The retirement of Victoria University’s (VU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Dawkins has sparked the hunt for a new leader to continue the University’s ambitious transformation agenda.
Professor Dawkins, who announced his retirement on Wednesday, brings his decade-long tenure to an end in January 2021 when he leaves behind a significant legacy of innovation and inclusion.
In 2019, VU rolled out the game-changing ‘Block Model’ under his leadership. The model, which aims to reduce the stress of university study by allowing students to complete subjects in ‘blocks’ rather than all at once, has already delivered significant results for the University.
VU’s Chancellor Wayne Kayler-Thomson thanked Professor Dawkins for what he called an “incredible impact” on the University during his 10 years as Vice-Chancellor.
“Thanks to Peter’s vision and determination, Victoria University has revolutionised its approach to learning and teaching on a scale that has never been seen before,” Kayler-Thomson said.
“As we continue to achieve our bold plans, our next Vice-Chancellor has a tremendous opportunity to build on our culture of creating opportunity and success for any student from any background”.
Kayler-Thomson said VU’s future mandate is “to create a better world, for our students, our people and our community, through our ground-breaking learning and teaching and our life-changing research”.
“We will be looking for someone who will champion our moral purpose and help us transform the lives of our students and the communities we serve,” he said.
Victoria University has partnered with Perrett Laver for this search process.