The truth at last, or at least some of it, about Peter Rathjen, the U of Adelaide, the U of Melbourne, the U of Tasmania, etc. [Updated Sept 3, 2020: University of Melbourne "leader" finally speaks]

Peter Rathjen, former VC and president, U Adelaide
It may take a long time for the mighty to fall, but more and more often these days, they eventually do.

Such is the fate of Australian scientist Peter Rathjen, immediate past Vice-Chancellor and president of the University of Adelaide. Today in Australia, Bruce Lander, an Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, released a statement about his investigation of Rathjen, who has a long history of sexual misconduct.

The statement, a brief summary of a much longer report that is being kept secret, outlines Rathjen's latest abuses, which included the sexual harassment (including unwanted sexual touching) of two women employed by the University of Adelaide. Lander found that their allegations of harassment (or perhaps more properly, assault) after a university function in April 2019 were true. Lander also found that Rathjen lied both to him and the university's Chancellor about a number of matters related to his past misconduct.

I was gratified to see (pp. 5-6 and 8 of Lander's statement) that the inquiry included questions about prior misconduct that I had previously published on this blog. My first mention of allegations against Rathjen were very brief, part of a much longer report in July 2019 on bullying and sexual harassment by the former director of the University of Adelaide's ancient DNA lab, Alan Cooper. More recently, I expanded on those allegations, in a blog post last May. When confronted with these allegations, Rathjen lied about them several times, as Lander reports.

The report also confirms one of the most serious allegations against Rathjen, that he sexually assaulted a student while science dean at the University of Melbourne. I had originally withheld the name of the university involved at the request of a colleague of the victim of that attack, but since it is now public--and widely reported in the Australian media--there is no longer any point in doing so. This also raises serious questions about whether multiple institutions in Australia "passed the harasser" despite their knowledge of Rathjen's misconduct, thus allowing him to undeservedly climb to the summits of academia.

Indeed, there are already signs of damage control across Australian universities. Here, for example, is a message sent by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania on the heels of the ICAC report. Note that  Vice-Chancellor Rufus Black states that an investigation at UTAS found no evidence that Rathjen had committed sexual harassment or sexual assault while there. He didn't need to, however. As I reported, while Vice-Chancellor at UTAS,  Rathjen protected a convicted pedophile from being kicked off campus even after he had re-offended, and despite a campaign led by #MeToo activist Nina Funnell and others to get the university to do the right thing.


From: Professor Rufus Black <listserv@UTAS.EDU.AU>
Subject: Peter Rathjen ICAC report released | We stand ready to support our community
Date: 26 August 2020 at 9:33:56 am GMT+2


Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser

VICE-CHANCELLOR

Professor Rufus Black

Dear Colleagues,
The South Australian Independent Commission Against Corruption has today released a statement regarding its investigation into the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of our University, Professor Peter Rathjen.

The statement upholds that Peter Rathjen engaged in conduct which was both unwanted and unwelcome with two women, and that he subsequently lied to try to protect his position.

We believe the accounts contained in the ICAC statement, including its information that there was a complaint regarding Peter Rathjen’s conduct during his time at the University of Melbourne prior to coming to our University.

When ICAC made public its investigation into Peter Rathjen’s behaviour, despite it not involving our University, we undertook our own investigation and to date have determined that there was no known evidence of sexual harassment or sexual assault involving Professor Peter Rathjen during his tenure at the University of Tasmania.

Today I want to assure you that there is no tolerance at our University for sexual harassment or sexual assault. If there are unreported, undetected issues in Tasmania, we are ready to support anyone with experiences they want to share, knowing how difficult it can be to come forward.

If staff or students want to share experiences related to Peter Rathjen’s time as Vice-Chancellor, we ask that they make contact with Chief People Officer Jill Bye at jill.bye@utas.edu.au.

While details of the ICAC report relate to things that happened elsewhere, for many, especially those who worked with Peter Rathjen, they may feel all too close to home.

If so, general support and counselling is available to University staff and students if they need support relating to news of the ICAC report. Staff should phone 1800 650 204 and students should phone 1800 817 675.

We are ready to support our community through an episode that will be challenging and confronting for many.

Not only have we no tolerance for sexual harassment or assault, as a community we look to a future where our culture is consistently inclusive, equitable and supported by the strength that diversity brings.

Yours,
Professor Rufus Black,
VICE-CHANCELLOR
Professor Rufus Black
Vice-Chancellor
Office of the Vice-Chancellor
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 51, Hobart, TAS, 7001
T: +61 3 6226 2003
vice.chancellor@utas.edu.au
CRICOS 00586B





Black's letter is typical, and will be typical going forward, of attempts by university administrators to jump clear of the Rathjen scandal and claim that they either did nor know or took action as soon as they did know. And they will point to the fact that Rathjen (and  thus perhaps his victims) finally got justice as proof that the system works. Actually, it does not work very often, as the failure of the University of Melbourne to alert the academic community about Rathjen's crimes indicates.

At the University of Adelaide, for example, officials continue to look the other way despite clear abuses in the School of Education and the dental school, situations on which I have also reported (see the long, long  list of  comments on this blog post for details about the dental school and allegations of bullying, mismanagement, and  abuse.)

I'd like to end on a personal note, one which I find amusing, as serious as it is. As readers of this blog know, I have been sued for defamation by University of California, Santa Barbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin, whose misconduct I have reported on extensively. As part of the "evidence" that I falsely accuse academics of being sexual predators and the like, Kurin includes a number of examples. One of them, mentioned in section 44 of her Amended Complaint, is none other than that of Peter Rathjen.


Update August 27:  Elise Worthington and  Conor Duffy of Australia's ABC have more today on the University of Melbourne investigation, which Rathjen lied about when asked, according to the ICAC statement. Serious sexual misconduct is a euphemism here for sexual assault.


Update August 28: Adelaide bully and enabler express their concerns about the ICAC report and Rathjen. 

As usually happens when an institution suddenly faces a public scandal, its leaders have issued statements to the rank and file expressing their concerns and assuring everyone that they are there to listen. The first of these comes from Faye McCallum, head of the School of Education, whose own history of bullying I reported on earlier; the second from Mike Brooks, who has been appointed interim Vice-Chancellor and President to replace Rathjen, and who earlier (as Deputy VC for Research) was a key enabler of Alan Cooper, ancient DNA director at Adelaide fired for bullying students and postdocs.

Note that McCallum says everything is going to calm down and advises staff not to talk to the media. Only when staff started talking to the media did anything start to change.











From: Vice Chancellor <vice-chancellor@adelaide.edu.au>
Sent:
Subject: [Alluniversity] ICAC Findings

Dear Colleagues

Earlier this week the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a public statement and findings following his inquiry into allegations of improper conduct by the University’s former Vice-Chancellor, Peter Rathjen.  Professor Rathjen was found guilty of serious misconduct under the ICAC Act.

ICAC made no findings of maladministration or misconduct about any person other than the former Vice-Chancellor.

Findings about the former Vice-Chancellor are deeply shocking. I acknowledge the distress caused to the victims impacted by the behaviour of the former Vice-Chancellor.

This news will have been profoundly disturbing to staff and students as well as members of our wider community.

As our Chancellor, Ms Catherine Branson AC QC, has repeatedly stated, the former Vice-Chancellor’s conduct is unacceptable. It is grossly at odds with the values, conduct and behaviour expected of any staff member. The University is fortunate to have had the benefit of the Chancellor’s exemplary leadership over the period of the ICAC inquiry.

All of the recommendations made by ICAC to improve or clarify our policies and procedures have been accepted in full.

I strongly encourage any staff or students who have experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment to come forward and report it tocomplaints@adelaide.edu.au.  You will have the University’s full support.

Along with the senior leadership, I am personally committed to fostering a culture and environment in which staff and students can thrive and feel safe, valued and welcome. All members of our community deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and collegiality.

Kind regards
Mike

Professor Mike Brooks FTSE FACS
Interim Vice-Chancellor and President
The University of Adelaide | Adelaide SA 5005




Update August 30: There has been a huge amount of media coverage in Australia about Rathjen's final downfall, which I have not been posting here because I assume that readers in Australia at least are seeing much of it (and a frustrating amount of it is behind firewalls, meaning I can't read a lot of it myself.) But I did want to link to this very good piece in The Guardian by Tory Shepherd. Tory was one of the first journalists to begin reporting on the rot inside the University of Adelaide (aside from me, of course) back when I was reporting on the many abuses of former ancient DNA director Alan Cooper. She also was very good about crediting the work of the reporter who broke the Cooper story, something that both Science and Nature refused to do in their own coverage of the firing of one of ancient DNA's leading pioneers. 

As I have said many times, the most important reason to credit the previous work of other journalists is not professional courtesy--although journalistic ethics actually requires it--but to put readers in the picture about how particular stories came about. In the Cooper case, for example, it was important for readers to know that former members of his lab had approached a reporter and told their stories, and that only then had the university begun its own investigation. By not mentioning this, Science, Nature, and any other publication that failed to cite the previous reporting gave readers the false impression that the University of Adelaide had simply begun the investigation because it was concerned about protecting its staff--rather than the truth, which is that Adelaide was concerned about protecting its reputation.

In the case of Peter Rathjen, fortunately, the  ICAC statement specifically referred to my previous reporting (pp. 5-6) and the role it played in the investigation, which makes it (more) difficult for media accounts to ignore it.

In Tory Shepherd's case, as I say above, she was always good about not only professional courtesy but also providing that essential context for readers. In her Guardian piece, Tory points out that Rathjen's reputation for sleaziness was long known:


"But to many in South Australia’s academic world, the finding was hardly surprising.
Rumours about Peter Rathjen’s conduct have been swirling for years. After his appointment in 2018, he became a well-known mover and shaker in Adelaide, a deal-maker. He was media savvy, often described as charming. In private, he was often described to Guardian Australia as sleazy."
and:
"The incident has prompted obvious disgust at Rathjen’s behaviour but also questions about the university’s handling of the complaints, about its culture and about its payout to Rathjen.
“The number of people expressing a total lack of surprise at this finding is absolutely damning,” prominent University of New South Wales academic Darren Saunders tweeted.
“The number of people in power who ignored the ‘rumours’, particularly those who were still in Adelaide when he returned … or those he knew in other places and didn’t say or do anything … if people who have the power and authority to make change don’t, who will?” former University of Adelaide postdoctoral fellow Hannah Brown replied."

The fall of Rathjen is a promising sign that a combination of action by fed up colleagues on the inside of the corrupt system, monitored and reported by journalists, can begin to lead to changes. There are a LOT of other well known sexual predators and bullies out there still, and I would to think that their days are numbered--along with those of the hierarchical, inhumane system that put them there and still allows them to thrive.


Update August 31, 2020: Protests at University of Adelaide.


From The Advertiser:



TERTIARY
Adelaide Uni students protest, demand review
into Peter Rathjen’s time at Adelaide Uni after
ICAC finding

Chris Russell, The Advertiser
August 31, 2020 5:10pm
Subscriber only


The culture at Adelaide University that allowed former vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen to run the institution – even while under investigation for misconduct – must change, student leaders said on Monday.

Calling for a review into Prof Rathjen’s tenure, about 100 students and staff attended a protest on the university campus on Monday.

“We need to make sure decisions have not been influenced by the vice-chancellor’s inability to understand sexual consent,” student union board member Arabella Wauchope said.

The protest was called following the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander finding Prof Rathjen committed “serious misconduct” by groping two women staff members during a work trip to Sydney in April 2019.

Prof Rathjen also lied about his behaviour.

Stella Salvemini, president of the Women’s Collective, which organised
the protest, said students were upset they were kept in the dark about the investigation for so long.

“We hope the new Chancellor, Catherine Branson, will involve student
representatives in what the university does going forward,” she said.

“We have faith in her because of her background as a former head of the Australian Human Rights Commission. “We expect her to do a good job in cleaning up the culture.”

SRC women’s officer Rebecca Etienne said students had been angry and distressed by the ICAC report.

