After seven years as chief executive of Advance HE and 35 years in higher education, Alison Johns¡¯ retirement is a bittersweet moment. But ¡°good leaders know when it¡¯s time to go,¡± she said.?

Having begun her career in the civil service, in 2017, Johns was tasked with leading the merger of the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), the Higher Education Academy and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.?

And indeed, from the embers of the merger ¨C which she described as an ¡°incredible¡± achievement in only six months ¨C Advance HE has?emerged as a cornerstone of the UK and wider higher education landscape.

Under Johns¡¯ tenure, its membership has grown to 474 institutions, including 139 outside the UK, while the number of Advance HE teaching fellows ¨C a programme recognising commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching ¨C has grown to almost 200,000 across 117 countries.

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It has also relaunched its equality quality marks,?Athena Swan?and the Race Equality Charter, and expanded leadership development activities, today boasting more than 60 vice-chancellors as alumni of its?Top Management Programme for Higher Education.

¡°The fact that we¡¯re still here and the extent to which we have grown during that period, not just in terms of brand reputation, but the sheer numbers, is the thing that I am most proud of,¡± said Johns, who previously spent 11 years at the Higher Education Funding Council for England.?

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However, she leaves at a time of great uncertainty, with growing financial pressures and the?precarity of the international student market creating a ¡°perfect storm¡±.

While financial challenges have not hit universities equally, some are ¡°dangerously close to being in dire straits¡­in a way I haven¡¯t actually seen before,¡± Johns said.?

¡°I really think the sector¡¯s facing a massive reset,¡± she added. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to see some quite radical change. The attitude has always been ¡®evolution not revolution¡¯ in the university sector, but I do wonder whether it¡¯s time for a bit of revolution, and there¡¯s probably not going to be too much choice about some of this.¡±

Although the challenges mainly?relate to?funding, Johns believes there is more attention than ever on universities. ¡°Higher education has become more political,¡± she said, adding that universities also face ¡°intense scrutiny¡± on social media and from the press.

Advance HE became embroiled in the controversy surrounding the record fine issued to the University of Sussex by the Office for Students after the institution was found to have failed to uphold its academic freedom obligations over professor Kathleen Stock¡¯s gender-critical views.?Sussex, among others, it was revealed, had based its equality statements on a policy template originally created by the ECU ¨C later merged into Advance HE.?

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The case highlights ¡°one of the challenges¡± of undertaking a merger on the scale that Advance HE did, Johns said. She added that the tensions some see as existing between diversity policies and freedom of speech shows that ¡°the sector, staff and the students have a responsibility to try to find a way of coexisting and working together¡±.?

¡°We¡¯ve got different pieces of legislation often in conflict with each other. It¡¯s incredibly complex. It¡¯s really important that we recognise that not everybody¡¯s on the same page¡­[we need to] really listen to all sides. The role of leadership, whether it¡¯s us with a leadership role in the sector, or whether it¡¯s as a leader in an institution, is to try to find a way to find the common ground.¡±

Alistair Jarvis, pro vice-chancellor at the University of London and former chief executive of Universities UK, will be left to find the solutions?as he picks up the Advance HE reigns in August.

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But Johns believes the key challenge facing Advance HE is how it can take the membership body to the ¡°next level¡± while remaining ¡°cost-effective and [good] value for money¡±.?

¡°The question is how we can best support a workforce through those changes [facing the sector],¡± she said, before adding that the organisation itself is ¡°not immune¡± to financial challenges.

While Johns is departing with plans to take a ¡°gap summer¡±, full of painting and ¡°finding out what it¡¯s like to not have a full diary¡±, she added: ¡°I¡¯m quite emotional that I¡¯m leaving, if I¡¯m honest.¡±

Is she scared about the fate of the sector about which she cares so deeply? Not so much. ¡°The one thing I do know is: universities have been around for thousands of years. They get a lot of stuff thrown at them...I think we are at a reset moment, but we¡¯ll find our own way through this. I have no doubt whatsoever that universities and their leadership will get through this, and they¡¯ll come out the better for it.¡±

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com