Grant Guilford

William Grant Guilford is a former New Zealand academic , specialising in veterinary nutrition. He is currently Chair of the New Zealand Veterinary Association. Guilford is best known for a failed attempt to change the name of Victoria University of Wellington while he was Vice-Chancellor there in 2018.

Academic career

After a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Bachelor of Philosophy at Massey University, Guilford completed a PhD in nutrition from the University of California, Davis. The title of his 1993 thesis was ''Experimental Studies of Gastrointestinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Food Sensitivity in Dogs.''

Following the completion of his PhD, Guilford worked at the University of Missouri and the University of California, Davis, before returning to New Zealand and Massey University, where he studied food allergies in domestic pets.

Guilford was first author on the third edition of the veterinary textbook ''Strombeck's Small Animal Gastroenterology.'' According to the Scopus citation index, he has an H-index of 19 with (from 52 publication and >1000 citations) as of April 2022.

In addition to his work on small animals, Guilford frequently warned of the dire threat that dung beetles presented to New Zealand.

University administrative career

Guilford served for 10 years as the Foundation Head of the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences at Massey University. The institute became the first veterinary school in the southern hemisphere to be accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Guilford faced opposition from animal rights activists, some of whom took direct action, with the Animal Liberation Front taking dogs from a farm owned by the University.

Guilford moved to the University of Auckland as Dean of Science in 2009 and Vice Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington in 2014.

Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington

Guilford served as Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington from March 2014 until 4 March 2022.

During his eight years as Vice-Chancellor, the University fell from the rank of 251-275 in the Times Higher Education rankings in 2013 to 501-600 when he left in 2022. In the QS world university rankings it fell from 237 in 2012/2013 to 275 in 2022/2023. In the Times Higher Education Impact rankings the University was ranked 85^th in the world in 2022, with rankings in support of the Sustainable Development Goals of climate action; peace, justice and strong institutions; and affordable clean energy (ranked 12^th, 24^th and 35^th in the world, respectively).

Under his leadership staff numbers (FTE) increased from 1,990 in 2014 to 2,329 in 2021, his last full year as Vice-Chancellor, including a 23% increase in research and teaching staff. Over the same period, student numbers increased from 16,901 (EFTS) to 18,241, partly due to the growth in engineering and the establishment of a Faculty of Health along with on-going popularity of the humanities. Māori enrolments increased from 10.2% of the domestic student population to 11.9%. The University's consolidated revenues (including its Foundation) increased from $381 million to $530 million and net assets increased from $649 million to over $1 billion. External research income doubled to reach $89 million in 2021 and the University retained the rank of first overall in New Zealand for the intensity of high-quality research in the 2018 Performance-Based Research Funding assessment round. Embedding the University in the capital city was a major focus for Guilford. One of his greatest achievements was to make the word "Wellington" appear in a larger font in all of the university's branding and signage.

During his time as Vice-Chancellor, the university added a new science building, Te Toki a Rata and a postgraduate student and administration block, Maru. Te Toki a Rata was opened by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Guilford also committed the university to redevelopment of the university's marae and partnering with the City in the redevelopment of the Wellington Town Hall for a national music centre. However, he directed most capital investment during his tenure into refurbishment and seismic strengthening of existing buildings on campus.

Controversies

Guilford's time as Vice-Chancellor was marked by a number of controversies.

He had a contentious relationship with university staff, the Minister of Education, the Hon. Chris Hipkins, the Mayor of Wellington, Andy Foster, several members of the Wellington City Council, prominent alumni, student representatives, the local MP Nicola Willis, and the local branch of the Tertiary Education Union.

In 2020, Guilford had to apologise to Minister of Education Chris Hipkins, after claiming the Minister was "missing in action" during the covid pandemic. Asked about Guilford's accusation by National Party Education spokesperson Hon. Nikki Kaye, Hipkins told Parliament, "In fact, after the vice-chancellor of Victoria University made that comment, many other vice-chancellors contacted me to make it clear that that was not their view, and I have subsequently received an apology from the vice-chancellor of Victoria University."

There was also tension between Guilford's administration and staff represented by the Tertiary Education Union. In 2016, this led to industrial action undertaken by union members. In a 2020 interview, one of the university's most respected academics, Professor Lydia Wevers, said the university was at a crossroads, “brought to a head partly by Covid, and partly by this increasing and demonstrable sense the staff have that they don’t trust the senior leadership”. In December 2021, the Tertiary Education Union representative said that “short-term” and “careless” decisions from the senior leadership team had caused “lasting damage” to relationships with staff.

Under Guilford, the Victoria University of Wellington's Karori campus was sold by a tender process to private developers. The University had formally acquired the campus on the 1st of January 2005 following a merger with the Wellington College of Education. The sale prompted some controversy, as the University acquired the land for $10 from the Ministry of Education. The Campus was sold for an undisclosed sum (the land was valued in excess of $20 million) to Ryman for the purposes of making a retirement village. This led to tension between the Ministry of Education, the Wellington City Council, the Karori community, and Victoria University of Wellington as many considered that it was improper for the university to make such a profit off public land. Six years after being moved to the Kelburn campus from Karori, Victoria University of Wellington's Education staff were still being housed in what they had been told was "temporary" student accommodation. In 2021, the value of the Karori land Ryman purchased for around $20 million was estimated at more than $40 million.