Ms Branson has pledged to adopt all recommendations made by Mr Lander to improve governance and policies aimed at eliminating sexual harassment but has not demanded Prof Rathjen repay his settlement payout.

However, Sharna Bremner, from a group called End Rape On Campus, said the university had previously promised to follow a very similar set of recommendations made in 2017 by the Human Rights Commission.

The university had self-reported it met those earlier pledges.

The Women’s Collective will present a petition to the university administration.


Pictured (image not available): University of Adelaide Women's Collective
president Stella Salvemini with fellow student leaders
Rebecca Etienne and Arabella Wauchope.


And from the Adelaide Women's Collective (with apologies for the poor quality image:)





Update September 3, 2010: A letter from the University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor


It took some time, but the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Duncan Maskell, finally got around to making a statement about the Peter Rathjen affair--although with extreme delicacy. Peter Rathjen is a "former senior leader from this University," and what was clearly referred to as serious sexual misconduct in the Lander statement is now "an incident that occurred." Here is the statement, comment afterwards:





A statement far more to the point was made earlier by the president of the University of Melbourne Student Union and others:


Statement on sexual harassment conducted by Professor Peter Rathjen — 28 August 2020

Hannah Buchan, UMSU President

Aria Sunga and Naomi Smith, Officer Bearers UMSU Women’s Department 

CW: Sexual Assault and Harassment

.

The UMSU Womenʻs Department is disgusted to hear of the sexual harassment committed by Peter Rathjen, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide. We condemn the University of Melbourne’s complicity in allowing a perpetrator of sexual harm to continue work in the University sector.

Yesterday, the South Australian Independent Commision Against Corruption (ICAC) announced that it found that Professor Peter Rathjen, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, had committed serious misconduct by sexually harassing two colleagues in 2019. An ABC investigation has found that a former employer of the Rahtjen, the University of Melbourne, was aware of previous cases where Rathjen had harassed people and yet they failed to inform the University of Adelaide.

Professor Rathjen was employed at the University of Melbourne from 2006 to 2011. And it was during this time that a former student alleged he committed serious sexual misconduct while he was the Dean of Science between 2006 to 2008.

The student reported this case to the University of Melbourne in May of 2018 and the University upheld the misconduct complaint. Despite upholding the misconduct complaint the University failed to refer the new findings to the University of Adelaide – where Professor Rathjen was Vice-Chancellor. Their failure to refer to these findings enabled Rathjen to continue to offend at another University campus.

This is not the first case that has been in the media this year where the University reveals its negligence and complicitness in its responses to cases of sexual assault and harassment. It is time the University or Melbourne owned up and took responsibility for sexual assault and a harassment that occurs within the University community. The University again is showing its true colours where it upholds perpetrators in power rather than survivors. We are deeply concerned with the clearly consistent amateur approach that the University takes with responding to sexual assault and harassment. The University must do better.

UMSU also unequivocally stands with survivors – we hear you, we believe you, and we support you.

We call on the University to:

  • To adequately respond to the allegations that they failed to inform the University of Adelaide of the misconduct findings against Rathjen.
  • To release appropriately anonymised data on the outcomes of their sexual harassment misconduct cases.
  • To appoint external investigators, with appropriate sexual assault and harassment sensitivity training, for all sexual assault and harassment misconduct cases.
  • To increase funding and resources to the Safer Community program and ensure all itʻs processes are independent from the University.

In the coming days we will be penning an open letter to the Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maksell, asking him to respond to our demands, and also creating a petition to collect student signatures in support of this letter. We will not rest until the University takes responsibility for their complicity and makes substantial institutional changes.

Find the ABC article here: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12601766?__twitter_impression=true

If this has brought up any issues or concerns for you, we encourage you to contact the following services:

Centre Against Sexual Assault House http://www.casahouse.com.au/

Phone 24 Hour hotline:  03 9635 3610

1800 Respect:

https://www.1800respect.org.au/

Phone: 1800 737 732, Interpreter: 13 14 50

UMSU Sexual Harm and Response Coordinator; Dr. Patrick Tidmarsh: patrick.tidmarsh@union.unimelb.edu.au

Unimelb Safer Communities:  https://safercommunity.unimelb.edu.au/

Phone: 9035 8675



I will let a current professor from the University of Melbourne, who asked not to be identified, comment on the Maskell letter:


"These are fine sentiments. However, those who protected Rathjen in the interests of protecting their institutional reputations are now scrambling to dissociate themselves from him. You can read here that Duncan Maskell joined the university in January 2019. He quotes himself from that time, where he states that he has zero tolerance for sexual harassment. That was well before Rathjen was found 'guilty' of sexual assault. Despite Maskell’s strong words, no public announcement was made, and the universities of Adelaide and Tasmania were not informed. Maskell himself 'passed the harasser'. This on the pretext of protecting the victim. Of course, there was no necessity to name the victim or even the details of the sexual assault. Conveniently, this meant there were no consequences for Rathjen, as he was a former employee and not subject to sanction, and no reputational damage to the University of Melbourne from it becoming known that senior academics there sexually assault postgraduate students."

Post a Comment

791 Comments

Anonymous said…
Adelaide uni has become a sad, god forsaken place. Time to leave to keep your sanity.
Anonymous said…
Does anyone know about the last Your Voice survey? Heard that it was damning. Can someone post it here?
Anonymous said…
Worth looking at a message from August 28, 2020 at 7:22 PM

"I have a niggling worry about the next stages. While it's fantastic the Landers git out his statement this week, he is replaced with Ann Vanstone next week. Vanstone and Branson are both Adelaide law alumni and served at the same time within the SA legal system for many years up to very senior levels. They must know each other very well. How much impartiality can we expect over Branson's complicitness when the final report is released? The Integrity Survey?"

Then, Amanda Vanstone gets appointed to the Adelaide University Council.

Anyone wonder why the ICAC integrity survey was released in December (before Christmas/ New Year break)?
Anonymous said…
How does Adelaide find people like that as if Rathjen was not enough?

The Hocking scandal led to the then TasTAFE to resign. Full report at:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-02/tastafe-audit-transparency-questioned-by-education-union/9005612

"The audit was ordered after an Integrity Commission report in May pointed to "serious misconduct" within the organisation, leading the then-CEO Stephen Conway to resign."

As Balter said, it is rotten to the core.
Anonymous said…
Do senior staff have a conscious policy of hiring people with dubious ethics because they figure they can be relied on to do 'whatever it takes' to succeed financially and strategically? Or is it subconscious because people tend to hire people like themselves, so senior staff find themselves consistently attracted to unscrupulous people? Some interesting case studies in the comments above. For another example, a former 'consultant' hired by the university is in jail for fraud in Queensland.
Anonymous said…
Indeed, January 11, 2021 at 5:41 PM, like appoints like. In this case conscious bias.
That's why Adelaide will probably appoint Chairman Hoj as the new VC. He has shown he's "with the program", based on how he happily presided over curtailment of free speech in favour of an oppressive foreign power - and received money from the Chinese Communist Party ($200k I believe). Don't believe his distancing lies about the treatment of Pavlou and academics at UQ. We are in for much worse than business as usual.
Anonymous said…
Is Adelaide uni work culture one of the worst in Australia or is it on par with the others?

Adelaide has become a laughing stock to the Easter and Western states. Smaller than the rest, it suffers from small town mentality.

Some online paper wrote, "Small towns these days are run from greed and corruption and nepotism".

This is a good piece:

Anti-nepotism policies just make common sense
https://eu.northjersey.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/04/11/editorial-anti-nepotism-policies-just-make-common-sense/504785002/

Margie Semler, the former mayor of Passaic, was as valiant a defender of good government as we have seen in North Jersey. In a letter to the Herald News in July 2015, just two weeks before she died, Semler, long retired, was as busy as ever about speaking out, writing that “the leadership of this city is more interested in power, nepotism, and financial gain than in the welfare of the city itself.”

... nepotism in a small town is no different from practices that go on inside the doors of corporate America. That may be, but corporate America is not charged with upholding the public good; people elected and appointed to taxpayer-supported services are...

Other pieces

Nepotism, or just a small town? Borough administrator’s hiring of son and cousin raises questions
https://www.nj.com/hudson/2020/09/nepotism-or-just-a-small-town-borough-administrators-hiring-of-son-and-cousin-raises-questions.html

Nepotism is just par for the course in rural areas
https://allongeorgia.com/georgia-opinions/column-nepotism-is-just-par-for-the-course-in-rural-areas/

Adelaide uni is run like a corporate. It is not a property of incompetent Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, deputy VCs, Executive deans or deans. It belongs to the public.
Anonymous said…
https://twitter.com/DrewPavlou/status/1349578222648737794

Interesting.

And while we're on the subject of Hoj, UQ, lawyers, China etc, do all the Group of 8 universities use Minter Elisson or just Adelaide and UQ? Not necessarily anything wrong with that but it could definitely add to the herd mentality, and aid in the cross-institutional alignment of CCP interests for personal gain by senior staff.

Somewhere above somebody mentioned 'secret' CCP members of Adelaide Uni's council. What's the story there? Adelaide staff weren't included in that lengthy piece in The Australian a few months back, detailing academics from a number of unis across the country who receive considerable sums of money from the Chinese state at the same time as being employed full time by Australian unis. Nobody at Adelaide receiving money from China govt, or just good at keeping it out of the media?
Anonymous said…
Don't think they'll go for Hoj. He's a much more experienced operator and I dare say he'd very quickly engineer the removal of Branson et al. Hoj likes to be THE boss. He'd say all the right things in interview, then, ruthlessly, use the support of staff behind him to get rid of the old guard. He'd be the hero and have absolute power. They won't sew the seeds of their own demise.
Anonymous said…
And see where Education is to get another full professor. Will it be from the current Level Ds White or Palmer or the man from Edith Cowan or will someone uber it in from Magill or Mawson Lakes? Or perhaps there is someone hiding their academic light under an ipad out at Hackney.
Anonymous said…
No, January 15, 2021 at 9:39 PM,they will spend big to parachute someone in, while cutting everywhere else, and freezing contracts and other appointments.
Anonymous said…
I wonder if David Lloyd (Uni of SA VC) applied for Adelaide VC, or Caroline MacMillen (current SA Chief Scientist, former VC of Newcastle, former DVCR at Uni of SA)?
Anonymous said…
So, who are the 16 CCP-linked academics at Uni Adelaide?
Soon to be 17 when Hoj gets appointed.
https://twitter.com/alexjoske/status/1351396416082505729?s=20
Anonymous said…
View the parliamentary submissions here.

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Intelligence_and_Security/NationalSecurityRisks/Submissions

Adelaide managers will still say there is no problem. Or oops ... the cat got out of the bag this time.
Anonymous said…
Adelaide did not have the guts to make parliamentary submission in line with lack of transparency and tendency to sweep things under the carpet. Stay mum until the public and the media get over it. Why not? The success formula has worked so well in dentistry and education in protecting bullies and harassers. If you get get found out, make someone else a scapegoat.
Anonymous said…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-21/documents-shed-light-on-university-of-adelaide-sa-failed-merger/12960276

Unsurprising that our expensive executive are more concerned about their own jobs than what is best for the institutions they represent.
Anonymous said…
Why the argument over merged uni name anyway? Why does the name have to include either name?
Name it after a great South Australian!
Ruby Hammond University
Anonymous said…
That would be a great and inspiring name for a merged institution!
Then again, that would require some inspirational thinking on the part of the senior managements. They would talk about the importance of retaining the "brand". Well, what do the current brands stand for in the public's an world's eyes? Bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct, insidious HR practices, nepotism, lies and deceipt. Both unis have happily sacrificed and thrown out world-recognized brands already. Dentistry, education, etc at our august institution, and Uni of SA has done the same a few years back scrapping iconic institutes and people.
Anonymous said…
Ruby Hammond University is a great option. Hmmmm we do not want to insult her. Trump University is a much better name - it stands for authoritarianism, bullying, sexual harassment and every other terrible thing that is out there.

