Mark Scott has a second term as University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor, commencing next July and continuing until 2031.
Chancellor David Thodey describes Scott, a university-appointed professor of practice, as “unwavering in his pursuit of excellence and innovation … to lead the university towards its mission and ensure our work is more compelling, and more important to our society, than at any other time in our history.”
Professor Scott’s first term, to date, is characterised by his skills in managing vast public sector organisations, including the NSW Department of Education and especially, the ABC, with industrially fractious staff motivated by strong sense senses of their industrial rights and political independence. The university finally reached a new enterprise agreement on his watch, after a two-year negotiation with campus unions, less fractious than that under his predecessor Michael Spence. And Professor Scott carefully controlled the rivers of gold from emergency Commonwealth COVID funding and international student fees to fund his long-term plans. The university has recorded tiny underlying losses during his term, recorded after tied-funding and variable annual income are deducted from sometimes vast headline profits, $1.1bn in 2021.
But there have been two unforced management errors during his first term to date. One is the handling of Gaza protests on campus. It appeared at times in 2024 that the university lost control of its main campus and failed to protect Jewish students from outright intimidation. The issue still reverberates with “new civility” rules, designed to codify debate on divisive issues at the university still not publicly in-place.
The other is his pay packet. When Duncan Maskell retired from the University of Melbourne Professor Scott became the highest paid Vice-Chancellor in the country, $1.33m last year. It made him a target for community curiosity why Vice -Chancellors in general are paid two or three times more than the Prime Minister. That the Fair Work Ombudsman slammed Uni Sydney at Christmas for underpaying 14,000 staff $23m did not help.
It could have been way worse. The University of Sydney is now way down-the target list for union wrath and community concern – now withdrawn plans to continue sacking staff make ANU the attention getter. Scott’s administration was not especially noted in last week’s Senate committee report on university governance. If he stays on-game this will be the new normal.