Southern Cross U VC Adam Shoemaker will replace Peter Dawkins as VC of Victoria U

The move was announced yesterday, with the hand-over in mid-December. Professor Dawkins announced his departure in February.

While there is vast difference in scale, VU and Shoemaker could suit each other. The university has adapted to meet the education needs of its market with the short-subject, intensive-learning block teaching model. And Professor Shoemaker has set a new course for SCU, adopting block teaching as part of his “business as unusual” plan for growth in student numbers (CMM July 18).

But there’s something else both institutions share, are at times fractious industrial relations. Professor Shoemaker lost a staff vote on a COVID-19 savings plan last month (CMM July 13) and the union at VU has a history of making life difficult for VCs when riled.