University of Tasmania vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen will step down from his role to take up a position with the University of Adelaide.
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The news was announced on Tuesday after some media speculation of the move in recent weeks.
Professor Rathjen has been appointed vice-chancellor and president of the University of Adelaide and will take up his new role in 2018.
University of Tasmania Chancellor Michael Field said the transition in leadership would be undertaken with an emphasis on the principles of stability and continuity.
“Changes in leadership are part of the usual course of events for long-standing institutions, but they invite reflection for each successive period,” Chancellor Field said.
“Without doubt, Professor Rathjen has led a transformative phase for the university and we face the future built on a set of foundations that will serve us well in the years, if not decades, ahead.”
Tasmania University Union president Clark Cooley said Professor Rathjen would leave behind a “forever changed future for Tasmania.”
“He leaves behind a strong vision of what Tasmania can be when it embraces education,” Mr Cooley said.
Mr Cooley said Professor Rathjen’s vision for “university cities” would be his greatest legacy.
“While other universities have chosen to leave regional areas around Australia the University of Tasmania, under the leadership of Professor Rathjen, has not only continued to operate in the North-West and Northern Tasmania but has expanded its operations, built new campuses, and reshaped its degree structures to better align with a population that has never had the opportunity to attain a tertiary education.”
Professor Rathjen has been in the position of vice-chancellor at UTAS for about seven years and has taken the helm during a period of transition that has been described as historic.
The university has embarked on its most ambitious project to date, with major relocations of its campuses at Burnie and in Launceston to be undertaken in the near future.
The campus moves are aimed at bringing the university back into the heart of the city to ensure seamless integration between education and industry.
The relocation will not just be of infrastructure, with the university looking at changing the way it operates its syllabus and learning environments.
Funding for the campus relocation has been secured from all tiers of government, with the federal government pledging funds in Launceston’s City Deal, the state government committed to the move in the recent state budget and the Launceston City Council also allocating funds.
Professor Rathjen said while the decision was a difficult one, it represented somewhat of a homecoming.
He was raised in South Australia, son to highly respected teacher and plant breeder Dr Tony Rathjen, whose work underpinned the advance of the national wheat industry.
“Across community, research and infrastructure, our university has laid the foundations for an enduring period in which we will deliver research outcomes which are world class, infrastructure which is among the very best in the sector and a philosophy around innovation in higher education curriculum which has guided national policy in the field,” Professor Rathjen said.
“These are things about which the university, its staff and alumni should feel great pride. I certainly do and it’s been the relationship I’ve built with the university, its people and the state more broadly which has made this such a difficult decision.”
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