Caroline McMillen will stand down as VC of the University of Newcastle in 12 months, after seven years in the job. “Through 2017, it has become clear to me that UniNewcastle has delivered a major slate of remarkable projects in the past few years, and that there is now a natural break at the end of 2018 which would offer the right timing for a transition to a new VC. I am therefore delighted that the chancellor has been gracious in agreeing to my change in plan to retire at the end of 2018,” she told staff yesterday.

Professor McMillen detailed “achievements in place” (which) “give me confidence that we have all of the capital in place – physical, intellectual, human, that positions UniNewcastle well for the future.” Her examples include; the $26m Jack Ma Foundation scholarship fund, the June opening of the CBD NeW Space which now houses the business and law faculty and the School of Creative Industries, and federal funding for the Central Coast medical school.

Plus this year, the university “moved into the top 1 per cent of the world’s universities.” In fact, a learned reader remarks, it was already there  – if the competitive set is the 26 000 institutions called universities recorded by the QS ranking. In June UniNewcastle  reported QS moving it up 21 places, to 224 in the world.