A MEETING of the professoriate of the University of New England was held on Friday to discuss the speculation surrounding Chancellor John Cassidy reportedly asking Vice-Chancellor Alan Pettigrew to resign.
It is understood an overwhelming majority of the 23 members of the professoriate present showed support for Prof Pettigrew.
Prof Adrian Kiernander told The Express yesterday that given recent restructuring of faculties and disciplines at UNE, along with the arrival of new senior management, it would be a ‘terrible time’ to change Vice-Chancellors.
“The Chancellor hasn’t consulted the university at all about that (asking Pettigrew to step down), he may have talked to individual members of council, but he hasn’t canvassed such a radical change for the whole university,” Prof Kiernander said.
He said the main issue discussed at the meeting was the anxieties the UNE community is feeling about the future of the university, and that Mr Cassidy ‘hasn’t strictly separated his governance from management’.
“Everybody there was pretty much in agreement ... we requested (university) council to not reappoint John Cassidy as Chancellor,” he said.
Prof Kiernander referred to the recent all-staff meeting, where a majority 319 attendees supported a no confidence motion in the Chancellor.
“I think the message there clearly is that the university feels that the Vice-Chancellor should stay and the Chancellor should see out his term and then pass it on to somebody else,” Prof Kiernander said.
The professoriate has furnished the UNE Council with an open statement as a result of its deliberations on Friday. In it, the professoriate criticises what they think is the Chancellor’s view of his role.
“There is only one CEO of UNE and that role is explicitly assigned to the Vice-Chancellor, not to the Chancellor,” the statement says.
“The Chancellor, through his recently publicised actions and words, clearly has a contrary view.
“We believe that it is essential that the relationship among members of council and between council senior management be based on transparency, trust and mutual respect, with a clear delineation of governance and management roles.”
The statement supports that Prof Pettigrew remain as Vice-Chancellor until 2010, so that he can see out the implementation of the current strategic plan of the university following his ‘wide consultation on the development of it’.