Other suggestions:

Poor Trump University
University of the Destitute
University of Bullying and Harassment

Administrators are hoping that dentistry and education staff on the other camp will develop herd immunity to bullying and harassment. The easiest option for the administrators.
Anonymous said…
Another experienced valued long term senior lecturer at the Adelaide Dental School resigns.
When will this University WAKE UP to the disgraceful mismanagement of his school and its staff.
Anonymous said…
More than 400 comments on this thread now and we have covered a lot of ground. Many issues, many characters, many stories, much injustice. Let's take a minute to look back at the origins of this post, about Peter Rathjen and his sexual harassment, sexual assaults, and shameless lies to the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption. Today sexual abuse survivor and advocate, Grace Tame, was awarded the national level honor of "Australian of the Year". Peter Rathjen, remember, stood up for the paedophile who abused her when he was at University of Tasmania. Someone of Rathjen's character was selected by Adelaide Uni as being the right person to lead the institution. Those who selected him can today hang their heads in shame at their poor judgement about what makes a good leader. No matter what they may say in all staff emails about unacceptable behavior and respectful working environments, they helped create and maintain - and still do - the environment where senior staff thought they could get away with abuse of staff and students. In her acceptance speech Grace Tame said that she would no longer be silenced - and urged other Australians to make some noise. Let's do that until all these morally bankrupt "leaders" are pulled from the uni's jaws like rotten teeth. Clean the slate and start again.
Anonymous said…
What does that say about the current chancellor who was in the hiring team? Look at the team again.

1. Rear Admiral the Honourable Kevin Scarce AC CSC RAN (Rtd), Previous Chancellor - gone
2. Professor Ian Young AO, ANU - ?no longer relevant
3. Professor John Williams, Chair, Academic Board - in the Council; Executive Dean of the Faculty of the Professions and Chair of Academic Board
4. The Hon Catherine Branson QC, Chair, Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee - Chancellor
5. Ms Christine Locher, Chair, People and Culture Committee - in the Council
6. Mr David Hill, Member, University Council - Deputy Chancellor (& in the council)

Four of them are still in the council. How do you know they will not hire another Rathjen?
Anonymous said…
Do not forget that Richard Logan did nothing when postgraduate students were bullied and sexually harassed by Gue. He was told to do something and he did nothing. Ben Kile and HR blindly supported him. Logan sits in Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) that is supposedly regulating the profession and protecting the public. When your school has bullying culture, will the bullying go down the chain of commands all the way to students? If staff are bullying students, will Logan just keep mum like he did with Gue?

Hope Grace Tame will advocate for this problem in dentistry.
Anonymous said…
How can we contact Grace Tame? Can someone ask her to read this blog and 400+ comments?
Anonymous said…
Michael should be thanked for covering the story about Rathjen, U Tas and Grace Tame, who will go all the way to become Australian of the Year. His credibility speaks for itself.
Anonymous said…
What Michael's investigation has revealed (and yes we should most definitely thank him!) is that when you pull on one thread the whole fabric starts to unravel. You go after one bully, sexual harrasser and cheat and you find who is providing the cover for them and many others. Bullying is rife. Mismanagement of large sums of money is rife. Nepotism is rife. Conflicts of interest are rife. Gaming of publication metrics is rife. Cheating on grant applications is rife. It isn't just a couple of bad eggs but a whole culture and way of being. None of this is inevitable, but it is so much harder to fix when institutions are able to investigate themselves, everybody went to school with each other or is somebody's sister-in-law, or belongs to the same lodge, or gets special consideration from tame newspaper editors or Independent Commissioners. These problems go all the way to the top, and Rathjen's public humiliation and departure have not fixed the underlying problems. Next thing the merger will happen and all those who should be held accountable will disappear into the shadows. All chances of legal action against the University will disappear because the University will no longer exist. If you want to take action, or class action, get on with it!
Anonymous said…
Onya Grace, and all the worthy women honoured. The galling thing must be that the likes of Peter Rathjen, Heydon Dyson and Graeme Lawrence - the very sort of animals Grace is fighting against - all get to keep their gongs.
Anonymous said…
Even if a class action does not happen there are things that can be done. A group of us school teachers have decided that any idea we entertained of a generous bequest to the university will not happen over what happened in the School of Education . Why toss money away. Look at how it has been spent. The most corrupt hiring and promotion practices, a culture of bullying, fear and intimidation and worse still the dismantling of a highly respected research led academic culture and its replacement with a tick the box curriculum worse than a teacher's college of the 1960s. I would have thought dentistry staff and alumni who command very very high incomes could also make their displeasure felt with a similar action. Certainly donating any money to the university would tend to suggest that the donors have money to waste.
Anonymous said…
So we students commenced the Master of Teaching this week and guess what The Arts Newsletter runs a promo on how wonderful things are in the School of Education. What planet are these people on? Cheesy photos of staff and an insane welcome by MacCallum raving about GO8s and top 1% of unis. What the top 1% for bullying, favouritism and nepotism and corruption in hiring and promotion practices? No mention of the students on Overheard at Adelaide complaining about the stuff ups in trying to enrol. Then the usual spurious nonsense from Barberi about ipads and efolios. As if he has every worked in a real school in the real world. Sorry we won't count the rarefied St Peters as a real school. School principals in many schools are simply crying out for any sorts of teachers and are not too fazed if they have drunk the Apple Kool Aide. And in case he missed it many schools are now banning iphones. And what is an ipad if not an oversized iphone. Just look at the television news of 28/1/02. But never let truth get in the way of a good story. Marshall McCluhan got it right about the School of Education- the medium is the message for there is not much of a real message there.
Anonymous said…
It was a bit like The Australia Day Awards. A notable absence of females in key leadership roles but the presence of the private school sector- two from the Catholic sector and one from the grammar school sector. Not to mention one who has issues with females. Not too many here with an affinity to Elizabeth High- but look what happen to Scarce!
Anonymous said…
Education and Arts Faculty are led by females, or not? Should McCallum and Shaw get the gong because they are female leaders?

Adelaide is definitely in the top 1% of universities for bullying, harassment, nepotism and mismanagement. Wait... bullying of staff, not students. After the ICAC reports have released, what has the university done? Still "planning" and not do anything. May be get all staff to attend some courses and all will be fine in the end. How can they do anything meaningful when the senior university leaders are the ones letting these things happen for a long time? They see no problem but ICAC survey is saying otherwise. They are confused, they cannot understand.

The comment about dentistry staff leaving - the faculty must be happy that they are gonna save some money. The school management must be happy that one of the trouble-makers, who would have voted for no-confidence in the senior school and faculty leadership, is gone. Whoever is leaving is in the majority who experienced or witnessed bullying, no??? The school can get rid of all of those 80% staff and hire new ones. It will take some years before they have a breakdown and then let them go and hire new ones and the cycle continues.

Dentists have a high suicide rate. They should do mental health screening of dental staff.
Anonymous said…
In a highly stressful profession like dentistry, overwork staff with too much clinic teaching and admin (with no admin support). If they complain, bully them with the absolute power that you have as the boss of the school. Do not care about their mental health. If they cannot cope, they will leave or you force them to leave. This is the pre-Covid plan to save money and score brownie points from higher up. New staff will come and load them with excessive teaching. They will not dare complain.

When experienced staff are ready to leave, pack their belongings in a box without their knowledge. Why even bother sending staff email thanking them for their contribution? Out of sight, out of mind. You still have your superior's support to run the school down.
Anonymous said…
So is Chairman Hoj looking at houses in Unley Park or Toorak Gardens? You can bet he'll negotiate a much, much higher salary than Rathjen. I mean isn't always the way things go? Staff get pay cuts and job losses, management get pay rises.
Anonymous said…
So Spence deserts Sydney rather than preside over the largest deficit and job cutting spree in their history. Probably his foreshadowed pay reduction scared him the most. Who knows, maybe Rathjen has a shot?! I mean he was never disciplined so, clearly, he did nothing wrong at Adelaide, Tassie od Melbourne. And he still is an AO. Or will Hoj go for it? They have a CCP Institute too. As does UNSW where Jacobs is now leaving. At least Jacobs is sticking out 2021.
Anonymous said…
Toorak Gardens already has a Rover Sport black in colour with registration plates UNISA1.
Is it big enough for another expensive motor?
Anonymous said…
Lol!! Ooh maybe Lloyd went for VC. Couldn't get his way via a merger.
Anonymous said…
Wouldn't that be interesting. Lloyd gets Adelaide, the merger goes ahead and no barney over who would be VC of new uni. Of course there's the name. Probably pay a consulting company a few staff salaries worth to come up with something a kindergarten class could create, then logos and livery - a few more staff salaries worth - then marketing....all money that could be spent on people doing what a university is supposed to do. Of course, bigger uni, bigger VC pay packet and probably no change to senior management numbers. All growing their admin empires....
Anonymous said…
Dear colleagues,



I am delighted to announce that the University’s Council has approved the appointment of Professor Peter Hoj AC FTSE FNAI (US) as the new Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide.



We will soon announce publicly that Professor Hoj will commence next Monday, 8 February, and that he has been appointed for a five-year term.



One of Australia’s most outstanding and highly respected leaders in higher education, Professor Hoj brings to our University more than 20 years’ senior leadership experience in higher education and research – most recently as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Queensland. He has also been Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Australia (2007-2012), CEO of the Australian Research Council (ARC) (2004-2007), and Managing Director and CEO of the Australian Wine Research Institute Pty Ltd (1997-2004).



This will be a return to the University of Adelaide for Peter, who was Foundation Professor of Viticultural Science, then Professor of Oenology between 1995 and 2004.



This is an outstanding outcome for our University. Peter is an inspiring, inclusive and collaborative leader. He has an exceptional track record, driving success at a national and international level, building university rankings and research output, with his focus on a high-quality, student-centred approach to the teaching and learning experience, and employer satisfaction with graduates.



He also possesses a strong social justice agenda, championing issues of sustainability and equity, support for students from low SES backgrounds and for Indigenous students.



The combination of Peter’s leadership capabilities, commercial acumen, and local knowledge and relationships make him an excellent choice to lead us into the future. As our University emerges from the impact of COVID-19, his leadership will ensure we maintain our standing as one of the world’s leading institutions of learning and innovation.



I thank Mike Brooks for his strong leadership of the University during challenging times. He has been critical to helping the University navigate its way to a better future. Mike put his plans to retire from his role at the University on hold so that our institution could emerge from the difficulties of 2020 on a stronger footing, and he did so with the commitment that he would stay in the role until new leadership could be found. Now that Professor Hoj has been appointed, Mike will be retiring from his role at the University on Friday 12 February.



I very much look forward to working with Professor Hoj, and I trust you will all join me in welcoming him to the University.
Anonymous said…
That was the email from the chancellor

From: Chancellor
Sent: Tuesday, 2 February 2021 10:15 AM
To: allstaff_titlehol_vis_pgrs@list.adelaide.edu.au
Subject: [Alluniversity] Appointment of New Vice-Chancellor

xxxxx [see anonymous' comments above]

Cathy
The Hon. Catherine Branson AC QC
Chancellor

--
The Hon.Catherine Branson AC QC
Chancellor
Office of the Chancellor and Council Secretariat
The University of Adelaide
Ph: +61 8313 5668
Fax: +61 8313 4407
Email: chancellor@adelaide.edu.au
Anonymous said…
Cathy did not see Hoj's record in UQ being a problem. She was in the hiring team for Peter Rathjen as the Chair of Legal and Risk that saw too many bullying and harassment complaints being swept under the carpet.

Monopoly in the Council with a majority from the chancellor and her team (previous comments). Now the disgraced VC from UQ will join the ranks.

They did forensic testing on the new applicants - bullshit. They did not watch 60 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyLO9-riykU

Do not ever think free speech and fairness will happen in Adelaide.

