New HRI Senior Administrator Announced
The University has announced that a Senior Administrator will be seconded to Horticulture Research International.
Ms Susan Baines is currently the Academic Administrator in the Department of Mathematics. Susan will be taking up her new post on 1 January 2004, though she will start to attend Warwick HRI Transfer Board meetings straight away.
Susan arrived at Warwick in 2001 after gaining broad experience in university administration at universities in the UK (Cambridge, Sussex and Salford) and Canada (Waterloo).
Speaking of her new role Susan explained:
“I am looking forward to the challenges associated with the transfer of HRI into the University. I think it is a great opportunity for the staff at Wellesbourne and Kirton to take advantage of the proposed developments that a merger with the University can offer.”
Meanwhile, the search for a new Director for HRI has started. At the end of October Donald Beaton, Director of Personnel, and Professor Robert Freedman, Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, both heavily involved in the transfer process, met with a group of HRI scientists to discuss what they would want from the new Director of HRI. The meeting was helpful in informing the recruitment process and assisting the search committee, chaired by Professor Stuart Palmer.
The new Director, when appointed, will be the Head of Warwick HRI reporting directly to the Vice-Chancellor. Susan, the Senior Administrator, will report in to the Director of HRI with a dotted reporting line to the Registrar.
Dr Jonathan Nicholls, Registrar of the University, welcomed Susan to her post by saying:
“I am sure that Susan will apply her flair, experience and considerable success at Warwick to her new role to the advantage of colleagues at HRI and all those involved in the merger. Her eagerness to serve in this role will help our colleagues at HRI adapt quickly to their new existence as members of the University.”