Vice-Chancellor, it is an honour to introduce Dr John Harris to you and to the congregation. He is a long-time member of the University staff community and former Director of Academic Registry.
John’s professional services career at Bath spanned an accomplished three decades. His lifetime engagement with higher education is rooted in his own love of learning. John championed the University’s mission and the success of our students from the time that he joined in 1988. His significant contributions to administration and policy were made at pivotal moments for the University’s educational growth. His best-known achievements were his collaborative and insightful leadership in the implementation of our student records systems and in the development of our common assessment regulations.
Fairness, openness, and rigour were hallmarks of John’s professional approach. John empowered his expert colleagues, and this was keenly demonstrated during his pivotal work on regulations. He built consensus across the University community for codified, consistent principles and standards that would work for all, with flexibility where needed for our academic disciplines. This important co-creation is still at the heart of our practice, critical to the way our education adds up for our students.
If you are a student graduating from a taught course today, you will have experienced elements of John’s career in Academic Registry during the cycle of your studies:
From your online registration with the University, to getting your teaching timetable, to sitting your exams and receiving your results, to having your degree class determined, to attending this ceremony where we are proud to celebrate your achievements, to the continued high standard of your Bath award ten years from now – all this is part of the educational infrastructure John helped to build and keep relevant for you.
John placed great value on building relationships with the Bath Student’s Union. He appreciated each year’s student Officers team as a rich source of inspiration and constructive feedback.
In his later career, John contributed his expertise to learning and teaching strategy and proudly championed the University’s achievements in the wider higher education sector. His long-term and detailed engagement with colleagues and our education practice enabled his key insights for our first Teaching Excellence Framework submission and Gold award.
John decided to retire for spring 2020, following the example of his wife Sally, who herself had a valued career at the University. At the onset of the pandemic, John made a final contribution by delaying his full departure, stepping into an advisory role for our academic standards’ pandemic response.
Vice-Chancellor, it is fitting that the University should recognise career contributions that laid important foundations for our continued success in education. I therefore present Dr John Harris as being eminently worthy to receive the degree of Master of the University honoris causa.