Everyone knew not to trust the chancellor and the council.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2020/07/uq-panics-as-60-minutes-closes-in-on-its-chinese-corruption/

https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/needed-a-circuit-breaker-at-uni-queensland/
Anonymous said…
Simply disgraceful - for own sanity, leave Adelaide now.
Anonymous said…
Well how will this play out for the School of Education. If he is inclusive as they say in the press release and all about equity and access what about the School of Education being nothing but a finishing school for the private schools and where the whole programme is focused on the private schools with placements and the ubiquituous ipads all geared up to social and cultural reproduction of the Adelaide Est. And given his fondness for China how will that play out for the School of Education where MaCallum and her hench persons in Bentley, Westphalen, White and Barbieri do everything possible to get rid of the Chinese- well after they have taken their huge fees of course. Then again perhaps best not to hold your breath. Someone should give the selection panel and Council Peter Hatcher's latest piece on China which is in the Fairfax/Nine media.
Anonymous said…
They were just glad to shed off Hoj from Queensland.

https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/needed-a-circuit-breaker-at-uni-queensland/

Needed, a fresh start: This is a problem the VCs statement alone will not solve – it will take time and a great deal of effort. In the first instance perhaps Professor Høj’s departure at the end of the month will be a circuit-breaker.

His resignation has nothing to do with this matter – in May 2019 he announced his decision to leave in a year. And Chancellor Peter Varghese says Professor Høj had no role in the misconduct process against Mr Pavlou. But the VC is now associated with everything related to the university’s connections with China.
Anonymous said…
See the parallels between how Hoj tried to shut down Drew Pavlou and how HR tries to shut down bullying and harassment complaints?
Anonymous said…
Must be good news for the dentistry senior management. A stronger protector is coming.
Michael Balter said…
Hope everyone here has seen this Twitter thread by Sharna Bremner:

https://twitter.com/sharnatweets/status/1356541855513497603
Anonymous said…
Who was in the committee that hired Peter Hoj? Did they consult staff? Didn't the chancellor say staff would have an input into who they hire after they got it so wrong with Rathjen?

Consultation - like the way they are used to consulting staff once they have made their decisions. Consultation to show outsiders that they are fair. Consultation to hide the dictatorial motive underneath. Consultation to get someone who will not clean themselves (rotten to the core).

Read these tweets from Sharna, too.

https://twitter.com/sharnatweets/status/1356792909631119360
Anonymous said…
Some of Sharna's tweets

She promises: “As Chancellor, I’m confident we will become a better institution from this experience. I firmly believe that our values and culture must be led from the very top. I am committed to ensuring this happens.”
8:06 PM · Feb 2, 2021

I note the rumours about the UQ VC being considered. I note that I’ve had enough engagement with him regarding instances of sexual violence, sexual harassment, relationship violence & stalking within the UQ community to have grave concerns about him being appointed.
8:08 PM · Feb 2, 2021

I note that I'm especially concerned about him being appointed if
@uniofadelaide actually wants to address sexual assault & harassment. I note that federal complaints have resulted because of his lack of leadership on the issue.
8:09 PM · Feb 2, 2021

26 August 2020, 9:55pm: my email to the @uniofadelaide Chancellor is read for the first time. It will be read a further 23 times between August 26th and September 28th.
Nobody bothers to respond to me.
8:10 PM · Feb 2, 2021

Sept 2020: the @uniofadelaide Chancellor tells a staff forum that reports of sexual harassment are “astonishingly low” & claims there have been “five in total over the last number of years”, but that the university needs to “establish a cultural change”
8:10 PM · Feb 2, 2021

8 Oct 2020: an FOI by @abcnews shows that there have actually been more than 50 reports of sexual assault or harassment made to @uniofadelaide since 2018 - far more than the five the Chancellor claimed there had been.
8:11 PM · Feb 2, 2021

A @UniofAdelaide spokesperson tells @benjnielsen that the uni has "#zerotolerance for sexual harassment & assault" & that it is "determined to reduce its incidence and support those affected"
8:12 PM · Feb 2, 2021·

2 Feb 2020: after its claims of #zerotolerance & promises to ensure cultural change that comes from “the very top”, @uniofadelaide announces its new VC.
8:14 PM · Feb 2, 2021
Anonymous said…
More of Sharna's tweets

They can’t say they didn’t know. And they can’t claim to take sexual assault or harassment #veryseriously or say that they have #zerotolerance. Because nobody bothered to follow up with me about how reports were handled at UQ under Hoj.
8:14 PM · Feb 2, 2021

Because nobody from @UniofAdelaide bothered to respond to my email they didn’t get to hear the sort of experiences student survivors and I had when we tried to get him to take action against perpetrators of sexual harassment and assault.
8:15 PM · Feb 2, 2021

They didn’t get to hear about how, in my opinion, under his leadership UQ was the worst university in Australia for responding to sexual assault and harassment. They didn’t get to hear about how, under his leadership, a repeat offender was hired by his uni instead of disciplined.
8:15 PM · Feb 2, 2021

They didn’t get to hear the details of the multiple complaints we’d had to file against UQ with the federal regulator because, under his leadership (or total lack thereof), students were not safe on campus and complaints were grossly mishandled.
8:15 PM · Feb 2, 2021

They didn't get to hear about the hundreds & hundreds of unpaid work I'd done trying to help the students that he was supposed to have a duty of care for. They didn't get to hear about the deliberate indifference, the compounded & vicarious trauma, the harm caused.
8:16 PM · Feb 2, 2021

They can’t say they didn’t know. They knew. They just chose not to listen.
8:17 PM · Feb 2, 2021

And this is all on top of how Hoj & UQ treated @DrewPavlou. Laughably, one of the things that UQ claimed Drew was guilty of was "prejudicing their reputation" because he posted on social media that the uni took his criticism of Hoj more seriously than it took sexual assault.
8:25 PM · Feb 2, 2021

There is no such thing as #zerotolerance or #veryseriously. It's just complete indifference or total coverups. There is no #RespectNowAlways. There's been no change, no accountability. Nobody is even fucking listening, they're just pretending they are for the photo ops.
8:38 PM · Feb 2, 2021

And as a fitting addendum to this thread, Hoj has told the @theTiser's @ChrisRussellBiz that "in recognition there are too few women in leadership in most sectors, he will refuse to sit on all male panels.
Fuck me.
1:01 PM · Feb 3, 2021

**SCREAMS INTO THE VOID** WOMEN WON'T BE ON PANELS IF THEY DROP OUT OF THEIR DEGREES BECAUSE YOU FLAT OUT REFUSED TO TAKE ANY ACTION TO KEEP THEM SAFE ON YOUR CAMPUS & INSTEAD ALLOWED YOUR INSTITUTION TO HIRE THE STUDENT WHO SEXUALLY ASSAULTED THEM.
1:03 PM · Feb 3, 2021·
Anonymous said…
Who was the problem? The current chancellor or Peter Rathjen? So much so for human rights.
Anonymous said…
With Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor like those, what hope do you have?

A very bad decision by the chancellor and the council.

As Sharna says, "Fuck me".
Anonymous said…
The chancellor hired an expensive team to investigate the candidate's past records. Money wasted and we have another Peter.
Anonymous said…
Read the past ICAC Commissioner Bruce Lander's report on the current Chancellor. Mr Lander wrote that she did a deal with Peter Rathjen to force Kevin Scarce to resign, so that she could get the top job. Surprised that she hires another Peter who is unwanted in Queensland?

She was a retired judge and human rights commissioner.

Anonymous said…
And don't forget that Chancellor Branson publicly thanked Rathjen for his service to the university when he resigned due to 'ill health', and he did not leave empty-handed.
Anonymous said…
People on this blog and on Overheard are worried about Hoyt and his closeness to CCP. We students are more worried about the constant flow of Apple Kool Aide (or is that fake news) flowing from the School of Education. This week yet more from Barbieri via The Arts Message Stick and his closeness to the Apple view of the world. When we are constantly told that critical thinking is the core of the modern university then perhaps less fake news about the Apple View of humanity. Any self respecting teacher knows Apple are in the game to sucker you up to their overpriced hardware and their hipster view of the universe. Just look at all the groover types outside Apple Land in Rundle Mall. Again the medium has taken precedence over the message. Or is it that there is no message? Sorry Wally. Try again.
Anonymous said…
There is a need for more nuance in the debate on the arrival of the new VC and President. Council obviously took a leaf out of the School of Education and went local. Now obviously they did not send up Uber to pick up two hires from St Peters but they hired local and saved removal expenses and got an immediate start. So please credit where credit is due. And think of the possibilities and synergies. White can run positive psychology and wellness courses for the Uyghurs (a money spinner for the cash strapped university), Barbieri can be flown by Apple to the Education Centres to do a video showing how happy they are (and the department of history can compare this to the videos made by Germany of its own camps during WW2), if time permits he could do another video of the Apple factories in China as well, Westphalen can do a podcast with some key Uyghurh trainees and Bentley can offer up prayers for the conversion of the CCP to the one true faith. Never let an opportunity go to waste.
Anonymous said…
It is official. The Australian Dental Council is doing a site visit on the 9th and 10th February, 2021, to conduct a targeted review of the BOH, BDS and DClinDent programs. These are all clinical programs in the dental school. Who thinks it has to do with the union survey data and ICAC Integrity Survey data on bullying, poor quality teaching and compromised patient care, putting the public safety at risk.

From: Yvonne Nieuwenhoven
Sent: Monday, 1 February 2021 10:54 AM
To: allstaff.dental@list.adelaide.edu.au
Subject: [Allstaff.dental] ADC visit - email to staff


Dear colleagues

I write to inform you all that on 9th and 10th February the Australian Dental Council (ADC) will be visiting the Adelaide Dental School to conduct a targeted review of the BOH, BDS and DClinDent programs.

The targeted review is being undertaken to assess whether the programs continue to meet the Accreditation Standards, particularly the following three Accreditation Standards:
• Standard 1 – Public Safety
• Standard 2 – Academic Governance and Quality Assurance
• Standard 3 – Program of Study.

The focus of the sessions will include: academic program content; course structure; assessment; student competence; resourcing; clinical processes; student experience; clinic and placement administration; student supervision; year level issues relating to didactic content / clinical experience; program development, monitoring and improvement; patient management; quality and safety processes in clinic management; University policies, procedures and processes as they relate to the abovementioned three Accreditation Standards; and strategic issues / future directions.

Staff, students and external stakeholders will be invited to meet with the ADC’s Site Evaluation Team (SET), in accordance with its 2-day schedule.

The University encourages your participation in the targeted review if requested by the SET. Yvonne Nieuwenhoven will be coordinating the logistics.

If you have any queries regarding the above please do not hesitate to see me.

Regards
Richard


--
RICHARD LOGAN
Dean and Head of School
Professor, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology

Adelaide Dental School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005
T: +61 8 8313 3066| E: richard.logan@adelaide.edu.au

https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/richard.logan

CRICOS Provider Number 00123M
Anonymous said…
Watch the ADC's targeted review closely. Will members of the staff make an attempt to influence staff and students who will be meeting with the ADC? Will they attempt to present tainted evidence to the ADC, which is equivalent of election fraud? Whoever is behind this should be dealt with the full force of the law.
Anonymous said…
Drew Pavlou story was covered by the LA Times - watch out Adelaide

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-12-21/student-australia-china-xi-jinping-uighurs-muslims?fbclid=IwAR2xXOtQL6yE9NGq5jCW-vMpODuF91DdMWsSREKn40x9151csPWbraR7Pd8
Anonymous said…
The new vice-chancellor is getting a thrashing in Overheard at the University of Adelaide

Khuong Nguyen February 8 (2021)
Tomorrow is Peter Høj's first day, press F in the comments

Khuong Nguyen February 4 at 8.57 PM (2021)
I like it when the pro Peter Høj trash exposes itself
(edit: changed Taiwan flag to Taiwan independence flag)

Joshua Sheldon
can anyone explain who Peter Hoj is to me? I am so out of the loop

Aidan Marshall
Joshua Sheldon he bad

Khuong Nguyen
Joshua Sheldon
Last year we had a vice chancellor (Peter Rathjen) who was fired after an ICAC investigation found him to have sexually harassed two women. Since then, the university has had to go look for a new vice chancellor.
Enter in, Peter Høj. During his tenure in the University of Queensland, he was infamous for censoring the student Drew Pavlou by expelling him from the university. Drew's only "crime," was to speak up against the Chinese government backed Confucius Institute on campus. As such, alot of students are angry at Peter Høj and rightly so.

