re doing some fantastic stuff here and sadly lots of people don’t know about it outside those of us who work and study at the university. So that’s a big thing that I’m trying to bring – get really clear about what our story is and where our successes are, and then be really good about telling the world about it, in the hope that our reputation will rise and the number of people who want to come and study and work here will also increase.”

With the difficult year UEA experienced before the change in management, it was important for us to ask how Prof. Maguire sought to restore staff and students’ trust in the senior leadership team. The ViceChancellor questioned whether trust was low, suggesting “a lot of this [concern] is based on rumour and myth” and that whilst he accepts his job is “always to maintain the trust of all the students and staff, [...] I’ve just got to do my best to lead the university as best as I can.” He stressed that building this trust with students and staff was a “process, not an event, [...] I’ve got to keep doing the best that I can do and hope that people find that satisfactory and believe we’re going in a positive direction.”

Reflecting on the past year, Prof. Maguire

stressed that ‘More than a third of [students] are about to arrive and are not encumbered with history. They’re coming with a fresh face, and we need to get them off on the right, positive foot about what a great place this is. [The university] is an amazing place doing brilliant things, and we’ve got a chance to reset and restart, and turn a page forward.”

When pushed about what he is doing to restore trust with returning students, Prof.

Maguire pointed out he’d met “multiple times with the Student Union and engaged regularly[...] with staff and students on campus”. He spoke about being present at one of the university’s open days and going out whenever possible to “meet people and listen”. In addition, he said himself and his colleagues were in the midst of a “big consultation around the strategic plan” whereby he’d be meeting people “inperson and online to try and get some feedback and direction from students”. He stressed he was “all about engagement with students”, who he described as “key partners” for many activities on campus.

In line with discussing the needs of students and staff, we asked how Prof. Maguire was intending to support the wellbeing of the overall university, particularly in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis and the after effects of COVID-19. He acknowledged the great impact these national issues were having on students, and explained his plan to “build up the capability in our student support services”. Prof. Maguire further commented that the senior leadership

Photo: UEA

“I want to talk up the arts and humanities, [...] not dwell on the recent past.”

19th September 2023

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concrete-online.co.uk/category/interview/ | @ConcreteUEA

and Eve Attwood in conversation UEA’s new Vice Chancellor team work “closely with people in the UEA Medical Centre on campus” and in the midst of a rise in requests for extenuating circumstances, have sought to support all those cases “where we can and where it’s fair”. Keen to praise the Student Union, he described them as “our key ally in terms of helping deal with students” and encouraged students to “interact with advisors” on campus when needed.

During the last academic year, UEA participated in the national UCU strikes, which included 18 days whereby academic staff took to the picket lines. We asked about how the university would respond in the event that there were more strikes this year, to which Prof. Maguire responded “We have really good relations with the Union on campus, at least while I’ve been here, and we’re working really hard with them to avoid strikes in the first place.”

He added that, in the event of strikes, “the impact on students will be of paramount concern and we will seek to do what we can to minimise that by putting alternative arrangements in place.” He reinforced that the aim of the senior leadership team was to “ensure an alliance and a partnership which means when the university prospers, staff and students prosper.”

As a new wave of students arrives this year, the university has already had to tackle some difficulties. A statement was issued by the university in response to the Government guidance on RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) on the 8th September about some UEA student accommodation being closed as a precautionary measure while further investigations are to be carried out. As a result, Norfolk and Suffolk Terrace (the Ziggurats) are currently closed, as well as the top floors of Nelson Court and Constable Terrace.

In response to this, Prof. Maguire explained a “preliminary survey of all the buildings on campus” had been completed and that “structural engineers [would be] on site[...] to confirm it is RAAC and to assess the state of the concrete”. He said it is only then that “we can determine what the best outcome is” and the next steps to take. He added that no one would be allowed back into the buildings “until we’re confident it’s safe to be there” and that the university has already agreed to find alternative accommodation for all those students coming this year who would’ve stayed in the Ziggurats. He spoke of the university agreeing that these changes should not “materially affect students financially in terms of the ability to be successful academically. When they’re rehoused, they will be rehoused into higher quality, more expensive accommodation, but we will honour the agreed price they were originally paying.” He added that students having to transfer from off-campus onto campus will be provided subsidised transport.

On a lighter note, we asked Prof. Maguire what message he’d have to students joining UEA this year and his advice. He began by praising the university, claiming, “You’ve made a brilliant choice coming here and you’re going to learn the most fantastic things. If previous cohorts are anything to go by, you’ll make lifelong friends and learn all about yourself.” He was realistic however, claiming students should “be excited, be slightly scared about the prospect of coming, but in a good way[...] Realise that this is a complete set of new experiences and it’s right for you to be anxious, not everything will go smoothly. But what makes us all strong and what we learn from is all those adversarial situations where we can overcome those difficulties.”

Circling back to the topic of mental health, Prof. Maguire highlighted that for any new students struggling, they should “talk to academic advisors, people in the Student Union[...] the university student services and if necessary, the medical centre.” He also emphasised the importance of contacting “family and friends and supporters back home – they’re all rooting for you and only want you to be successful.” His final piece of advice was simple – “Don’t forget to have a great time!”

As the university approaches it’s 60th anniversary, the 29th September, we asked Prof. Maguire his thoughts on UEA’s legacy. “At the outset, [UEA] was designed to do different,” he said, citing its Creative Writing course as “world-first”. He praised the university’s “global reputation for the quality of the research” and its work on “Arts and Humanities, Creative Writing, climate change, and medicine.”

As well as that, he emphasised the list of incredible alumni, including those who have gone on to be nominated for awards such as the Booker Prize and Nobel Peace Prize.

In terms of the university as a location, Prof. Maguire was quick to comment on the campus’ “brilliant park” and beautiful lake.

He joked that someone had said to him that “the best thing about UEA is the rabbits and the squirrels”. We can’t say we disagree!

Photo: Concrete/Matthew Stothard

“The [university] is an amazing place doing brilliant things, and we’ve got a chance to reset and restart, and turn a page forward.”

Photo: Concrete/Prakrita Rahman