An open letter to Tony Abbott: Dear Mr Abbott, Chances are you and your team are going to be in government very soon. There is one issue I would like you to consider in due course although it would not have the highest priority: as things stand universities have too much autonomy. As a protection against politics and ideology autonomy is necessary and healthy, but too much can lead to unethical behaviour that goes unpunished. A case in point is Queensland’s Griffith University. A lecturer was able to mark my honours thesis in a highly inventive manner because my work was personally and politically inexpedient for him (in the field of artificial intelligence, of all things). He was subsequently protected by a handful of staff, including the vice-chancellor, who went so far as to engage in fraud, deception and behind-the-scenes character assassination. How do I know this? A police investigation revealed documents, emails and memos, evidence which took considerable risks on my part to uncover. This even includes a document which – under a FoI request no less – was officially declared to have been destroyed. Nor do I seem to be alone. On several visits to the Caxton Legal Centre its lawyers told me of practices that ensured a complaining student was getting nowhere. Because universities enjoy the degree of autonomy they have, no state and federal department is willing to step in, local members (state and federal, including Kevin Rudd) don’t want to know about it, and even the law itself shies away from instigating proceedings which in the case of an ordinary commercial entity would be a matter of course. As a result careers can be destroyed, important research is being hampered, and still a university is able to maintain a facade of integrity. As mentioned, there are more pressing issues for the nation. On the other hand, an unfettered tertiary education sector does pose its own dangers. More details can be found at otoom.net/thesocialexperiment.htm. Best regards, Martin Wurzinger
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:26:51 +0000
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