Joshua Sheldon
Khuong Nguyen oh yeah fuck him

Khuong Nguyen
Joshua Sheldon Yeah, he's a disgusting joke of a vice chancellor honestly

Oli Fulcher
Joshua Sheldon not to mention he brought international disapproval to UQ, most notably from Wall St publications and the Aus Govt

Lenard Sciancalepore
Should there be a second protest against Høj on Monday?
Vote here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/107281302622867/permalink/5336633246354287/
Anonymous said…
Overheard at the University of Adelaide

Paul Sigar
February 3 at 3.20 PM (2021)

This may be of interest to most if not all of you. Hoping they’d drop some really juicy content justifying his appointment.

[A letter with Adelaide Uni logo]

3 February 2021

Mr Paul Sigar

Dear Mr Sigar

I refer to your application under the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (The FOI ACt) seeking "all documents, correspondences, written transcripts, electronic records of information (including but not limited to meeting minutes of Council) and all relevant decisions made that were put in writing regarding the University's latest selection criteria on the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor; the appointment of Peter Hoj as Vice-Chancellor; and the decision to appoint Peter Hoj as Vice-Chancellor."

Your application was received on 3 February 2021 and is currently processed in accordance with the FOI Act. Although the FOI Act allows a maximum of 30 days to respond, I will reply sooner than 5 March if possible.

I also acknowledge that you seek a waiver of the application fee as you are a current student and I confirm that the University will waive the fee based on the information you provided in your application.

If at any time you require information or are dissatisfied with the way your application is being handled, please contact our office on (08) 8313 5804 or email foi@adelaide.edu.au.

Yours sincerely
Anonymous said…
Overheard at the University of Adelaide

Aj Francotirador
February 3 at 3.59 OM (2021)

Appointing the shameful Mr Hojjo after the disgraceful Rathjuo goes to show that if you’re a Privileged male... you’ll be appointed to positions of power and wealth no matter how bad of a reputation you have. I am shocked that a University of supposedly ‘high standards’ has gone to further ruin it’s reputation after yet another mistake, or are they mistakes in the first place?
We are yet to even look past Rathjen’s sexual misconduct and here we are having to deal with another disgrace 🙂

Kimmel Chang
So university of adelaide gets a famous local grown CCP chill for vice chancellor? Well, uni's reputation is offically down to the toilet now.

Oli Fulcher
Kimmel Chang more so to do with the absolute shambles he left UQ in, with condemnation from now only Wall St publications but the actual Aus Govt
Anonymous said…
Another comment reads: I wish Peter Hoj a very fuck off

Drew Pavlou
February 4 at 9.52 AM
Peter Høj moved 2000 km away to the other side of the country, and Muslim, Uyghur, Tibetan, HKer, Chinese & Australian students organized their own resistance rally within 24 hours. No one will ever forget what side he chose when China started building concentration camps

[Shows a photo of protest against Peter Hoj on North Terrace]

Drew Pavlou
February 3 at 9.15 AM
Peter Høj is already suppressing free speech on campus just as he did at UQ. The University of Adelaide has threatened to gut the student union’s funding if the protest against Høj’s appointment goes ahead. So the cowardly student union have reversed their support for the rally.

Drew Pavlou
February 3 at 5:11 PM
Attention Student Union hacks who support Peter Høj: the Drew - Bob Katter convoy is coming to Adelaide whether you like it or not, so you can either stand with us and all the Uyghurs suffering under the CCP, or you can send me a good photo for The Australian to use in the article they will inevitably write about all the people who sold out due to lack of spine

Another comment: The two Peters argue over who is the more corrupt Peter

Khuong Nguyen
February 4 at 7:33 PM
I find it highly ironic that the guy supporting Peter Høj and his censorship of Drew Pavlou ended up being banned from Facebook. Guessing what comes around goes back around hey?
[Disclaimer: I never reported him to Facebook]
Anonymous said…
What to expect with Free speech at University of Adelaide

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/uq-defends-free-speech-record-warns-china-shift-could-hurt-economy-20200717-p55d2r.html?fbclid=IwAR0tRkojHku-75vx0pJOFSsLoIEtgnkMXDpPhQHowKSpWbEOUdE_c0dfEDM#:~:text=Outgoing%20University%20of%20Queensland%20vice,every%20day%2C"%20he%20writes

UQ defends free speech record, warns China 'shift' could hurt economy


Anonymous said…
Free speech at uni? You have to be joking. There is no such thing as even a free curriculum. Worried about the CCP and Confucius Institutes it would be more appropriate to worry about the disastrous effects of Learning Engagement and Enhancement Units and their legion of enhancers, engagers and teaching only staff who purvey the most inane and corrosive pedagogical nuttery imagineable. One just hopes those working on a vaccine for Covid 19 believe in a real world and proper research not some play way relativism with an ipad or else we are all stuffed. Now the academy has rewarded those who ever only did half an academic job by renaming them teaching specialists they are given free rein to roam the academic hinterland spreading complete and utter nonsense while still avoiding real work. For heavens sake some teaching only specialists in the School of Education even got marking relief.FFS!! One has to ask exactly what they do- well apart from causing the degradation of the academic dogma.
Anonymous said…
So Adelaide Unis PR machine is in full operating mode with Birmingham photo and all welcoming the new VC. Adelaide Est looking after itself again. I had expected Amanda Vanstone to be all over the media gushing over the appointment. Perhaps she is working up a gush. But people should google Birmingham and see what he said of his English teacher and his study of English while a high school teacher to see what he really values in education. And remember he and Vanstone were no real friends of the uni sector. Look at what they did to it. And further more strange that academic staff have to have working with children and police checks to ensure a safe environment for students but blogs are alleging the new VC failed to provide that for students at UQ. Anyone see a pattern emerging here?
Anonymous said…
Perhaps despite not being of the literary arts persuasion themselves Hoyt and Birmo (along with his mates Tudge, Porter and Bigge) don't mind a read of Thomas Hardys's Tess of the Durbervilles?
Anonymous said…
Hoj is very good at distancing himself from things. All through the Pavlou Persecution he said he had no involvement in the process. Please. The boss who isn't the boss??!! Receiving bonuses and medals from the CCP? Fake news of course. Appointing an active CCP official to an adjunct professorship - with ggreat ceremony, no less. Fake news. He had nothing to do with it. Ignoring sexual harassment at UQ? All the above got him the job, together with the born to rule attitude of the council, who will not be told what to do by the peasants. We'll hire whomever the hell we like.
Anonymous said…
Crown Casino and its directors thought they were untouchable until a top lawyer produced her 800 page plus inquiry.
Anonymous said…
But universities seem to answer to no one. No imperative from the Commonwealth for a deep investigation at Adelaide, Tas, Melb about Rathjen and the culture that allowed him to get away with it. No broader review of the tertiary sector. Much smaller, singular events have resulted in Royal Commissions.
Anonymous said…
In the case of Adelaide Uni and the G08s generally the university councils are composed of the Conservative Establishment so they just ignore these things. Look at Adelaide- we have Birmingham admittedly not on council and Amanda Vanstone (regular bleater on the Drum for all things Conservative under the guise of being a reasoned moderate) all gushing over Adelaide and its new VC etc. So not likely to get an inquiry from the Federal Government.
Anonymous said…
With over 17,300 staff shed so far around Australia, that will be Hoj's first action. Look at Monash. 277 jobs before the end of 2020 and they said "we need not plan for university wide job losses”. Now they announce a massive surplus for 2020!! Well all casuals are gone and all contracts will be allowed to expire. Watch for a VC pay rise. Well it's going to happen within our august institution shortly, as is happening at Flinders and U of SA. No analysis, just shed anyone not tenured so we can say loudly that we didn't have forced redundancies. Most of the real deadwood is tenured and safe. Watch performance plummet in the aftermath.
Anonymous said…
And we can get a good idea of what VCs think of their staff if we look at the record. One Melbourne based VC some years ago before donning the VC robes laid all the blame for the university crises at the hands of disgruntled senior lecturers. A google search should bring that up. It appeared in the press and in the reactions of those she attacked. Such clarity of thought to hone in on the root cause of the then crises was commendable. Another Melb based VC when taking up his post took all the professors off to a retreat where he proudly told them his job was 'to put their feet to the fire'. He followed this command performance by publicly berated and trying to humiliate one of the professors for his alleged inability to control the staff of his department. Yes the modern enterprise university leaders have much to commend them!
Anonymous said…
See the parallels in US politics and Uni Adelaide politics? Donald Trump's second impeachment trial is over. He has been acquitted of impeachment charge of inciting riots at the January 06 Capitol Hill riots. He is off the hook because the majority of Republicans decided to try to protect him and their party's own reputation. The gutless "Republicans" in the university are the reason why abusers still thrive.
Anonymous said…
Food for thought in this recent article on academic fraud.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13538322.2020.1820126

Isn't it curious that fraud by academics in Queensland gets publicly investigated and reported on but in SA things are much quieter. The ICAC survey indicates issues at Adelaide with false information on grants and manipulation of h indexes, but is there a single case of this that has been deadly with in a transparent way in SA? The Qld Crime and Corruption Commission must be truly independent. South Australia should be so lucky. Royal Commission worthy.
Anonymous said…
Furious Nancy Pelosi crashes press conference to tear into 'cowardly' Republican senators like Mitch McConnell who voted to acquit Trump. The CNN reports, "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that there was no question that former President Donald Trump was "practically and morally responsible" for provoking the January 6 US Capitol insurrection despite the Senate voting to acquit Trump for inciting the riot."

Pelosi had every reason to get angry for shameful Republicans. Same with those who are protecting bullies and harassers in universities.
Anonymous said…
Adelaide students are very upset by Peter Hoj's appointment as new vice-chancellor. There is a petition going on to sack him. Simply google University of Adelaide: Sack Peter Høj.

195 signatures so far!
Anonymous said…
Though published last year, this article by Lynda Ng of Sydney Uni is a great analysis.
https://overland.org.au/2020/09/where-have-all-the-surpluses-gone/

Explains a lot.
Anonymous said…
Someone in one of the 470 plus posts above noted how useless On Dit has been in exposing all that is rotten at Adelaide. Further proof look no further than Overheard at Adelaide Uni Facebook and see the smooth charm offensive the new VC has done on the current On Dit editors and staff. The Adelaide Establishment once again shows it is no slouch when taking care of its own. Once student newspapers stood for more than ample sex and booze. Now it appears not.
Anonymous said…
Correction: On Dit published a damning report about the new VC on Feb 8, 2021.

https://onditmagazine.medium.com/editorial-peter-høj-brings-shame-on-the-university-of-adelaide-34be200b1d7e

Editorial: Peter Høj brings shame on the University of Adelaide
Words by On Dit Editors

PART 1

The newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, Peter Høj, in a rare show of near unanimous consensus, is being opposed by nearly all student representatives and seemingly the vast majority of the student body.
After all the scandal and disappointment brought on by the previous Vice-Chancellor, it’s hard to imagine what the University Council were thinking when they chose an embattled, disgraced Vice-Chancellor named Peter to replace an embattled, disgraced Vice-Chancellor also named Peter.
On Dit condemns the decision to install Mr Høj as Vice-Chancellor. His failure as University of Queensland VC to stand up for student activist, Drew Pavlou, when he was assaulted at a Hong Kong-independence rally, should have been enough to remove him from consideration. Death threats domestically and abroad followed for Pavlou. Instead of receiving the university’s support, he was suspended for two years only weeks after the incident.
We’re not saying the timing is suss, but — okay, that’s exactly what we’re saying.
Sadly enough, the problems don’t stop there when it comes to Mr Høj: his partnership-building with some of the worst arms manufacturers; support for the Western chauvinist Ramsay Centre; allowing the Chinese Government’s soft power-arm, the Confucius Institute, to co-fund four courses during his tenure at University of Queensland and potentially influence the design of many more.
Keep in mind the last one happened while he was on the Institute’s governing council, the Hanban. All this while the Chinese government was alleged to be placing approximately 1 million Uyghurs in “re-education camps”, where they have been subjected to torture and many other human rights abuses. By the time Drew Pavlou became a household name, the extent of this persecution was well-documented.
But where was Høj to support him? Why did he not publicly condemn UQ Professor, Xu Jie, when he characterized the threats on Pavlou’s life as “patriotic behaviour”? Why did he refuse to sign up the university’s Confucius Institute to the government’s Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme? Could it have something to do with the $200 000 bonus he received partially for boosting Chinese enrolments?
These are questions with no answers — yet. What we know for certain is that as VC, Høj could have used his influence and power to defend Pavlou, and to defend the university’s place as a haven of free speech and values of social justice. Which he didn’t.
According to a credible source, there were four shortlisted candidates for the role of Vice-Chancellor. They received tours around university grounds as recently as one week before Høj was announced, suggesting this was not a one-horse race.
On Dit has filed a Freedom of Information request to see the documents that will disclose the University Council’s reasoning for this appointment. We will make the findings publicly available as soon as we receive them.
Specifically for our University, with the ex-VC’s disgusting history of sexual assault and complicity among those still near the top, one would think the University Council would put a strong record against sexual assault as a top priority. Instead we got someone whose tenure at the University of Queensland has been described by the founder and director of End Rape on Campus, Sharna Bremner, as “the worst university in Australia for responding to sexual assault and harassment”.
Anonymous said…
Editorial: Peter Høj brings shame on the University of Adelaide
Words by On Dit Editors

PART 2
Sharna Bremner
@sharnatweets Feb 5, 2021
A student that I told you about in a meeting in April 2018 dropped out of her degree at UQ because Hoj refused to discipline the student who raped her. UQ hired him as a tutor instead & he went on to sexually assault at least one other student.

