Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Stuart Brock welcomes people to share their thoughts and ideas with him ahead of his Inaugural Professorial Lecture this month.
"The other message I’d like to get out is that I’m all about supporting our students and our staff, and I want to get to know them. I want to enhance what we’re doing well, and I’ll be looking for opportunities to do that." – Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Stuart Brock
Listening and learning are the top priorities for Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Stuart Brock during his first three months at Otago. Here he talks with Laura Hewson about his 90-day plan, what he loves about philosophy and how he achieves that all important work-life balance.
Thoughts, concerns, complaints or advice – new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Stuart Brock is open to all of it.
“Many people come into a job with a plan of all the things they want to get done in the first 90 days. My 90-day plan is about listening. I’ll make decisions that keep things moving along but I want to make sure I have an opportunity to reflect on all the advice and wisdom that’s passed on to me from stakeholders across the University.
“With this in mind, I’m inviting people to email me directly to give me their thoughts, their concerns, their complaints, their advice and just outlining anything they think I need to know before I make any plans for the future.”
Stuart, who joined the University of Otago at the end of January, was previously DVC (Academic) at Victoria University Te Herenga Waka but that doesn’t make his role at Otago business as usual, he says.
“There are obvious similarities but there are obvious differences as well. On the one hand I’m absolutely struck by the fact that Otago is performing so well on so many metrics that we care about, like achievement rates for all our students and, in particular, equity groups such as Māori and Pacific students.
“But I can also see that there are systems and processes that are different here and sometimes I’m finding that people are looking for an opportunity to unblock barriers. I’m keen to do that where I can. If there’s a change we can make that doesn’t increase the workload across the University – or for any individual – and if it doesn’t diminish the quality of what we do, then that’s a no-brainer. Then I’ll be looking to change things immediately.”
Stuart will hold an Inaugural Professorial Lecture on April 18 where he’ll take the opportunity to reflect back to people what he’s learned and what he’s thinking for the future.
“The other message I’d like to get out is that I’m all about supporting our students and our staff, and I want to get to know them. I want to enhance what we’re doing well, and I’ll be looking for opportunities to do that.”
He will also join Associate Professor Heather Dyke and Associate Professor Zach Weber in teaching PHIL417 Advanced Issues in Foundational Philosophy, an honours-level Philosophy paper taught this semester.
“Wherever I am, it’s a personal requirement that I continue teaching in some way. If I’m responsible for overseeing learning and teaching at the University – and potentially asking people to do things differently – I want to be the first one doing it myself.
“And I absolutely love the philosophy programme here. I’m very grateful that they’re open to me being a part of their life. They are an amazing set of individuals both personally and in terms of their research and where they are in the discipline.”
Stuart, who is originally from Melbourne, has a BA (Honours) from Monash University in Melbourne, an MA from the Australian National University in Canberra and a PhD from Princeton University. His first job was at Western Washington University, in Bellingham, in the northwest of the United States.
In 2002 he joined the teaching staff at Victoria University Te Herenga Waka where he held a range of management and leadership roles – including Philosophy Programme Director and Associate Dean – held a range of portfolios and was Vice-Provost (Academic). He’s recently stepped down as CEO of the Australasian Association of Philosophy to take on the role of editor of their new journal, Philosophical Exchange.
Professor Stuart Brock will hold an Inaugural Professorial Lecture on April 18, where he’ll take the opportunity to reflect back to people what he’s learned and what he’s thinking for the future.
“What I love about philosophy is the way it teaches you critical thinking, which is basically how to reason well,” he says.
“In this information-rich age, students probably have access to at least as much, perhaps more, information than their professors or lecturers do. So, what they need much more urgently is a way to critically evaluate all of the information that’s available to them. Philosophy teaches you how to do that well.”
In the midst of taking on a new job, teaching, and balancing other professional commitments, Stuart is mindful of safeguarding time for life outside of work.
“First of all, I’m the kind of person who actually enjoys a little bit of stress because it’s a real motivator for me and it’s a real buzz for me to get things done.
“But getting that work-life balance is so important. I want to spend time with my family – the right amount of time – and to be really present when I’m there. I’m finding I’m getting better at that over time.
“The other thing I do to de-stress when I get the opportunity – I don’t get the opportunity enough – is tramping. It was New Zealand that got me into it. The outdoors here is the best in the world so anytime I get an opportunity to get on a Great Walk I jump at it. I just love it.”
- Stuart Brock invites you to email him with any advice, comments or thoughts at stuart.brock@otago.ac.nz with ‘First 90 Days’ in the subject line. His Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Overcoming Imaginative Resistance, will be held at 5.30pm on Thursday 18 April at Archway 4 Lecture Theatre and can be livestreamed here.