When she told her boss about it only moments after hanging up, Professor Katie Normington needed only to refer to it as The Phone Call.
In the few minutes she had been on the receiving end, the former Deputy Principal Academic at Royal Holloway had been offered – and accepted – the job as Vice-Chancellor at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
“The first person I told was my boss at Royal Holloway,” she said. “I went down the corridor and said, ‘I’ve just had the phone call’.
“He said, ‘what phone call?’ and I said ‘the phone call’. He congratulated me and then told me it was the phone call he was dreading.”
It was a big moment for Professor Normington and one just as big for her family. The next phone call she made was to her mother.
“She is so proud of me. My grandmother left school at 14 and my mother at 16. I was the first woman in my family to go to university and now I’ve become a Vice-Chancellor.
“It was a reminder to me about the power of higher education to change people’s lives.”
The conviction she holds about this power is clear from only a short conversation with Professor Normington, as is the excitement she has for starting her new role. A big part of that, she said, is DMU itself.
“I’m excited and honoured to be starting here,” she said. “I haven’t had one single second thought and every time I come here it feels like home.
“I really want to develop what I think of as the DMU-ness of DMU. The student-centred approach, the research which is of real benefit to the community and the really important work going on as a key partner to the city. The energy and verve DMU has is very special.
“DMU is so well connected to the community around it and I want to further encourage that work.”
But as a first-time VC coming into the job during a pandemic, an economic downturn and the advent of Brexit, Professor Normington said she was aware of the challenge – and the opportunity – of the job.
She said: “It’s a new role and like any new role – or starting a new course - there’s apprehension. I want it to go well and I want to learn the right things.
“I have thought a lot about why I wanted to become a Vice-Chancellor and it’s because it genuinely offers me a chance to make a real difference to others.
“But the first thing I want to do is listen. I want to meet staff, meet students and I want to hear what they have to say. That, for me, is my priority when I start the role.”
Having taken on a live Newsnight interview the day her DMU appointment was publicly announced, Professor Normington is aware of the importance of speaking out on behalf of DMU and the HE sector and feels that universities need to do this to counter criticism about their value to a modern society.
She said: “Universities need to be able to communicate their worth and they need to be able to do it in a simple way.
“For me there are three things universities do – or should do. They should provide education to students, this upskilling positively affects the economy.
“Then they should conduct research with real social impact. The work done by Oxford to develop a Covid vaccine shows the worth of university research in our world. Would we be where we are in the fight against Covid without universities?
“Finally, universities play a critical role in their communities and should be a visible partner to their cities.
“DMU does all three and I feel lucky to have the chance to help build on these strengths from here.”
Posted on Monday 4 January 2021