It’s the million-dollar question – if you were fortunate enough to have the freedom to pursue a new purpose, how would you fill your days? On a sun lounger by the pool? Or by taking on a voluntary role in a sector in flux and tied up with its fair share of bureaucracy? Other options are available.

For Cyprus-based Tasos Anastasiou, he faced such a turning point as he stepped away from a successful career in business on a career journey that has included investment banking and a carefully curated selection of CFO and CEO roles – most recently as CEO of global online trading platform Trading Point Group.

However, taking a backseat wasn’t on his agenda. A year into some part-time strategic consulting to a “very select” number of clients and Anastasiou was approached to become Chairman of the Council at the University of Cyprus, a pro bono role for the island’s most highly-regarded education institution. 

Anastasiou says the desire to give something back helped clinch the deal and, 10 months on, helping the university to move forward and address some of the many and varied challenges it faces is proving very rewarding, he says.

The university’s council is responsible for the strategic direction and corporate governance of the institution and oversees its financial affairs. “Ultimately, it’s about making sure that the university has the capabilities and the resources – and of course all-important funding – to achieve its strategic and growth objectives”, Anastasiou explains.

Despite being a relative youngster in university terms – the University of Cyprus celebrates its 34th birthday this year – it is by no means immune to the huge upheaval across the higher education sector and growing global competition for students. An alumni of the London School of Economics, Anastasiou is all too aware of the opportunities – and challenges – that presents.

“I was in London in July at my flat next to the LSE and King’s College and the students graduating were from many diverse ethnic backgrounds,” he says. A lure of the biggest UK universities used to be at least partly about a multicultural experience and that’s where the University of Cyprus should strive to have an edge, he says. 

The university has set its sights on the Middle East as a huge target market, and memoranda of understanding have already been signed with prominent institutions in the region eager to cooperate. 

However, current rules mean the university can only offer undergraduate degrees in Greek. It recognises that being able to offer courses in English would open up a potentially huge new market, but it requires changes to the regulatory and legal framework to remove the many restrictions under which it operates as a public university. 

As council chair, Anastasiou spends a lot of time advocating with policymakers to advance this initiative, with mixed results, he admits. “Some of them are open to be convinced. The more ideologically set are less receptive.

“We are working with parliament to change this limitation. But even if we succeed, we need the marketing resources to be able to convince non-Cypriots to come to the University of Cyprus. There are lots of elements that have to work in parallel to achieve our goals.”

Similarly, the university has reached a plateau in terms of funding and resources. Tapping into the market for private investment presents opportunities to plug funding gaps against a backdrop of tight public finances. 

“We shouldn’t allow the income gap to affect how society is educated. Cypriots don’t pay any fees for their graduate degrees. We see that as having huge benefits to society as a whole.”

Just last month, the university signed an agreement with investment firm XM Group to establish the first Chair in Artificial Intelligence at its Department of Computer Science. XM Group will fund the role for a period of 10 years at a cost of €1.5m, with the goal of advancing research and education in AI, while also focusing on the practical application of research outcomes. The university already offers a master’s degree in AI.

“We want to highlight that the University of Cyprus is not a typical slow-moving public university. AI is everywhere. We don’t know how it’s going to be in two- or five-years’ time, but the important thing is to be there and stay ahead of the curve,” says Anastasiou.

Meanwhile, he is mindful of the need to meet the ever-growing expectations of students as the cost-of-living crisis places the value of higher education under the spotlight. Increasingly, that’s driving the use of technology to provide a seamless student journey and greater learning flexibility. “Today’s students are extremely demanding in all aspects of the university experience. And that’s how it should be.” 

Employability is another metric high on the student agenda, an area where the University of Cyprus scores very well; a notable example are excellent ties with ICAEW and local accountancy firms have made it a well-respected route into the accountancy profession. 

The challenges the University of Cyprus faces are common across the sector, making collaboration key. “You cannot be an island,” Anastasiou says. It is one of 10 institutions that make up YUFE – Young Universities for the Future of Europe – a coalition that is already bearing fruit by allowing students to pick and match courses across Europe.

Anastasiou has no regrets about shunning the sun lounger for his university role, but he admits the switch from the corporate world has been a bit of a culture shock. The complexities of political advocacy aside, dealing with the public sector mindset of stakeholders has required a different approach. 

“But it’s also very fulfilling to work in an environment with very talented, highly educated and highly intelligent people. In the private sector, I was running a global organisation and we could establish an office in a matter of weeks. Now we’re waiting for the planets to be aligned to get a change of regulation. You need extreme patience. It’s a different skill set and that's something I admit I'm still learning.”