Sir Professor David Skegg OBE BMedSc MBChB (Otago) DPhil (Oxon) MFPHM FAFPHM FRSNZ
University of Otago Vice Chancellor Sir Professor David Skegg announced last month that he was standing down. Goneskies. Kaput. Done. So ovah it. Well, sort of – he is going to stick around for the next year. Skegg has a ten-year contract with the University but will be leaving after seven – something he says he has always intended.
In his immediate wake will be a string of departmental restructures and lay-offs, so jumping ship will come at a convenient time. But will that be his lasting legacy? The man himself isn’t giving interviews until just before he leaves, but Susan Smirk talked to friends, colleagues, and foes to get a sense of who really is the biggest dog in town.
LITTLE SKEGGY-KINS: A J.A.F.A.
David Skegg has been based in Otago since 1966, but actually began his illustrious academic journey in his hometown of Auckland. Skegg attended the exclusive King's Preparatory School in Remuera, and after winning a scholarship to King's College, he spent his high school years polishing his public speaking and debating skills. He went on to ace his University Scholarship exams, coming first in the country for Biology, and fourth for Chemistry.
SMARTY PANTS
Skegg first arrived in Dunedin as a second-year medical student, living in Knox College. As an undergrad he went on exchange to Harvard and later a Rhodes scholarship saw him leave for Oxford where he took a turn lecturing in Epidemiology. He eventually returned to Dunedin in 1980 – a city which has reportedly “cast a spell on him.” Back at Otago he was a Professor of Preventati
ve and Social Medicine. Back then, the department had less than a dozen staff; today, it is the largest department in the University with 130 people, mostly involved in research.
Skegg’s own primary research interest is cancer epidemiology. However, variety is the spice of life, and he keeps his research buffet tasty with work on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and contraceptive drug safety.
In 2002, a study of Skegg’s showed New Zealand’s cancer death rate to be significantly, and worryingly, higher than Australia’s. The same year he was also involved with a study that debunked the link between vasectomys and prostate cancer. He is also an expert on contraceptive and drug safety, and reproductive health. Skegg has published more than 140 academic papers, and was made an OBE in 1990 for his services to medicine. He became Sir Skegg in 2009.
In addition, he acts as a consultant to the World Health Organisation, and occasionally the New Zealand Government.
THE VC IS IN DA HOUSE
Skegg became Vice Chancellor in August 2004, replacing Dr. Graham Fogelburg. He was an unusual choice for a Vice Chancellor, being both an insider to the University, and more of an academic than an administrator. Nevertheless his appointment was heralded by many as an “inspired” choice. Former Chancellor Lindsay Brown affirmed recently that the choice to appoint "someone from our own backyard" had been a good one.
Despite numerous awards, much controversy, and the general prominence of his position, Skegg has done his best to keep out of the public spotlight. Yet he is undeniably the most powerful public servant in Dunedin. As Mayor Peter Chin spells it out for us, “The University is Dunedin's biggest business by far and the Vice Chancellor is the Chief Executive of the University.” Biggest dog.
Last year, the State Services Commission put Skegg’s salary in the $530 000-$539 000 bracket. This dwarfs the Prime Minister’s $393 000 annual pay packet. For this fine rate, Skegg oversees the University's business operations, which have annual income approaching $580 million (although he does have a Chief Operating Officer, a position he created to fulfill some of his CEO-type responsibilities). He also, of course, takes responsibility for 22 000 ambitious young vagabonds while they pursue their degrees, and 4 000 full and part-time staff.
OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan says that Skegg is certainly a busy man, and notes that “everyone” says he works weekends as well. She even admits that staff in the Clocktower have even confided to her that they worry about how hard he works.
YOU CAN’T SPELL ‘SKEGG’ WITHOUT ‘KEG’
One thing that many undergraduate students note Skegg for has been his willingness to clamp down on the drinking culture at Otago. Indeed, in his tenure he has witnessed all of the Undie 500 ‘riots’ as well as last year’s Toga Parade. In response, he’s insisted that this kind of behaviour harms not only the University, but also the value of the degrees it awards.
Controversially, his reign has seen the implementation of the Code of Conduct (CoC) which allows the University to punish students for misbehaving off-campus and out of school time; Campus Watch has been set up; alcohol advertising on campus has been banned; and naughty students have been kicked out. (Many suspect that the recent purchases of Gardies and the Bowler and leasing of Castle Street flats might have something to do with this push too, although this is fervently denied by the University.)
The “big one” that students will remember Skegg for will be the CoC, Geoghegen says, due to its controversial nature. Its implementation was met with howls of protest and relations between OUSA and the University are only now beginning to simmer.
