by kelly eve Education Reporter

Last updated 10:46, Friday, 26 September 2008

Professor Christopher Carr says nothing in his long career has compared to helping create Cumbria’s own university as he announced his retirement this week.

Chris Carr

The first vice chancellor of the University of Cumbria will leave next April.

He believes the time is right to step down after many years of leading two major institutions – the university and St Martin’s College, where he was principal for a decade before becoming the university’s vice chancellor.

Mr Carr, 56, said: “It is not a decision I’ve made very recently. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a little while and it comes at a conjuncture professionally and it is a good time personally too. Life is short.”

He added: “Some of the things I’ve done in my career I’m really proud of but nothing compares to the university. The reason is because nothing I’ve done before has been as important.

“It was the last best chance for Cumbria to have its own university. A lot of people know that.

“It is certainly the high point of my career. I feel proud of it and I’m thankful and humbled by the way people have brought so much to it. In a professional sense, it doesn’t get any better than that. I’ve been privileged but also very lucky throughout my career.”

His decision to step down comes a month after the university celebrated its first anniversary.

The university is now well-established locally and it is looking to increase its popularity across the country. Its ranking in The Sunday Times university guide improved last weekend.

It is also pushing forward with £160 million development plans which include a proposed £70 million campus and headquarters on Carlisle’s Viaduct estate.

Mr Carr said: “Ironically, it makes it a very good time to go after the first year of the university but I must remind people that I’ve been working on this project for a lot longer than a year.

“I was first principal at St Martin’s and we had ambitions of our own then to become a university and then the bigger plans came into play. I’ve been involved in this project for a long time.

“We’ve now safely come through the first year and that has been quite a challenging year. People were worried about a lot of things, three institutions coming together, budgets and how would you manage the business over 17 different sites.

“What I’m most pleased about is how thousands of students have been able to progress on their courses in a time of turbulence. It has been managed by the staff well.

“Personally, it marks for me the conclusion of a lot of things, ensuring the university is safe to move on. It was the right time for me to move on and for someone else to receive the baton.”

He added: “There wasn’t a text book on how to create a University of Cumbria. There wasn’t a set of rules, a blueprint or a template to follow. You had to work it out and had to get the support and harness that.

“I suppose the real challenges have been the complexity of it, the task of bringing together three different institutions spread across a large part of the North West that employ 1,750 people and together have 15,000 students.

“I have sometimes been scared in a professional sense about the challenges but I’ve always been confident about the university and the ability of the people around me.”

Mr Carr, who went to a comprehensive in north Yorkshire before winning a scholarship to read law at Oxford, got his first job at the former Leeds Polytechnic. After four years, he moved to the University of Central Lancashire to be a law lecturer.

During 17 years at UCLan, Chris was head and Dean of department before becoming pro vice chancellor.

In 1997, he became the principal of nearby St Martin’s College. One of the first things the college did under his leadership was acquire the former hospital site in Fusehill Street, Carlisle, which he saw as a strategic location to develop higher education in the city. It is still a campus today.

Mr Carr says he is looking forward to entering a new phase of his life and doing new things that the pressures of work had prevented him from doing. One is to pursue his interest in cycling and plan a 5,000-mile bike ride with his wife Hilary, who is an artist.

He added: “My wife has done a great job supporting me over many years. The fact I would leave at 7.30am and not get home until midnight sometimes, she’s done a great job supporting that. I’m now looking forward to doing my share in supporting her.”

The University of Cumbria’s board of directors was expected yesterday to appoint a recruitment consultant to start the search for a new vice chancellor.

The aim is that an appointment can be made by Christmas, with the successful candidate starting next May.