May 30, 2017
The University of Adelaide is to be congratulated on its choice of Professor Peter Rathjen as its next Vice Chancellor.
“The Group of Eight (Go8) – Australia’s group of leading research-intensive universities, with six of its members ranked in the world’s top 100 – is delighted to welcome such an outstanding exponent and ardent advocate for excellence in higher education to its team,” says Vicki Thomson, Go8 Chief Executive.
“There has never been a more important time for the Go8’s Board of eight Vice Chancellors to be so united, focused and determined to achieve what is best for their students, and for the nation’s economy through the higher education sector.
“The legacy Professor Rathjen leaves at the University of Tasmania and indeed in the State of Tasmania exemplifies everything we know he will bring back to the Go8, where he shares an equal commitment to the sector’s future with his fellow Go8 Board members.”
Ms Thomson said the recent Go8 Board decision to unanimously refuse to support or sanction the Government’s latest legislative financial hit to students and universities meant Professor Rathjen would be joining an unrelenting Go8 advocacy battle against the legislation.
“We have a duty to our students and to the Australian community to fight hard to ensure we can continue to deliver a quality education and world class research,” she said.
“That is increasingly impossible when the sector is continually subjected to Budget cuts, cuts which are accompanied by higher fees for our students who are asked to pay more for less.”
Contact: Vicki Thomson Group of Eight Chief Executive on +61 438 047 155