Skegg’s involvement in trying to change Otago’s culture has endeared him to the city’s Mayor. “I think that he has been very supportive of the city, as the city has been to the University,” Chin says. On a personal note, their relationship is something Chin has “enjoyed very much.” Which is cute.
CASH BABY. ALL THAT CASH
Aside from fighting off bad press – and man love from the Mayor – Skegg has spent much of his time, especially of late, restructuring the University towards a more research-based institution. After all, that is where the money is.
The key trend has been to privilege core academic subjects over more practical courses. This, of course, has manifested itself most recently in the closure of the Design Studies department.
Geoghegan diplomatically offers that “for those who would see Otago as being really competitive, and being the best University, then I think Skegg's done really well – the focus on research being one of Otago's points of difference. But for those who see University as somewhere where everyone can come along and do something that interests them, I guess they would probably disagree.”
Geoghegan explains that her recent inauguration into the world of University politics has given her a new perspective. “Once you sit down and start looking at the big picture, where all the funding goes into, where the priorities are, and the amount of money it takes to keep departments sustainable, it becomes a lot harder to say 'we need to keep doing everything' and still keep the University functioning as a whole, and not get into serious financial trouble.”
The decision to close the Design School moved rapidly through the Clocktower, despite a 200-person silent protest and criticism from students for the 'undemocratic' process. Geoghegan, too, criticised the process through which the decision was made for being rushed and not being open. She voted against the closure of the department; however; she more recently told Critic “there were really early signals, years ago, that it needed to change, and that it wasn't a sustainable funding model. I understand from that perspective why the Design School was cut.” Despite her criticism of the Council process in this matter, she
also said that overall Skegg has been very willing to listen to her suggestions, and that “He does genuinely care and wants to do the right thing.”
But of course, many students don’t see this side of the picture. Critic Editor Ben Thomson says that one thing the magazine has found frustrating throughout the years has been the tightly-controlled media access to Skegg and the University’s upper management. “I’m sure the Vice Chancellor is between a rock and a hard place on a lot of these controversial issues, but often I don't think that has been communicated effectively to students,” he says. “That is probably why many in the student body feel, perhaps unfairly, that he has not been looking out for their best interests.”
A major shift towards this research-based model is because of the way the University is funded through Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF). The University’s emphasis on research got Otago to top of PBRF rankings for New Zealand. The Postgraduate doctoral student roll has risen from 829 in 2005 to 1264 in 2009. Otago has also increased its share of annual research grants from organisations such as the Health Research Council and the Marsden Fund. With the government reducing funding, much of the University’s income is linked to investment plans and postgrad research, making research Otago’s saving grace during these tough times. But then, tell that to Design Studies or the Social Work department which faced cuts due, as Skegg put it, to its “limited research ethos.”
THE TO-DO LIST
The next year is certainly likely to prove both controversial and challenging for Skegg, and for the University as a whole. Brent Lovelock of the Tertiary Education Union, which represents University staff, has told the ODT that the coming year would be the “crucial test” for Skegg, in terms of maintaining staff support through many proposed changes.
Restructure the College of Education
Skegg has seen the Teachers' College through some big changes. He oversaw its amalgamation with the University of Otago in 2007, taking what College of Education Dean Helen May called “a very hands-on” role. May tells Critic that Skegg had done his best to make a difficult transition go as smoothly as possible. But there is more to come. The upcoming restructuring of the College is based on a review, which has aimed to cut costs by $1.3 million, and is likely to threaten the jobs of 15 or more of the College's 60 staff members – staff were reportedly “shell-shocked” by this news. However, Skegg has argued they are still committed to the College, as evidenced by their $10 million investment into the Bill Robertson Library.
Restructure the Department of Social Work and Community Development
This will meld with other Humanities departments to form a new Sociology, Gender and Social Work department – a move which seems nonsensical to some staff. At least three Social Work staff could lose jobs is this so-called 'stream-lining.'
Restructure the School of Business
Changes to two departments within the School of Business are to cost, efficiency imperatives, and, of course, research. A document that Critic obtained last semester makes it clear that any staff without strong research records would face an uncertain future.
Fire people
It seems that some amount of job loss is unavoidable as departments reshuffle. Most seem to still have their faith firmly vested in Skegg, as the man who will lead them through. The College of Education Dean is certain that Skegg is making necessarily difficult decisions, but making sure changes happened as smoothly as possible. Geoghegan points out that many universities have faced similar problems, and at Canterbury they lost a number of staff – with over 600 jobs under review earlier this year. “That's an option that could have been looked at at Otago – reducing the number of staff – but that's been one of Skegg's big things, not just making redundancies left, right, and centre.”