In 2020, the university was criticised following a decision to charge residents of the university's closed halls of residence a $150 per week fee once New Zealand moved to COVID-19 alert level three on 28 April 2020. Guilford responded to criticism with the explanation that the halls operate as a cost-recovery ancillary operation. He went on to say that without the hall fees being paid the university had to cross-subsidise the halls from the tuition revenue – disadvantaging the quality of the education of all students - or cut the costs of the halls which would mean staff losing their jobs. The proposed fee resulted in a student-led rent strike involving at least 1000 people. The university eventually relented on the decision to charge students and temporarily reinstated the fee waiver.

In August 2020, Guilford released a preliminary discussion document on the university’s academic structures. The document included 13 draft recommendations ‘to help clarify, challenge and progress our thinking prior to consultation’.One of these draft recommendations (to empower academic staff to create ‘affinity/management’ groups aligned with disciplines, sectors, research areas, or stakeholder groups as their ‘home base’) proved unpopular with staff and students being considered likely to result in the elimination of schools, a focussing of administration on the faculty offices, and significant job losses for administrative staff. In the face of overwhelming staff opposition, Guilford formally advised the University Council that he had decided to conclude the review of academic structures at the discussion stage and did not wish to seek the Council’s approval to consult on any formal ‘change proposals’.

Concerns about the future of schools along with resentment about changes to on-line teaching and the financial, operational, regulatory, and health measures implemented by Guilford to address the COVID-19 pandemic,combined to undermine trust by staff in the university's senior leadership. Students were also critical of the university’s restructuring proposal, and the refusal to automatically upscale the grades of students in response to the stresses incurred during the COVID-19 epidemic or discount fees for international and domestic students studying on-line. Guilford acknowledged the pressure the combination of cost-cutting and increased workload had placed on staff and students during the pandemic but maintained it was important for the University not to ‘kick the can down the road’. He used a speech at the university's Christmas party in 2020 to announce that because insufficient staff had taken redundancy, “unfortunately, therefore, it’s looking increasingly likely that to fulfil our commitments to kaitiakitanga and intergenerational responsibility, we will be facing hard decisions early next year.”

In May 2018, Guilford announced that Victoria University of Wellington was considering renaming the institution to "The University of Wellington" and replacing its existing Te Reo Māori name, Te Whare Wānanga o Te Ūpoko o Ti Ika A Māui, with a new Māori name of 'Te Herenga Waka'. Consultation on the proposal ended in early June 2018.Opposition to the proposed name change led to thousands of written submissions and a petition against the change being received from students, staff, graduates and alumni of the University. In December 2018, the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins declined the name change. The Minister concluded: 'Given the level of opposition to the university's recommendation, including by its own staff, students and alumni, I am not persuaded that the recommendation is consistent with the demands of accountability and the national interest." The University then changed its logos and branding, emphasising Te Herenga Waka and Wellington in its name, a move described as "a name change by stealth." This led to some further incidents of name confusion where, in the interests of brevity, offshore partners would refer to Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University, dropping the Wellington.

Satirical Figure

Guilford was a frequent target for satirists while he was Vice-Chancellor. Wellington playwright Dave Armstrong was a regular critic, often using the label "Wellington University of Wellington" to describe Victoria University of Wellington after Guilford's initial confusing and failed attempt to change the university's name. He wrote of the VC of "Gumboot University" being seen in the Koru Club, a subtle reference to the fact Guilford continued to live in Auckland, flying south to Wellington each week to work. In September 2020 Armstrong assessed the performance of the university's Senior Leadership Team, awarding them grades for courses including "Ethics" (D-), "Branding 101" (E) and "Management 101" ("F for Fiasco").

It was not just Wellington satirists that had fun at Guilford's expense. The Auckland University student magazine Craccum published a list of "did you know?" points about Guilford that included the claim that "On the 2nd of August, 2019, Grant Guilford became the first and only person on Earth to think ‘Wellington Victoria University of Wellington: Wellington School of Business’ would be a good name for a university faculty." It added that his favourite colour was "determination", and suggested "Grant Guilford’s Wikipedia page looks suspiciously like he’s been updating it himself."

The 2022 Victoria University of Wellington Law Faculty revue, "Tomorrow when the law began", made fun of an autocratic "former Vice-Chancellor" called 'Grant Gilead'.

Climate Change

Victoria University of Wellington divested itself from fossil fuels and implemented a five-point plan to reduce carbon emissions during Guilford's tenure as Vice-Chancellor. Guilford has called for politicians to act on climate change, and made a brief submission to the Ministry for the Environment consultation phase on setting New Zealand's post-2020 climate change target. He was the recipient of the Australasian Green Gown Award for sustainability leadership and now spends most of his time on two conservation blocks he owns with his wife. Despite his professed commitment to climate action Guilford never moved permanently moved to Wellington and instead flew each week between his lifestyle property in Drury, south of Auckland, and Wellington, leading some to accuse him of being a climate hypocrite.

Retirement

Guilford announced his retirement from Victoria University of Wellington in 2021, to take effect on 4 March 2022. He was replaced by Acting Vice-Chancellor Jennifer Windsor, who in her first message to staff immediately announced a "re-set" and a "pause" of one-third of the strategic projects Guilford had pursued as university priorities. On 22 June, Professor Nic Smith from Queensland University of Technology was announced as Victoria University of Wellington's next Vice-Chancellor.

Roles outside of academia

As of 2022, Guilford is currently the Chair of the New Zealand Veterinary Association. He has previously held positions on the board of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency,  several companies, including New Zealand Genomics Limited, centres of research excellence, including the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, and the Crown Research Institute Landcare Research Limited.

References

External links

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Profile on Victoria University site
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Guilford, Grant
Living people
University of Missouri faculty
University of California, Davis alumni
University of California, Davis faculty
Massey University alumni
Massey University faculty
Vice-chancellors of Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand veterinarians
Year of birth missing (living people)