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Open University vice-chancellor resigns after staff revolt Open University vice-chancellor resigns after staff revolt
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Peter Horrocks, the vice-chancellor of the Open University, has resigned following widespread opposition to plans to significantly reduce the number of courses the institution offers and the number of lecturers it employs. Peter Horrocks, the vice-chancellor of the Open University, has resigned after failing to quell a staff revolt over his plans to institute major budget cuts and redundancies.
The university said Horrocks would hand responsibility to an acting vice-chancellor but would remain employed as a consultant for another three months. The announcement came after Horrocks proved unable this week to win the backing of the OU’s governing council. He did not manage to convince its members that he could manage the reforms needed at the distance-learning institution launched by Harold Wilson in 1969.
In a statement confirming he would stand down as vice-chancellor with immediate effect, Horrocks said he had implemented reforms, known as Students First. In his resignation statement, Horrockssaid he understood the university’s governing bodies would ultimately approve his reforms. “So the time has come when I am ready to move on, having achieved my primary goals at the OU,” he said.
“With those two components of Students First approved by academic governance, the university will have reached an important milestone. So the time has come when I am ready to move on, having achieved my primary goals at the OU,” Horrocks said. OU insiders, however, said Horrocks had lost confidence of staff at all levels, with the council and university senate likely to block further restructuring if he remained in post.
“I am delighted that recently there have been very strong expressions of political support for improved policies for part-time learning, a cause to which I have given everything I could. Professor Mary Kellett, the executive dean of the university’s wellbeing and education faculty, takes over immediately as acting vice-chancellor. The university said Horrocks would remain as a consultant for another three months.
“I am pleased to be continuing to work with the university for a few months, handing over to the acting vice-chancellor and advising on the external relations agenda for the University and the wider part-time sector. The former BBC executive ran into widespread opposition to his plans to slash the number of courses the institution offers, with as many as 1,000 core staff losing their jobs in response to the sharp decline in student enrolment the university has endured since tuition fees were raised in 2012.
Horrocks’s resignation comes just a week after University and College Union members at the Open University demanded he resign. Confidential documents first revealed by the Guardian last month said that 41 undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses were to be axed.
Horrocks’s resignation from his £360,000-a-year post comes just a week after a meeting of University and College Union members at the OU demanded he step down.
Lydia Richards, a UCU regional officer, said: “Staff made it quite clear that the vice-chancellor had to go and we are pleased he has finally got that message. The Open University is a fantastic institution and Horrocks’s replacement must defend the unique role it plays in our education system and the work of its staff.Lydia Richards, a UCU regional officer, said: “Staff made it quite clear that the vice-chancellor had to go and we are pleased he has finally got that message. The Open University is a fantastic institution and Horrocks’s replacement must defend the unique role it plays in our education system and the work of its staff.
“The university leadership team should now scrap the damaging plans to cut jobs and courses, and work with us to develop a more positive strategy for the future of the institution.”“The university leadership team should now scrap the damaging plans to cut jobs and courses, and work with us to develop a more positive strategy for the future of the institution.”
Richard Gillingwater, the university’s pro-chancellor and chair of the university council, said: “Peter Horrocks has made an enormous contribution to securing the future of the Open University during his three years at the helm. He has shown real courage and determination in articulating and addressing the challenges we face internally and externally. Richard Gillingwater, the university’s pro-chancellor and chair of the university council, said Horrocks had made an enormous contribution to the OU during his three-year tenure.
“Peter has recaptured the pioneering spirit of the OU, challenged norms and pushed us to put innovation at the heart of our preparations for the future,” Gillingwater said.
But Ian Johnstone, an OU lecturer, said there was a huge sense of relief at the news of Horrocks’ departure. “This must be humiliating for Peter Horrocks, but he has only himself to blame. From the start he appeared to take no interest in learning the culture of the university and to show contempt for staff at all levels,” he said.
“We all recognise that the OU faces significant problems, but we will stand a much better chance when these solutions emerge from the staff as a whole and not from a tiny, uninformed clique at the top.”
Horrocks said: “I know that all members of the university will continue to commit themselves to the changes necessary to live up to these opportunities. I wish the University and my successor the very best.”
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