Cap the roll
In May, in the same meeting at which the Design School’s fate was decided, the University Council voted to cap the University roll – they will let in fewer domestic undergraduates next year.
Get the ball rolling on making us hawt
The recently unveiled Campus Master Plan would completely change the face of the University of Otago if it is ever fully realised. It’s extremely expensive, thus controversial, but if it ever comes to fruition it would be a big part of Skegg’s legacy.
SKEGG GOES DOWN A PEG
Skegg plans to stand down from the position of Vice Chancellor on July 31 next year. Ever the gentleman, he has given a full 14 months' notice, although he is only required to give three. Chin believes Skegg was “hugely noble” to give the advisory committee ample time to find his successor. When Critic asked the Mayor why Skegg was resigning, he answered, “I have my views on that, but I don't think really that's for me to answer.” He quickly added that he had nothing to hide, but felt only Skegg himself could answer that question.
Skegg is expected to give interviews as his term comes to an end next year – so we’ll have to wait and see what he says. For now, he has made it clear that he has no plans to leave our humble city, although he has not specified whether he will stay at the University in an academic position, as has been speculated, or retire. But it's not over yet. As Chin noted forcefully (and somewhat self-referentially) “I think that when you want to pass judgment on a person, you should at least wait until he has finished his term.”
Most people to whom Critic spoke are quick to emphasise that many of Skegg's euphemistically 'difficult decisions' relate to outside forces. “I think certainly there have been hard decisions that he has had to make, because of the changes politically, in funding and just in terms of budgets, but I think that he has led the decision process in a very inclusive way,” Chin says. Geoghegan also clearly asserted that the “[University of Otago] has been going in the direction it's been pushed from Government level.”
Nevertheless, if anyone must claim responsibility for the direction the University is taking, it is David Skegg himself. How he is remembered as Vice Chancellor by staff and students will likely depend on how he navigates the next 14 months.
SIDE-BOX 1:
THE CARTWRIGHT INQUIRY.
In the late 1980s, a national scandal arose over an experiment for treating carcinoma in situ (CIS) – an abnormal cervical lesion – at the National Women's Hospital in Auckland. The Cartwright Inquiry (headed by Sylvia Cartwright) was launched to investigate the work of Dr. Herb Green and his colleagues, who allegedly left numerous women with CIS untreated, resulting in their development of cervical cancer and eventual death. The Inquiry concluded that Green's treatment was unethical and the management of his patients inadequate. Skegg was involved with the Cartwright Inquiry, and has been a vocal critic of government research and evaluation funding, and the national cervical smear programme in particular. In fact, he was the first the first to coin the term ‘the unfortunate experiment’ in January 1986, a name now often used to refer to the incident.
In 2009, Auckland History Professor Linda Bryder published a book entitled A History of the 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital. The book “turned history on it's head” (according to the New Zealand Herald) by coming to the opposite conclusion to the official inquiry, and defending the work of Dr. Herb Green and his colleagues. Skegg has vociferously denounced Dr. Bryder's book in several prominent media outlets, including the Herald and the Otago Daily Times. When contacted, Linda Bryder was initially reluctant to speak out against Skegg. However she did say that she thought his response to her book was “outrageous” and that he had said “some fairly damning things about me” in the media. Dr. Bryder also condemned the ODT for being unwilling to cover both sides of the story.
She told Critic “I think [David Skegg] would have been better, as this stage, not to have gone public in the way he did, because I don't think that he was a significant player in 1988 when the report came out.”
SIDE-BOX 2:
What they said about Skegg:
“A scholar and a gentleman” – ODT article when he was first appointed.
“Quiet achiever” – Peter Chin.
“A reasonable, well-meaning man” – OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan.
“Hard-working, incredibly intelligent” – Former OUSA President Simon Wilson
“Did not shrink from making hard decisions” – Former Chancellor Lindsay Brown.
“Cordial” – TEU co-president Dr. Brent Lovelock.
“An outstanding New Zealander” – Former Chancellor Eion Edgar.
“Energetic leader” – ODT editorial on his retirement.
What you said about Skegg (on our Facebook page):
“He's probably done just fine for the University. For the students, on the other hand...” – Former Critic Editor.
“We could Hire a Rug Dr. It'd be just as effective except cleaner... and a shitload cheaper”
“On the one hand he is the head of one of the biggest Universities in the country, on the other hand $500,000! What the fuck?”
“I really, really don't like that guy.”
“He is worth 10 normal people. Apparently.”
“So... he fucks the University over, and then fucks off? Good job, Skegg, good job!”
SKEGG
