Search Page

University officials have been accused of misleading an Oireachtas committee over the way they run their financial affairs. Senior officials from colleges including University of Limerick, DIT and University College Cork appeared before the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee on Thursday to answer allegations over unauthorised severance packages, conflicts of interest and poor corporate governance. In one episode, officials at the university of Limerik paid severance packages to two staff due to ‘employment relationships breaking down’, but then went on to re-employ both individuals as consultants.

Greater university autonomy, credible appointments to governing councils, integrity tests for prospective vice-chancellors, and a holistic overhaul to stem systemic decay topped the list of recommendations contained in a strongly-worded statement released at the close of the recent third biennial conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. The meeting, held in Abuja, aimed to deliberate on the current difficulties confronting the universities and their role in a 21st century driven by knowledge and digitalised economies.

University students and professors joined thousands of people demonstrating in the South Korean capital Seoul last weekend demanding the resignation of the country’s president over her connections with a close confidante whom many suspect of having undue influence over the way the country is run despite having no official position. Among the allegations is that she influenced the appointment of ministers. But allegations that she also used her influence to get her daughter admitted to Ewha Womans University in Seoul – one of the country’s top universities – led to the resignation of the embattled Ewha Womans University president on 19 October.

Tanzania’s universities is having trouble with ghosts. The government has suspended student loans worth TZS3.2 billion (US$1.5 million), affecting around 2000 students. This came after a routine verification exercise revealed that some who signed up for loans may not even exist. In a country of more than 100 000 registered tertiary students, 2000 “ghosts” may not seem like a big problem. But when the loan money is being misspent, deliberately or because of poor administration, the entire higher education system is affected, and ultimately the country.

Political interference in Africa’s universities is not new. Universities’ governance was seen as ‘captured’ for narrow political rather than academic ends during the 1980s and 1990s. The continent’s universities started changing from the middle of the 1990s. Strong governance structures were prioritised. Governments promised to help steady institutions so they could focus on their academic missions. But studies funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and conducted by CODESRIA, suggest that not much has changed. The same tensions and crises associated with the old political order – student disturbances, harassment of academic staff and widespread academic corruption – persist.

The association representing Canada’s university professors has condemned Carleton University’s board of governors for a new policy that will ban board members from speaking publicly about the meetings they attend. The professors say the move is a violation of transparency and openness that is fundamental to academic freedom. The board has also moved to ban faculty and student union representatives from sitting on the board, claiming they are in conflict of interest.