21 June 2004 'A good time to be Vice-Chancellor'

Lincoln University's new Vice-Chancellor Roger Field is a positive and enthusiastic chief executive. It's a good time to be the vice-chancellor of a national university, he says, and particularly of Lincoln University.

The announcement that for the second year in a row Lincoln has featured among the top 10 winners of national tertiary teaching awards is "icing on the cake" of other recent developments at New Zealand's smallest, but third oldest, university institution. Roll increases, a $2.1 million budget surplus, and a second ranking among universities for the percentage increase in research funding under the Performance Based Research Fund formula, have all made 2004 a bright year.

As the 10^th head of Lincoln since its foundation as a School of Agriculture in 1878, Professor Roger Field is well aware of the responsibility to history that goes with the job but he's quick to point out that he feels an even greater obligation – to the future and the generations yet to come.

"We must keep Lincoln relevant and responsive to the times, building on the past and playing to our strengths, meeting the needs of each new generation of students as it comes along.

"I'm absolutely confident that through teaching and research Lincoln University can go on making a really positive contribution to individual lives, to national prosperity and to the world at large internationally."

Field's confidence is matched by that of the University's Chancellor Margaret Austin, who announced his appointment on 11 March describing him as a respected educator, researcher, manager and leader with a reputation for decisiveness, clarity and excellence.

"He is a strategic thinker whose management strengths are recognised by his peers and by the University Council," she said.

Appointed Professor of Plant Science at Lincoln in 1986, Field moved into top university management in the mid-1990s with his appointment as Pro Vice-­Chancellor. Then, in 1998 he was made fulltime Deputy Vice-Chancellor, number two in Lincoln's executive hierarchy.

Strong staff support for his latest appointment is expected to endure beyond a "honeymoon period". Field's promotion to Vice-Chancellor was a very popular one with staff.

The Lincoln branch of the Association of University Staff sent him a formal letter of congratulations and support on his appointment as Vice-Chancellor.

In his years at Lincoln since arriving in 1970 as Lecturer in Plant Science fresh from the United Kingdom, Field has served on numerous administrative bodies both within the University and externally on national committees such as the Sub-Committee on University Entrance, the Scholarships Committee and the Committee on University Academic Programmes all for the NZ Vice-­Chancellors' Committee. He's also been involved in education policy development for the NZVCC and has strong links to the Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Tertiary Education Commission.

An obvious test of leaders is their performance in crises and already Field has had to deal with a number of contentious issues. His composure under pressure has impressed those working alongside him.

Perhaps it's a characteristic helped by one of modern management's new weapons in effective leadership. Keeping fit! Smart businesses worldwide acknowledge the importance of fitness in helping executives cope with the stresses and strains of office, and it's proven physiologically. It's a principle that Field puts into practice himself as a regular mountain biker on Christchurch's Port Hills and a keen skier, windsurfer and tennis player.

Sport is Field's way of relaxing. He says he knows how to keep himself fit in order to deliver on the heavy demands of a modern vice-chancellor's job.