Trinity College will soon advertise for the position of provost – Ireland’s most prestigious academic post – and a fierce battle to secure the position is already under way
IT’S THE 44th time that the esteemed job has been on offer; it has an annual salary of over €200,000 and it comes with another great prestige factor, the address – No 1 Grafton Street, Dublin.
No, the position is not that of President of the United States, although among Ireland’s academic elite, the role of Trinity provost probably carries some of the same lustre.
The provost’s residence, which dates back to 1759, gives a hint of the prestige attaching to the position. With its Palladian limestone façade, “the house has the air of a nobleman’s palace rather than the residence of a senior academic,” says Christine Casey, senior lecturer in architectural history at Trinity. It also boasts its own art collection, including works from Jack B Yeats.
The removal trucks will be in position next July when the current provost, John Hegarty, moves out after a decade in charge. The position will be advertised in the coming weeks – but the jockeying for position is already well under way.
The official line is that the position is open to all-comers, the academic elite from around the world.
But, curiously, no one expects an external candidate to take the post. Since the successful nominee will have to secure the support of hundreds of Trinity academics to secure the election, insiders have a distinct edge in this contest.
The long-time favourite is the current vice-provost, Prof Patrick Prendergast. Considered by some to exercise as much clout as the current provost, Prendergast has been a driving force in Trinity since he took up his position two years ago and was instrumental in a research merger agreed between Trinity and UCD announced last year.
As one source put it, the job of provost “is his to lose”. A key factor is whether his strong association with the Hegarty reform agenda – pushed through despite fierce opposition from academics – may yet hinder his prospects.
Recently, an internal review by a Swiss-German team of academics found that the Hegarty reform programme – which recast age-old academic structures – has failed to boost teaching and learning time and resulted in the duplication of tasks.
WHO ELSE IS IN THE RUNNING?
Prof Colm Kearney of the School of Business has been first to declare. Kearney, who turned down the post of vice-provost, could benefit from widespread unease about the Hegarty reforms. Prof Jane Ohlmeyer, the Erasmus Smith chair of modern history, is also widely expected to run. Another internal name being linked with the position is the head of the School of Medicine and vice-president of medical affairs, Prof Dermot Kelleher.
Needless to say, the rumour mill at TCD is in overdrive. But it is also proving unreliable.
Four candidates linked to the post have denied they will enter the contest. They are: Prof Frances Ruane, the director of the ESRI; Prof Clive Williams, the current dean of engineering, mathematics and science; Prof of Systematic Botany, John Parnell and Prof of Engineering Science, Frank Boland. Eoin O’Dell, a senior lecturer in law, also says he is “not considering it at the moment”.
WHAT ABOUT AN EXTERNAL CANDIDATE?
Former DCU president Ferdinand von Prondzynski is out of the running after his recent appointment as principal and vice-chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
In recent weeks, some TCD fellows have been making overtures to senior international academics, but there has been no fresh declarations of interest.
WHAT’S THE CRITERIA FOR THE JOB?
Candidates must have a significant academic standing; prove their capacity for management and administration such as is required in an educational or equivalent institution, and provide evidence of leadership skills and of the ability to represent the college externally.
The job is described as that of chief executive officer responsible for planning, prioritising and managing the university, chief finance officer and chair of the board of the college. But despite the obvious similarities between the post and that of a company’s chief executive, the requirement for experience in an educational environment appears to rule out anyone from the commercial sector.
WHAT’S THE TIMELINE?
The election for provost is likely to take place next April when between 500 and 600 fellows, professors, lecturers, council and board members will cast their ballots to decide the next 10-year-chapter in Trinity’s 400-plus years in existence.
This year, for the first time, prospective candidates’ suitability for nomination will first be assessed by an interview panel. The members are: Prof David Singleton who will act as chair; Dr Seán Barrett; Dr Olive Braiden; Prof Eunan O’Halpin and Prof Desmond O’Neill.
The candidates selected by the committee will then be forwarded to the steering committee which will issue nomination papers. Next, the candidates must find 12 people from the electorate to sign their nomination paper; one of these must certify that the candidate is willing to stand for election, before they can proceed.
Come election day, those eligible to vote will enter the exam hall at Trinity and make their choice. The candidate who on this ballot receives the smallest number of votes will be eliminated and the names of the remaining candidates will again be put forward to the electorate.
The process will continue in this vein until there is just one man or woman standing. It is only at that point that we will know who holds the key, both to Trinity’s foreseeable future and to the door of No 1 Grafton Street.
Who's in the running?
Prof Patrick Prendergast
Prendergast, the current vice-provost, is the early favourite – even though he has still to declare. He is a major driver behind the TCD/UCD Innovation Alliance. The alliance or research merger is was seen a coup for UCD but the benefit for TCD is still a vexed issue in College Green. The classic “Trinity insider’’ he is better placed than any other candidate to secure the top job – but this could change.
He holds the Chair of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering and established the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, serving as its founding Director from 2002 to 2008.
Prof Jane Ohlmeyer
Ohlmeyer is Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Modern History at Trinity College, Dublin, and the principal investigator behind Trinity’s Long Room Hub.
She is an expert on the New British and Atlantic Histories.
She is still said to be “reflecting” on the position and could become the first female provost – if she runs. Her appointment would also mark a break in a pattern which has seen all recent university presidents come from a science/research background.
Prof Colm Kearney
The only declared candidate, Kearney – Professor in International Business – has been critical of the Hegarty reforms. He believes TCD has been underperforming in terms of its public profile.
Regarded as a “very modern, unpretentious academic”, he was a senior economic adviser to the Australian government for a two-year period. Returning to Ireland, he became research professor with the ESRI, then Prof of Finance at DCU, before taking up his position at Trinity in 2001.
He also served as Dean of Faculty of BESS in 2004/5.
Time to think outside the gates
The Trinity selection process is too much of an inside job, argues Education Editor
SEÁN FLYNN
IT 'S SCARCELY an exaggeration to say that the performance of TCD over the next decade will be critically important to Ireland's economic regeneration.
The Government has identified the university sector as the engine of economic growth (while leaving them shamefully short of a sustainable funding base).
It is looking to TCD (and UCD) to take the lead role in this economic regeneration.
So the appointment of the next provost is important far beyond Trinity's halls.
The position will be advertised shortly in the national and international press. By any standards, this is a "blue-chip" educational appointment. It should draw the best and the brightest from Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and the rest.
Just don't expect any of them to make it to No 1 Grafton Street.
The odds are firmly against an external appointment. Indeed TCD has not appointed an outsider since the late FSL Lyons (right) secured the post in 1974.
The key reason for this is that candidates, once they proceed to the election, will have to declare themselves publicly. Few senior academics from other universities are prepared to take this risk.
Incredibly, the shortlisted candidates still have to be find 12 nominations, an all but impossible task for an outsider.
And then there is the election campaign where the candidates roll out a string of promises.
The result? A degree of pork- barrel politics, where you are beholden afterwards to your supporters.
It may be that some of the internal candidates are outstanding, with just the right credentials to do an excellent job.
But the election process does the college few favours. It is a throwback to another time.
Trinity should appoint the very best person available as the next provost – from inside or outside the university.
