The incoming vice-vhancellor of St Mary’s University College in Twickenham has warned that these are challenging times for higher education, citing in particular an erosion of trust in institutions and political uncertainty.
Anthony McClaran, a practising Catholic and the current chief executive of the Australian Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, the independent national regulatory and quality assurance organisation for Australian higher education, is due to take up the role in April. Professor Francis Campbell, Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s since 2014, steps down at the end of January.
Speaking to The Tablet Mr McClaran affirmed the Catholic ethos of St Mary’s, which he said provides a “vital connection with an intellectual tradition that goes back to the origin of universities themselves and which looks outward with the perspective of a global faith.”
He said: “Catholic higher education is there for all, at the service of the community and wider world, and it is distinguished by an ethos that places the development of each individual’s gifts in the context of service and community. There is, within that larger purpose, a specific service to the Church and to those who will teach and minister within its schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and churches."
He acknowledged that all universities currently face questions of value for money, intense competition, and an uncertain geopolitical context.
“In facing the challenges, opportunities will flow from the proven ability of St Mary’s staff to provide students with an outstanding learning experience and research that engages with the debates that are shaping the professional context for the world in which our graduates will work,” he said.
Mr McClaran, who has been in Australia since 2015, said that the lessons to be learned in that country following the abuse crisis there and the imprisonment of Cardinal George Pell had implications for the whole Church.
“The Church in Australia has learned, painfully, of the absolute importance of listening to its most vulnerable members and placing their experiences and concerns, rather than institutional reputation, at the centre. In doing so, reputation will itself slowly be rebuilt on a much surer basis – but it will be slow because trust has to be regained. For the immediate future in Australia, much will rest on the effectiveness of the Plenary Council, to be held in October this year, in articulating a new way forward – and there will be lessons to be learned for all parts of the Catholic Church.”
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