One of the harshest allegations from Bremner is that he hired a repeat offender instead of disciplining them, who went on to assault at least one other student afterwards.
Pictured below are numerous emails from Bremner to UoA Chancellor, Catherine Branson, expressing her concerns about Høj’s bungling of complaints. Though the emails were all seen, Bremner received no response from the Chancellor.

They say never to let a good crisis go to waste, and students are expected to forgive Høj because he plans to bring UoA out of it’s COVID slump. Speaking to InDaily, he has flagged his intent to “explore the pros and cons of a merger” between UoA and UniSA if international student enrolment rates don’t return to pre-COVID levels.
With everyone from Socialist Alternative to the Adelaide University Liberal Club opposed to this move and his appointment, it seems that the only thing the University Council cares for is a crony capitalist profit motive. Values like country, culture, safety and freedom can step aside, as long as we rake in some dollar.
We acknowledge Høj’s talent as a scientist and researcher. But he has failed the the most important test of a public servant by prioritizing his career over his duty to protect human rights and freedom of speech — values which were stepped on and sullied while he led the University of Queensland.
The best Peter Høj can now hope for is a Withdraw No Fail.
Let’s finally demand a Vice-Chancellor that this university deserves. Alternatively, it is probably also a time to discuss whether we even need one at all.
Anonymous said…
I bet Hoj is being paid a lot more than Rathjen. What? 5x, 6x a full Prof? 10x Level A. 3 x the PM?
Anonymous said…
Brittany Higgins' rape allegations speak to basic questions of accountability in politics

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-20/brittany-higgins-rape-allegations-basic-questions-accountability/13173128

The Australian Parliament has the best Human Resources protocol that failed miserably in practice. At least two ministers knew about it and failed to do anything.

This shows senior staff and Human Resources are incompetent bunch of people at the highest level. They have failed in legal and moral duties.

May be HR is not concerned because there is no formal complain in the system.

This is exactly how Adelaide Human Resources works. There is elephant in the room but there is no formal complaint.
Anonymous said…
Who thinks the fish rots from the top? Who believes in the integrity of the chancellor, the Human Resources Executive Director, the Vice Chancellor ... all the way down?
Anonymous said…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-08/university-of-adelaide-sexual-assault-and-harassment-reports/12743102

ABC quoted the Chancellor, Catherine Branson, QC (retired judge and past Human Rights Commissioner), "The number of complaints of sexual assault and sexual harassment arising at this university is astonishingly low … I think it's five in total over the last number of years," she said.

The data obtained by the ABC "shows a total of 52 reports were made in just over two years until September 2020."

The chancellor mislead the public; she is outwith reality as senior members of the Council that is just good at lip service. The chancellor was criticized by the past ICAC, Mr Lander, for making dealings with the notorious VC Rathjen to get rid of Kevin Scarce. She was in the committee that hired Rathjen and surely had a major role in hiring Hoj. Do not think they will improve the university culture. The ICAC data of self-reported bullying (62%) by staff gets ignored as anecdotal. The university still says there is no problem.

Shameful events that will remain as a dark part of the university's history.
Anonymous said…
It really is amazing. We have ICAC investigations leading to charges against a State MP and more under investigation but not one thing has happened at Adelaide Uni. Corruption, cronyism, favouritism, stacking departments with private school hires and the list goes on- all documented here especially in Education and Dentistry and yet the good ship Adelaide Uni sails on as if nothing had happened at all. Yes really amazing.
Anonymous said…
Yes Anon of February 19, 2021 at 9:08 PM, and our pay cuts will only help pay for Hoj's salary (surs to be more than Pervy Pete's) & more consultants, refurbishments and building so that there will be even more jobs shed using covid, rather than incompetent dependence on international enrolments, as the excuse. I mean we have to keep up with Uni of SA. An even bigger LED screen perhaps, worth a few jobs, isn't it?
Anonymous said…
Anonymous from February 19, 2021 at 9:08 PM: This is so true. Guess how ICAC investigation works. One of the options is that the ICAC refers the matter to the university to investigate. Mick drop.

Trust no one at the university senior management. What will the Chancellor and HR do?
Anonymous said…
A previous comment in this blog: This was overheard at the HR office in Adelaide: We have successfully defended the 40th case of bulling against the university (senior staff).

When the university receives a bullying complaint, it will do everything to quash it and protect its own reputation. Forget about what the lip service from the Chancellor and future Chancellors. Unless everything changes - the Chancellor, the vice-chancellor, the senior HR managers and other senior managers (Exec Deans and Deans who have managed to foster by lying and bulling others), there will be no change.

If any staff is suffering from bullying, the best options are either to keep quiet or move on. Those who have tried to do the right thing have been failed miserably by the university (regardless of how the university tries to provide the lip service).
Anonymous said…
Opinion piece from Amanda Vanstone, former Defence Minister, current member of Adelaide University Council, and sister-in-law of current ICAC Commissioner. Showing her credentials as an apologist for an apparent serial rapist in Federal parliament. Do we expect anything to change at Adelaide in the post Rathjen era when council members hold views like this about the rape of 3 young women in the workplace?

https://amp.smh.com.au/national/linda-reynolds-doesn-t-deserve-criticism-her-response-to-higgins-rape-claim-was-textbook-20210221-p574dd.html
Anonymous said…
University has so far refused to follow up on the damning ICAC report, save for some vague comments from the former acting VC. I have submitted questions to the recent ECMS forum to call out the behaviour of an academic whose position is based on dishonesty, exploitation, and nepotism from a close relationship with a academic on the University Council. Given that it appears others' concerns about bullying have also not been addressed, at what point do we consider taking action rather than persisting with the status quo?
Michael Balter said…
Hi everyone,

As you know, the comments section of this blog has become a forum for discussing not only what goes on in Adelaide but issues more broadly applicable to Australian academia. There are now 485 comments and more every day. I am pleased and proud to provide this space.

One of the reasons I was able to investigate Alan Cooper and Peter Rathjen is that I am in the USA and thus not easily subject to Australia’s draconian defamation laws. This is not a zero risk situation, but I am in a better position than most in Australia to report these abuses. Again, I am happy to do this, as it involves questions of fighting abuse and fighting for justice.

A while back, I asked folks here to help me with my legal expenses in the Kurin v. Balter defamation suit, which involves issues very similar to those were are concerned with here. To put it bluntly, the response was negligible: I think about $200 in all.

I don’t want to shame anyone into contributing, but could you please help a reporter who has tried to help you? The plaintiff in this case is using increasingly aggressive tactics to try to force me to delete all my reporting and shut up the survivors of her long history of abuse and enabling abuse.

Here is the GoFundMe site. Please give generously. It’s not just for me, it’s for survivors everywhere who want to be able to tell their stories free of retaliation and intimidation. Thank you.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/freedom-of-the-press-defense-fund-kurin-v-balter



Anonymous said…
Is this the first instalment of the merger and its resultant dumbing down or just another instance of the degradation of the academic dogma? The Arts Faculty- which years ago used to have some semblance of academic integrity and excellence - has banned all exams. Now it is just the playway and the funway. I daresay when the idiots who made this decision and their career enhancing middle managers get their Covid shots they hope the people who developed the vaccines actually passed a few exams and did not just play with their ipads and made a few podcasts. It seems that things just have to get really really bad before they even try to get better.
Anonymous said…
Hi Michael

Would it be possible to politely ask how much people from Adelaide has donated so far? I think some believe the Gofund is about $2,500 away from achieving its goal ($14,500 plus $3,000 grant). If Kurin's lawyers are requiring high maintenance from the Gofund, please let everyone know. Surely, people will make donations if that was the case.

Anyway, Adelaideans, please kindly donate to Michael's Gofund. It is for the right cause.
Michael Balter said…
To the last commenter, thank you for encouraging people to donate.

I have not kept track of where the donations come from, and in some cases I don't actually know, but colleagues from Adelaide did make some very generous donations in the fund's early days. Since then there have not been very many, and I don't think there were any responses to my latest appeal in this space (with apologies to anyone I may have overlooked.

In fact, recently Kurin has been very aggressively issuing subpoenas for information from our witnesses, which has resulted in unexpected expenses from the legal defense fund of more than $7000 (my attorneys don't want me to say too much publicly.)

So actually the goal should be changed to $30,000 if everything is going to be covered (court reporters for upcoming depositions will be the biggest expense.)

If everyone were able to make even the smallest donation it would be a big help. Meanwhile I am thinking about new fundraising approaches.

Many thanks, Michael
Anonymous said…
While skin tones may be in the news courtesy of the Royal Interview down at the School of Ed it pays to not only be private but to have the right skin tones. Just look at those who left the School recently and who now takes the courses they were involved in. Whiter than White- forgive the pun. Some years ago friends of ours who did the courses raved about the wide variety of staff- Indians from Singapore with stints at Harvard, indigenous from a variety of places around Australia, Australians who had spent time in the UK and the USA including holding personal chairs and time at Cambridge, ladies from Leicester, gents from Durham and Manchester and so it went on. Now miracle of miracles all replaced by St Peters folk and a devotee of Pulteney who would not know a school much outside the Adelaide CBD. And they say alchemy is dead. Not it seems at 10 Pulteney.
Anonymous said…
So Mark Scott at Sydney. What a great idea! Let's appoint someone from a federal government department. More toxic culture.
Anonymous said…
Seems the School of Education paved the way with 'academic' appointments. Appoint people with no experience of higher education but with the gift of the gab and facility with an Ipad and a Podcast. 2 nil to the Sydney Private School sector though with 2 VCs from Knox. St Peters will have to up their game to compete with this. But I am sure they can work on it.
Anonymous said…
This comment from a Sydney University academic in the Fairfax Press sums it all up. Depressing as it is. And as this person notes Schools of Education and their acolytes are right there in the thick of it helping with the degradation of the academic dogma.
------

Odoriko
10 HOURS AGO
I am a senior academic working at Sydney Uni. I should probably make an effort to explain how things are more complex than what everyone is saying here.

First of all, there is indeed a strong move to hire very well paid 'professional' managers from the private sector to run parts of the university, for instance the Exams Office. These people often lack the knowledge of the operational aspects (they don't understand our products) and end up doing a very poor, inefficient work, and at the end offloading too much of it to the academics.

However, much damage to the quality of teaching is done by academics themselves taking management positions. It is often, but not always, people with a background in Education running the Teaching and Learning office coming up with 'one size fits all' rules. Those might help some underperforming parts of the University, but invariably hinder the best performing ones.

