The role of University of Otago vice-chancellor is an ''all consuming'' one, but after two years in the job, Prof Harlene Hayne is still enjoying ''every single second of it''.
Prof Hayne's tenure - which started in August 2011 - has been full of challenges. Flat government funding, falling student numbers and the Christchurch earthquake have been just a few of them.
She has also been faced with the claim from some that her, and the university's, efforts to tackle alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour were ''killing'' scarfie culture - a claim she strongly disputes.
''It's been fantastic,'' she said of leading the university.
''It's the greatest job on the planet. My whole goal in applying for the job ... was that I wanted the job to give back to the institution that had given me such an amazing career in the first place.''
Prof Hayne said the job required her full devotion.
''This is a seven-day-a week job. It's kind of like having a newborn. You need to deal with it when it needs dealing with.''
Prof Hayne thought the university had been successful in tackling booze-fuelled misbehaviour during her tenure and did not believe it had come at the cost of scarfie culture, as some claimed.
''The data is clear about how students are behaving. We've taken a major bite out of the antisocial behaviour that sometimes accompanies drinking at Otago.''
''I am really happy about that and I think the city's happy about that and, to be honest, I think the students are happy about that.''
The efforts were also making a difference on an individual level.
''I see every student here at Otago who gets themselves into serious trouble with drinking.''
About 80% of the people she saw had made a ''one-off, really stupid mistake'', but for the other 20% the drinking was a symptom of another problem.
''For those 20%, I think we are making a huge difference in their lives, because we are making sure that they get the help that they need either academically [or health-wise].''
''It's important to understand ... and maybe this is where the psychologist part of my background comes in - these young people are at a critical crossroad in their lives.''
The efforts the university had made in this area - which included harsher penalties for people who misbehaved - had not caused the death of scarfie culture.
It was not the university's goal to eliminate drinking and it had not ''sucked all the fun out of the place''.
''I think scarfie culture is far from dead.''
Asked if she resented being asked about being responsible for the ''death'' of scarfie culture, she said: ''I don't resent getting asked the question. What I resent is people equating scarfie culture with death and destruction, because I think that is insulting to my students.
''I think that students recognise that what is great about scarfie culture is not about setting things on fire and breaking things and getting so drunk that you fall into the Leith.''
Dealing with misbehaving students was only part of her job and one of the biggest challenges Prof Hayne has had to contend with - the devastating magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch - came only days after her appointment was announced in February 2011. By the time she took over from her predecessor, Prof Sir David Skegg, in August 2011, the university was still dealing with the consequences of the quake. Much of its Christchurch campus was still uninhabitable.
That was ''not anything that anyone could plan for'' and there were still financial repercussions from quake. The university was part way through a $50 million earthquake strengthening programme of its buildings, a figure the university would ''probably get away with close to''.
''In fact, much of what happened in Christchurch was actually covered by insurance, but what most people don't factor in is the changes to the laws about the strengthening of buildings and, of course, those are not covered by insurance.''
She was proud of the way staff and students at the university's Christchurch campus responded to the quakes.
The other big issue she was contending with was the global financial crisis, which continued to bite when it came to government funding for tertiary education.
Prof Hayne did not expect the funding environment to turn around any time soon, but understood the predicament the Government was in.
''Could we use more money from the Government? Absolutely. Would we put it to good use? Absolutely.''
''But we also understand that we are working in a constrained financial environment. The Government isn't just being mean to us. They are trying to balance a very complicated financial system, an earthquake recovery, a global financial crisis and a whole host of other things.
''So I think we need to be very cautious about beating them up.''
She did believe it would be a shame if Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce made drastic changes to the make-up of university councils, as some were expecting.
''I think it's really important that university councils maintain their representative nature. It would be an incredible shame from my perspective if they were lost,'' she said.
The university did believe it would be able to cope with reducing the size of university councils, if that was what Mr Joyce had in mind.
Another issue for the university under her tenure was falling student numbers. They had declined for three consecutive years since peaking in 2010 but Prof Hayne said it was important to put the declines in the context of the university's strategy to improve academic performance.
''Where the decline has happened at Otago is where we have been more willing to exclude students who may not necessarily be prepared for university education, for a period of time,'' she said.
''We have made it harder to get into Otago and we have made it easier to get out,'' she said.
When asked about the university's gradual decline in the QS world university rankings - it fell from 114th in 2007 to 155th this year - Prof Hayne was critical of some of the methods used in such ranking systems.
''Unfortunately, some of the ranking exercises involve good marketing ... more than quality of education.
''So, if you look at any of the ranking systems in depth there is only a handful of those ranking systems that are actually objective.''
In the objective measures, especially in the number of highly cited papers in the ''Shanghai ranking'', the university performed ''remarkably well''.
Prof Hayne said a major part of her role was not to ''stuff up'' the work of her predecessor. The university was happy with the course set by Sir David.
''You know that the interview process is akin to being elected the pope. I went through seven focus groups over a weekend and then had a final interview with 23 people around the table.
''One of the messages that came through from every one of those focus groups was that they felt that the university was in really good heart. ''Things the university wanted to see continued were its''residential nature'', its focus on ''excellence in teaching and research'' and the fact the vice-chancellor would continue to carry out research.
''Those were the things that people were really happy about David's reign and those were the things that I was not supposed to stuff up when I took the job.''
When Prof Hayne took on the role, she was not only the first woman in the it but also the first American and psychologist to hold the position.
''There are different aspects in which those parts of my background play out in this role. The American bit relates to the issue of pride.
''I am proud every day about things that happen here and I've tried to highlight some of the successes of both our students and our staff [in a way] that is culturally OK for me to do, because it comes with my accent behind it.''
Getting to congratulate staff and students for their successes was a highlight of the job.
''The list goes on and on, and almost on a daily basis, I have the opportunity to write to students on their amazing successes.''
Prof Hayne said she could not do the job without the support of her family, especially her husband, Prof Mike Colombo, a fellow academic at Otago.
She would not reveal whether she would ask to continue in the job at the end of her five-year appointment.
''A decision will be made by somebody at the end of five years.''
