VCE Leadership update: Paul Gough

[VCE Leadership update: Paul Gough VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]

VISUAL: This video features Martin Bean and Paul Gough sitting across from each other in an interview scenario. The camera flicks between the two men as each of them speak. 

VISUAL: Martin Bean appears on screen, the title beneath him reads Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor and President RMIT University. 

MARTIN BEAN SPEAKS: Hey Paul Gough, good to be with you on camera today with our RMIT community but a little bit sort of melancholy because I  guess you've got some news you want to share with us?

VISUAL: Paul Gough appears on screen. The title beneath him reads Paul Gough, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice President RMIT University. 

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS: Yeah, this is one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my whole professional life since 1986 when I became a program manager, which is, that for a number of reasons, I will be leaving RMIT at the end of 2019, starting in 2020, and it's been a difficult decision Martin because I love RMIT: I love what it stands for, I love its ambitions, I love the team I've  built around me, my deputies, my directors my deans, my heads of school, they're all so great and then I love working with you.

MARTIN BEAN SPEAKS: Thank you Paul, you know that I feel exactly the same way and it goes without saying I'm sure there were a lot of gasps as people just watched this little bit of video. But look, on behalf of all of us Paul that at the University we just want to say thank you, thank you  for everything you've done for RMIT, thank you for being you, we're gonna miss you terribly but I thought it might be interesting for you just tell people a little bit about what you're going on to, which is really awesome, but also maybe a little bit about your decision-making process as wel.

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS: Thanks Martin, so let me go into the why, and the why is in three parts really because I've thought about this a lot. And the first one is something you've taught me which is about life-work balance, my family, you know, mean a lot to me, mean a huge amount to me and over the last five years we've had some some tough times but we've come out the other side of it my wife and I were away travelling around Western Australia recently as you know and had a terrific time and then last week my eldest daughter had a baby so I'm a grandfather, which is all a bit sobering, so family first. To be with the family is very important and the second one is I was made an offer for a work at a university and I wanted to go and be in a leadership position and to take everything I've learned at RMIT about industry partnered learning, about the big civic agenda, the way we work into into towns and cities and the research with impact, so everything I've learned from you and through RMIT I want to try somewhere else.

MARTIN BEAN SPEAKS: And you're gonna be the boss now, you're gonna be there the Vice Chancellor Paul, so tell us a little bit about the actual role that you're stepping into.

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS: So it's Vice Chancellor and principal, primarily is sort of extremely exciting role in one of those European centres of excellence around media, film, drama, fashion, art and design. It's called the arts university Bournemouth and it has a terrific record - like RMIT - it has 97% of graduate employability.

MARTIN BEAN SPEAKS: Well they're very lucky to have you you're gonna do an awesome job and I know I speak for everybody when I say we're gonna be proud of you taking a little bit of RMIT and what you've learned here and, what are gonna be the things that you're most proud of that  you achieved while while you were with us?

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS: I like the way we've been able to work with the sort of grain of the organisation to promote the way we work with our students in real-world situations and industry partnered learning, partner studios, partner projects work straight into the city in the state and the country in terms of making sure our students get all those opportunities, the authentic assessment that's so true to to our practices across Design and Social Context and to play that into the University and then the university to say yes we want to embrace this as well because we think this is all about the future of contemporary learning and that means a lot to me that the several thousand staff out there who are living this and doing this every day and I hope feeding into the university's mission.

MARTIN BEAN SPEAKS: So what are you looking forward to for the  next six months of being at RMIT?

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS:  So all of my people across the entire college from the professional staff the technical staff and the academics have played into this huge body of work we've done around the academic disciplines and road mapping where we're going with those we can play into that around a big conversation around program architecture and then the areas of focus, global, industry, the student experience they're really important they are fundamental to shifting the university, the organisation forward and within that I've got five big projects that we're all working flat out on, whether that's developing Brunswick, or whether it's really kind of making our VE work, the greatest advantage for the University, the Hanoi Development, I'm very very excited about and then the big cultural engagement plan that you and I have been working on for a couple of years that's about to kinda really get big and then of course the Capitol Theater a great start but now we've really got to make the place buzz on a daily basis.

MARTIN BEAN SPEAKS: So five years plus I want you to sort of look back on that time and share with everybody watching this video perhaps the things you're most proud of or stand out in your mind

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS: it's always the people it's always the great people I've worked with these are people I've grown with they've informed the stuff that I do I've learned so much from them and that isn't just a college level I'm thinking right across the university.

MARTIN BEAN: Yeah, well look Paul I know this is a fairly unorthodox way to actually share somebody leaving an institution but I wanted people to get a sense of you and I and how as friends and colleagues I'm gonna be so disappointed in six months to just lose seeing you every day but also I don't think there's anybody watching this video Paul that doesn't understand the desire for you to get back with your family and to have your shot now at running an institution and and shaping it and and I just want to say on behalf of the entire community just thank you thank you for everything you've done for me for RMIT for our students for our community, we will miss you but it's not goodbye right now because we've got you for six more months there'll be plenty of time to  celebrate Paul Gough and we all just wish you great success and happiness you and your family for the future.

PAUL GOUGH SPEAKS: Thank you Martin I can't thank you enough.

[END OF TRANSCRIPT]