It is not only them. In a truly Orwellian way, TEQSA imposed a general dumbing down of university study in Australia so now students need to take far less contact ours and subjects relevant to their degree that it was 30 years ago. Add to that the Melbourne Model, MOOCs, OLEs, multidisciplinary units, etc. and you up with a lot of fluff and little substance. I struggle to explain my 95+ ATAR students why the first year at uni is so trivial compared to the rigours of Year 12 at James Ruse or Sydney Grammar. We are still able to channel those into Honours and get them to learn something, but we are into increasing pressure to switch to a dumbed down so-called 'Advanced' Degrees.

Successive reforms pushing for MOOCs, OLEs and so on, have consistently avoided to address the challenges posed from having a vast majority of students international students with very poor understanding of English for whom those sort of units are very ill fitting. We are also force to include essays as assessment tasks. Once we calculate the final marks, we are nudged, or simply forced to adjust rather than fail 50% of the cohort.
-----------------------------
Anonymous said…
So USC settles Tyndall sex abuse lawsuits for $1US billion? How about U. Adelaide? Knowingly did nothing about Rathjen and failed in its duty of care. Gotta bs a few $10's of millions in that!
Anonymous said…
Seems once again at Adelaide the establishment takes care of itself. Funny the female police officer did not fare so luckily when she was ICACed. Then again probably did not have the Adelaide connections that come with the right school and class backgrounds. It does pay to be private as is noted time and time again in the preceding posts.
Anonymous said…
It looks like the national regulator has had a serious look at the postgraduate dental programs in Adelaide, with lots of very basic requirements not being met, and the paedodontics program, that was run by the disgraced Sam Gue, losing its accreditation.
Anonymous said…
Similarly in the School of Education the TRB very recently this year sent back more than once courses for approval. This in spite of one of Fay's Faves being in charge of seeing them through. And in spite of a surfeit of e learning enhancing and engaging and a podcast and imovie for every occasion. Now a new person has been put in charge of the approval process as it seems Ed Specialists are just not special enough in getting courses approved.
Anonymous said…
The downfall of the Adelaide Dental School: The Australian Dental Council (ADC) is revoking accreditation for the postgraduate program and other programs will not in a great shape either. Wait and see what the ADC does next.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has put some "undertakings" for disgraced Gue (registration number DEN0001411301).

Go to https://www.ahpra.gov.au and search for Gue under Dental Practitioner. These are some of Gue's undertakings.

1. I will not supervise the practice of any other dentist.
For the purposes of this condition, 'dentist' is defined as any individual appearing on the
National Register as a dental practitioner and any individual completing undergraduate or
postgraduate study in the discipline of dentistry, whether or not that individual is employed by
the Practitioner.

2. I will not act as an academic supervisor.
For the purposes of this condition, 'academic supervisor' is defined as any role where the
Practitioner is responsible in whole or in part for assessing a student's academic progress
towards academic goals in the discipline of any health-related study.
Anonymous said…
Gue's supervisors were Cindy Molloy at the Women's and Children's Hospital and Richard Logan at the Adelaide Dental School. Molloy is no longer at the WCH - allowed to resign?? Logan is still the dean of the ADS and Ben Kile still has full confidence on him.

Then how does Gue's disgraceful act not link to Ben Kile?

Under Kile's watch, the world class dental school is losing accreditation of a postgraduate dental program and more is yet to come. Good staff have left in droves. The school still has international ranking of "Top 30" in the world based on old data. Ben Kile recently announced this and is still trying to cover up. There is no hiding now that the Australian Dental Council is taking action. Meanwhile, keep repeating the slogan that this is one of the top dental schools in the world. Yes, it WAS and you have dismantled it. SHAMEFUL.
Anonymous said…
This is in the ADC website https://www.adc.org.au/Publications-and-forms/Individual-Program-Reports

Scroll down to this report: Australian Dental Council report of an evaluation of University of Adelaide Doctor of Clinical Dentistry Programs in Endodontics Oral Pathology, Orthodontics, Paediatric Dentistry and Prosthodontics February 2021

Key findings:

The ADC has determined The University of Adelaide’s Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Paediatric Dentistry program is refused accreditation.

The University of Adelaide’s submission for all five Doctor of Clinical Dentistry specialisations lacked sufficient detail and supporting evidence, making it difficult for the SET to validate claims made within the submission documentation. This is an issue across the five specialisations reviewed but was particularly acute for the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and Paediatric Dentistry programs....

The clinical or pathological exposure for the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology program appears to be fully reliant on the relationship forged by the Head of School with Clinpath and there appears to be no other options in place should access to Clinpath cease to be possible. No formal agreement appears to be in place, which is a risk to continuity of access to the facilities students require to achieve the required learning outcomes and expected competencies. A condition has been imposed on the program to address this. The SET also has concerns about the involvement of a range of examiners, both internal and external to the program and the moderation procedures in place to ensure consistent and appropriate assessment of the program. Based on the evidence presented, only one staff member is currently responsible for supervising and assessing students throughout the program. Further support for this program is required if it is to remain viable into the future.
Anonymous said…
ADC accreditation decision

The ADC has determined that the following programs offered by The University of Adelaide are re-accredited until 31 December 2025:

• Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Endodontics
• Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
• Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Orthodontics
• Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Prosthodontics

Subject to the following conditions:

1. In order to fully meet Standard 1 – Public Safety, Standard 3 – Program of Study and Standard 5 – Assessment, the provider is required to:
(a) review the mapping of program learning outcomes against the DBA entry-level competencies across the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Endodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Orthodontics and Prosthodontics programs and provide clear evidence that each program addresses all competencies. In doing so, the provider is requested to demonstrate how the
learning outcomes are assessed both clinically and academically to ensure that the entry-level competencies are being met.
(b) demonstrate how students are assessed to ensure patient safety is a priority in the provision of clinical care to the level expected of a specialist dentist in each discipline.
A report is to be submitted to the ADC by 10 September 2021 advising of how these matters have been addressed and of any changes made to these programs.

2. In order to fully meet Standard 2 – Academic Governance and Quality Assurance and Standard 4 – The student experience, the provider is required to review the governance structures of the DClinDent programs. In undertaking the review, the School is to ensure
that:
(a) student evaluations and peer review are incorporated as a part of quality assurance processes, and
(b) student representation and external input relevant to each specialisation are included into quality assurance processes.
A report is to be submitted to the ADC by 23 July 2021 advising of changes made to ensure programs remain contemporary and providing evidence that student evaluation and peer input is incorporated into quality improvement processes.

3. In order to fully meet Standard 4 –The student experience, the provider is requested to provide by 23 July 2021 a course guide that clearly details the DClinDent program for each of the Endodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Orthodontics and Prosthodontics
specialisations. The provider is requested to provide evidence of how information is provided to students to inform them of:
(a) program structure, including delivery of didactic and clinical components and learning outcomes
(b) progression requirements
(c) assessment requirements, including marking rubrics and due dates for assessment.

4. In order to fully meet Standard 4 – The student experience, the provider is requested to provide by 23 July 2021 evidence of how a student can raise a grievance related to a staff member’s behaviour or conduct and how the provider handles complaints of this nature.

5. In order to fully meet Standard 3 – Program of Study, evidence is to be provided by 23 July 2021 of the formalisation and systematic approach to the interactions with other dental and health professionals to provide interdisciplinary treatment and care. In providing this information the provider is requested to include evidence of the implementation of interdisciplinary seminars attended by students across all specialisations.

6. In order to fully meet Standard 3 – Program of Study, the provider is requested to provide evidence that a coherent and detailed research program is in place to enable students to achieve the stated learning outcomes. Evidence is to be provided to the ADC
by 23 July 2021 of the program that is in place.
Anonymous said…
For the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Prosthodontics:

7. In order to fully meet Standard 3 – Program of study, the provider is required to submit by 23 July 2021 details of how the diagnosis, treatment and management of orofacial pain has been comprehensively incorporated into the curriculum of the program.

For the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry program in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology:
8. In order to fully meet Standard 3 – Program of Study, the provider is requested to provide evidence that the staffing profile is sufficient to deliver the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. The report should include clear details of the level of engagement of each staff member, teaching and clinical supervision commitments and is to be submitted to the ADC by 23 July 2021.

9. In order to fully meet Standard 3 – Program of Study, the provider is requested to provide evidence by 30 April 2021 that placement locations for the program have appropriate accreditation for the delivery of pathology service to provide reassurance
that the equipment and facilities are of an appropriate standard to support students to achieve the required learning outcomes.

10. In order to fully meet Standard 3 – Program of Study, evidence is to be provided by 23 July 2021 of the opportunities for students to gain clinical exposure to and experience in the handling or preparation of tissue samples to meet the required competencies of
the specialty.

11. In order to fully meet Standard 5 – Assessment the provider is required to provide by 10 September 2021 a comprehensive list of internal and external examiners of the program and details of the moderation procedures in place to ensure consistent and appropriate assessment of students.
Anonymous said…
The Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology is the Dean, Richard Logan.

The ADC has finally caught up with Logan's "work smart" style at the expense of quality. The dean has no clue how to run a dental school. If the university management does not learn from this, god help them. An incompetent dean supervised by incompetent Executive Dean, Ben Kile. Does Ben Kile still have full confidence in Logan? Kile has no clue how a clinical program should be run, so he has no other choice than to fully trust whoever is in charge of clinical programs. How did he get the job of the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences? Upper management has no clue either.
Anonymous said…
Watch Channel 7 news tonight in South Australia (April 12, 2021). Hundreds of cases of cheating and plagiarism by the University of Adelaide students, the advertisement says.

They should be doing a news section on senior managers cheating and living in a network of web of lies. Look at Rathjen - a big liar caught by ICAC and the Chancellor was heavily criticized by the ICAC report for doing a deal with Rathjen to remove the previous chancellor. Human Resources lives in a web of lies - oh there is no problem. Lying is accepted as the norm and most staff know they are protected by their superiors for lying or deceiving, as long as they meet their targets of saving money for the university.
Anonymous said…
How did Logan and Kile fail the dental school? Logan did nothing to protect students from Gue as Gue's supervisor and Kile went with it. Logan bullied staff, many of whom had no choice other than to quit or take early retirement, and Kile kept saying he had full confidence on Logan. When the union data came of rife bullying by Logan and others, Kile kept saying there was no problem. Quality of education kept going downhill and Logan and Kile kept saying there was no problem in the "world-class" dental school. The Australian Dental Council and external organizations are well aware of bullying and harassment culture in Adelaide. Did the university not try to lie to them? The ADC has refused accreditation to the postgraduate pediatric dentistry program, using harsh words about other postgraduate programs not meeting the basic requirements, Logan and Kile cannot hide any longer. When will they say they got it wrong and start fixing the problem?
Anonymous said…
Cheating and plagiarism . Not surprising. The Dean of Arts and her enforcers have banned any form of exams!! What sort of university is this? Make do with an imovie or a podcast or some other so called form of authentic assessment. One day people will look back upon actions such as this and see them for what they were. I guess though when the Dean and her suppliant profs go along to the medical professionals or get in a plane or cross a bridge they hope
the professionals in these areas actually passed an exam and did not just have feel good moments....
Anonymous said…
So glad I took a package - UoA is up the proverbial ...

And I tried hard to be polite in this post - my feelings run much deeper and more profane ...





Anonymous said…
So Adelaide stopped China-tainted research projects. Good, but what will Chairman Hoj do about the 17 or so academics that are implicated in China talent programs?

http://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx%3Fid%3Dd00a6525-95a3-4d6c-b780-9135553fc8fa%26subId%3D700059&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjL5-KL6v7vAhX9yjgGHVW0DXMQFjADegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3FAC27HRAouhYseMmHYqUG
Anonymous said…
University of Adelaide and Faculty of Professions - featured in NTEU newsletter

Recently the University proposed “agile” or “activity based working” conditions for HDR students. Under this model HDR students would not have a specific desk to work from and would instead have to locate and set up their workspace on campus each day. Essentially, HDR students would return to the days of undergrad, where we would have to compete for precious workspaces and computers.

