MEMBERS of Armidale's music community and staff at the University of New England are outraged by the abrupt sacking of internationally renowned organist, pianist and harpsichordist, Dr Jan-Piet Knijff.
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A public meeting calling for the reinstatement of the music lecturer, who has been employed at UNE since February 2011, will be held at the Uniting Church on Friday.
Dr Knijff said he didn't know exactly why he had been sacked.
"I can only tell you the alleged reasons, which are that I’m a terrible teacher and I don’t get along with any of my colleagues or any of my students," he said.
Complaints about his teaching had come from a small group of underperforming students, he added, one of whom had not appreciated Dr Knijff’s assessment of his exam recital piece as "boring."
"It's true that I have very high standards," Dr Knijff said.
“I have taught in Europe and New York, and I thought such high standards were what UNE would have liked me to bring to Armidale.”
Dr Knijff has established a devoted following for his weekly recitals at the Uniting Church, ‘Jan-Piet's Choice,' and last May he starred in Armidale's inaugural Organ Crawl, an event that thrilled organisers when it unexpectedly attracted more than 200 people. He is also well known for his work with the upcoming Bach Festival, as director of the UNE Choir and as a mentor of instrumentalists and singers of all ages.
Students, staff and community members have bombarded UNE's Vice-Chancellor, Prof Jim Barber, with letters and emails expressing their concern and attesting to Dr Knijff’s skills as a teacher and his high standing in the community.
Although Dr Knijff feels “very badly insulted” he would still like his job back.
The National Tertiary Education Union is supporting his claim for reinstatement, which is being heard by Fair Work Australia.
President of the UNE branch, Dr Tim Battin, said: “UNE’s management has ignored due process in this matter, first botching an investigation into alleged complaints, then dismissing its findings, which left Dr Knijff in the clear with no case to answer.
“Despite this they decided to extend his probation period, thereby flouting the terms of the Enterprise Agreement. Even while that was set for a Fair Work Australia hearing, they summarily sacked him without notice.”
A UNE spokesperson told The Express yesterday: “UNE is bound by the university’s obligations regarding employee privacy and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment on the circumstances of individual staff members.”
A public meeting will be held from 12pm-2pm on Friday at the Uniting Church in Rusden Street. There will be an update on the NTEU case against the dismissal and a petition circulated calling on UNE’s Vice-Chancellor to reinstate Dr Knijff at the meeting.