Last Friday I was asked to facilitate a colloquium between the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and Employment and the academic members of staff at the University of Malta in view of the impending election of the new Rector. 

At this stage, a note of approval needs to be directed to the outgoing Rector, Professor Juanito Camilleri, noticeably low profile, who in my opinion has delivered the goods focusing primarily on the academic and infrastructural consolidation of this Institution.  On a personal note I found his vision in setting up the Faculty for Social Wellbeing as one of the high points of his tenure.  He managed to bring most, if not all of the applied social sciences ‘under one roof’.  Having different professions, that is to say, Youth Work, Psychology, Social Work, Social Policy, Family Therapy, Criminology, Counselling and Gerontology working together, both in research and teaching can really make a difference and leave a positive impact.  I believe that this initiative illustrates vision and is particularly significant because symbolically it is a way of indicating to the policy makers the need to synergise and maximise on our resources. Working together is fundamental.

This is only one example why electing the appropriate person to the role is fundamental.  The moral of this story is that the election of a Rector has immense impact not only on the way the University operates, how sustainable it becomes, what profile it develops for itself and what ranking it fits into but it also bestows a blueprint on the way our communities evolve.  More so a good University will be able to provide the rigging and implements to respond to the challenges being faced by the people.  

Having said that, one cannot but admit that this process of electing the Rector is rather anomalous.  Whilst it was commendable that the Prime Minister and the Minster engage with academics, really and truly the choice of Rector takes place in a dedicated meeting of the Council.  It is up to this ‘governing body’ to nominate and vote-in the Rector to his or her office. 

The way the Council is composed might need a re-think in the future especially when it comes to the appointment of the Rector to reflect today’s actuality. 

The way things happen up to now the majority of the Council members are nominated by the Government.  So whilst the Council is ‘free’ to make its choice it is very likely, as has happened in the past, that the preferred candidate of the Government will fill in the vacancy. 

Nevertheless I still believe that the meeting with the Prime Minister was in place.  The way the discussion unfolded demonstrates that academics interpret this particular moment as an important crossroad for the University.  As Professor Baldacchino rightly noted in his intervention, who incidentally is being touted as one of the potential candidates, this sense of belonging of academics vis-a-vie the University is commendable and a great deal of positives can be taken from this experience.  Then again Professor Baldacchino claimed that this exercise should avoid being turned into an auction and we need to shore up the passion of academics to make sure this institution moves forward.  University, he claims, should seek excellence and become more socially representative. 

Some also went as far as to recommend that even the potential Pro-Rectors should be elected or at least it is made clear that they are part of the team that is enlisted with the respective Candidate. It is also high time that candidates would have the equivalent of a public hearing so that academics, together with the Council, can have a better idea of the vision these individuals are laying out.

The way the debate evolved has provided the direction that the University is to take. As Professor Tanya Sammut-Bonnici shared in her intervention, a Rector is expected to be able to encourage interdisciplinarity, have sound academic repute both locally and internationally, should be a good communicator and a skilful lobbyist. 

I believe that by and large the ‘floor’ was very much in sync calling for a University that is able to connect with the community, a point unambiguously raised by Dr JosAnn Cutajar and endorsed by the Prime Minister himself.  It is useless having a University that is not linked to the people, which does not have a social vocation, which is not able to provide the answers for the complex challenges that our society is facing.  Added to this we need a University that is able to capitalise on the high level of competencies of the academic staff who have excellent credentials and are highly respected in the international fora.  The internationalisation of the University needs to get even bigger to certify relevance.  Those present also spoke about the importance of applying a stronger digital platform, a robust research investment, cross-fertilisation of competencies, the need to revisit the stipends  system and the fee paying students and strengthening our link with the ‘outside world’. 

Professor Alfred Vella incumbent Pro-Rector and apropos another name that is going round as potential candidate, spoke about the standing that our University enjoys even if certain league tables fail to show for it.  In fact he made reference to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities as evidence that the University of Malta is doing well on a number of levels. 

With some 14,000 students, 800 courses, 600 academics and scores of non-academic staff, taking this University forward requires a leader who is able to work in a team, have stamina and enjoy esteem and reverence.  It also calls for a person who is ambitious and has a passion for this Institution.  Leadership in this day and age is chief and a Rector needs to have the personality that is able to listen and act, be decisive and democratic, has rank and is humble.  We need a CEO, a manager, an entrepreneur, a visionary, a good administrator, a charismatic personality with a passion and energy to take this tradition affluent Institution forward. 

I believe that civil society, apart from the academic staff, non-academic staff and students need to engage in this debate because the University of Malta should be one important establishment to oversee liberties and warrant inclusion.