Taking on this challenging role after a long career at the BBC, Peter Horrocks has been shaking up the OU since he arrived, reorganising the institution following numerous external challenges, not least the recruitment of part-time students. Closing regional centres has been the most controversial part of the reforms and it’s likely that it will take some time for all the pieces in this mammoth institution to settle down.
OU’s external influence continues unabated however: their fingerprints could be seen all over the in the parliamentary debate for the second reading of the HE Bill and Horrocks himself is personally more visible than most VCs in the sector. But this well-connected choral singer has his work cut out for him if he is to secure the future of the Open University in a landscape that has changed around the university in dramatic and unexpected ways in recent years.