It is rumoured that this model was already tried on the Faculty of the Professions immediately following the 2020/21 University close-down period. Staff were instructed to clean out their desks prior to 17 Dec shutdown date or have their belongings disposed of. Verbally, staff reported that there was to be no personal effects on the desks, and that staff were “encouraged” not to sit in the same desk for more than 2 days.

Workers in the Faculty of the Professions engaged in silent protest around these changes. The University did not actively pursue those who were rebelling, but have now turned their eyes on HDR students as their next guinea pigs for the “frAgile” workspaces. A survey was sent out to HDR students on the 8th of April, however many students have reported that they were completely unaware of the proposal and the survey. The survey closes on the 27th of April right after the university closure, which seems dubious at best.

....

These changes won’t just impact HDR students but their supervisors as well. Should HDR students be forced to stay home, it will reduce the opportunities for academic supervisors to have vital casual contact with their students. A simple “how are you?”, can’t even happen without a scheduled zoom meeting. Academic workload would increase as online meetings multiply because students cannot just drop in for a few quick questions.

The University Infrastructure Branch are framing this proposal as a potential financial saving strategy, with the ability to accommodate future growth. Does the University think staff and HDR student wellbeing is not worthy of expenditure? We as the Union must keep up the fight against this attack on our working conditions. We did that in professions, let’s not allow this to happen to HDR students.
Anonymous said…
Given that Education Minister Tudge has commissioned a review of teacher education it can only be hoped he is alerted to all that pertains to teacher education in the above posts. The School of Education may top the pops for its recruitment from the private school sector and for its overt concentration on things private school but given he is much concerned with Australia's decline in Pisa Rankings the School of Education will be hard pressed to explain to the Minister its concentration on the ephemera of Ipads, Podcasts, a the play way, mindfulness and other academic shenanigans while simultaneously being positively disdainful of exams and for academic and intellectual rigour.
Anonymous said…
Hell will freeze over before people will come to their senses. The Australian Dental Council publishes a disdainful report on postgraduate clinical programs and life goes on as usual in dentistry. The council will protect the education school. Wait patiently until the problem dies down.
Anonymous said…
Was it the Channel 7 expose that has lead to the seeming about face on Exams by the acting DVC? Will the School of Education still hold onto the notion that the unexamined life is worth living. With apologies to Plato. Perhaps Minister Tudge can give level 8 , 10 Pulteney a nudge or in fact a giant push.
Anonymous said…
The latest post on Overheard at Adelaide Uni- has someone let out the secret?
----------------------------------
I'll be honest, this university has become a complete dumpster fire all around. A degree would be worth less than a high school diploma
-----------------------------------

Can we expect more brand massaging after the VCs retreat with uni leaders or real change? Bullying and racist behaviour is still evident in the places mentioned in the posts above. The same old players harrassing staff and students. Enrol the overseas students and then after taking their money harrass them senseless till they withdraw. Some of the players mentioned above are nothing short of psychotic. In the outside world they would be sacked. Well they would not have been hired in the first place. Faculties take fright when a staff member suddenly dies as happened recently and think a day on wellness makes it all ok. What planet do these so called leaders and managers live on?
Anonymous said…
Well many in the Unis moaned and groaned on all matters connected with international students- language skills or lack thereof etc etc-while progressing up the academic greasy pole on the huge sums these students fees provided. One ex staffer in medicine who was involved in setting the fees for internationals in medicine remarked at the immorality of the fees and the enormous profits they generated. Along 10 Pulteney the fees have kept many schools afloat. But the awfully racist attitudes did not go away. No with the lack of internationals due to Covid these moaners and groaners won't have their cake and won't be able to eat it as well.
Anonymous said…
Plus there is more. How many of the 'survivors' from Covid induced academic departures have been more than willing and able to wack their name on their departed colleagues courses, units and research as soon as the colleagues were out the door and off Canvas? And appear all wise and all knowing to innocent and young students? How many of these academics were mentioned in despatches for good work and put up for awards all based on the life time work of others? And all the while they extolled the integrity of the academic work place while being hyper vigilant with making sure their students were subject to the all knowing eye of Turnitin? And they think a short course on academic integrity will solve the problem.
Anonymous said…
Well what does the School of Education do in the face of increasing demands for more attention to indigenous education in the curriculum? Only gets rid of the two persons of colour on the academic staff and replaces them with a white lady brought in from the outside. Another mate of McCallum!! This was after one of the departing staff queried whether there would be jobs available and was told definitely not. I wonder who will now claim to be indigenous as one current staffer has form in this area. In the 1950s Arthur Caldwell claimed two Wongs don't make a White. Seems this time 2 persons of colour do.
Anonymous said…
Some rumour going around that Adelaide is doing some comparative analysis of benefits of merging with Flinders or Uni of SA. The one left outside the tent will lose big time.
Anonymous said…
No need for a merger. Either Flinders or UniSA could simply acquire Adel Uni.
Anonymous said…
They could buy it on AfterPay using their iphone app.
Anonymous said…
Great to see Adelaide Uni in The Australian again today- albeit linked with Queensland University by virtue of the shared VC. What will the spin doctors make of this? But the common theme of ignoring what does not suit comes through and shows how universities just tough it out. Commercial companies have on line responders who make all the right noises when trouble arises. Adelaide makes all the right noises or else puts its head up its collective fundament.
Anonymous said…
Yes great to see highlighted Adelaide's decision to appoint another VC dismissive ov women. Have no confidence there will ever be ang consequences. There were nkne for Rathjen. In fact he got a payout and still has an AO. Give it time. He'll pop up on some Board somewhere.
Anonymous said…
The chancellor and some in the council are also like that. Rotten to the core.
Anonymous said…
Beware if you have spoken to an external consulting firm appointed and paid by university about sexual assault/harassment or "external investigation". Do NOT trust them. They will gaslight you and defend the university. Speak to them if you want to be hurt again.
Anonymous said…
Friday 21 May: Dr Joe Verco came to the main campus. He is a big doner - a lecture theatre is named after him. What did Richard Logan and Ben Kile tell him about appalling standards of postgraduate teaching in dentistry? It is the Australian Dental Council's fault that the school was denied accreditation in pediatric dentistry. No fault of their own - never their fault.
Anonymous said…
Not only did the dental school lose its paediatric accreditation, the Dean openly said there is no interest in perusing postgraduate paediatric dentistry training in the school. It is a terrible disappointment and is a clear indicator of the quality of management and planning within the school. Dr. Verco must be terribly disappointed.
Ben..... get your head out of the sand.
Anonymous said…
That is what happens when the university hires incompetent dentistry dean Logan and executive dean Kile. Disgusting. Should other specialist programs encounter the same fate as paediatric dentistry, they will let go of them. They do not care about the Australian Dental Council. Run down the school and when the ADC tries to restore some fairness, close the programs and problem solved. This was Logan's and Kile's vision all along? BEWARE they are ready to let go of BDS and BOH. You might hear it officially as Kile does not know the long-term future of the dental school. If Kile did not say it, he can refute this. Can you trust lying deans?
Anonymous said…
And in breaking news from the School of Education and as predicted above the School now has a staffer with form for claiming to be indigenous running workshops on Aboriginal Cultural Competency!! It seems black lives don't matter too much at the School of Education.
Anonymous said…
More evidence of the lack of credibility of Education Schools to be found in the response to the latest Mathematics Curriculum from real mathematicians. If you want to stuff up a discipline hand it over to the well being, engagement and ipad devotees. And at a time when the highest rating TV shows are Hard Quiz, Mastermind and Who Wants to be a Millionaire which are to do with actually KNOWING something as opposed to touchy feeling nonsense and soft skills 10 Pultney and Napier under its august leaders conduct a holy war on any form of assessment and evaluation worth its name. Then again Education Schools have for the past 30 years poured out sheer nonsense on learning to read and not learning to spell. So only natural they now turn to destroying mathematics in schools under the guise of relevance and happiness and playing with ipads.
Anonymous said…
Here is the link to the news item referred to above.

https://www.theage.com.au/education/confused-and-confusing-maths-experts-say-curriculum-is-faddish-and-shallow-20210602-p57xj3.html
Anonymous said…
Arts at UoA in four words: Corruption, Tyranny, Gagging, Fear.q
Anonymous said…
Notice we've had a few unadvertised academic appointments this year. How can this happen when jobs have been shed and we've taken a pay cut?
Anonymous said…
This initiative was pioneered in Education with the appointment of Barberi from St. Peter. it is to be hoped that it still pays to be private with these new appointments?
Anonymous said…
In relation to the Adelaide Dental School, Professor Kile recently released a statement celebrating the fact that the School was ranked 44th in the world. To put this into context previous Deans had worked hard to have the School ranked 27th in 2018 (up from 39th the previous year) and rapidly rising in the rankings. Since the departure of Professor Richards as Dean the School has slipped 17 places ... which is a change that it is hard to see as anything other than bitterly disappointing for everyone involved.
Anonymous said…
What kind of world class dental school is it that gets reprimanded by the Australian Dental Council for not meeting basic requirements like patient safety, teaching quality and staffing? It even refused accreditation to postgraduate paediatric program and put strict conditions on other postgraduate programs. The reason - sexual harassment and bullying and the dean turned a blind eye to it.

What type of world class dental school is it where Ben Kile and Richard Logan duo refuse to resurrect the troubled paediatric program and let other mediocre postgraduate programs slide downhill? The dean does not know if the undergraduate dental program will exist in 5 years.

So they hate the dental school and could not care less if it closed down, and then brag on about its international ranking.... What for? The ranking will good in their KPI... Fair dinkum.

When the international ranking will take a dive in a year or two, will the duo be still there to take the responsibility? You cannot always ride on the past reputation for too long.
Anonymous said…
The Dental School could try what Education has done . Appoint mates and people from St Peter's College and the Catholic sector and let them run the school and set the tone of the school. Take in international students but harrass them and force them to leave to the point that they are now telling their friends to go to the UK. And think that academic redemption is every person and their dog singing the Apple Song while strolling along with an Ipad. Dentistry may inflict more immediate pain on the world at large while Education is careful to avoid being contaminated with the under class of the non private school sector. White is already being measured for the HOD office insignia while McCallum enjoys a well earned rest on OSP. Still Palmer, itching for HOD, has got his own rewards for enabling the appointment of White over much better qualified candidates. Again it sure does pay to be private at Adelaide Education School.
Anonymous said…
Whites elevation to greatness as HOS has been a foregone conclusion. When do you ever see White and he is not with McCallum. Who else has a beaming studio photo on the Staff Display Board beaming out at all and sundry when other lesser mortals were instructed to have a pretty ordinary one taken on campus. Yes sure does pay to be private. And to make sure nothing of his past could come back and haunt him he quickly cut all ties on his personal web page with the College in North Terrace where he had previously cultivated his own interests. A touch of the John Donne about our White.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous June 9, 2021 at 11:18 PM said... "Notice we've had a few unadvertised academic appointments this year. How can this happen when jobs have been shed and we've taken a pay cut?"

These aren't the Chinese appointments in Chem Eng you're referring to?
Chairman Hoj at work.

Anonymous said…
Richard Logan wants to celebrate dental school's international ranking. How convenient to just forget about the ADC's scathing remarks. Shameless Kile and Logan!
Anonymous said…
Change the names and locale and this could be the school of education except the union is next to useless

https://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace/this-sbs-journalist-was-allegedly-bullied-harassed-then-sacked-now-she-s-fighting-back-20210618-p5826t.html


Anonymous said…
The University's response to the ICAC Commissioner's report has been released. High production values of the website are hopefully matched by the quality of the response.

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/icac-response/
Anonymous said…
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/icac-response/
Anonymous said…
So does this setting up of this Integrity Unit mean if individuals take the complaints detailed here about dentistry and education and the bullying and favouritism and complete lack of integrity in staff appointments, promotions and management matters will something be done? Will McCallum, Shaw, Kile and their hangers on in White, Bentley, Barbieri and co be called to account. Or is this more predictable PR Spin. Interestingly Mark Vaile resigned as Chancellor of Newcastle University over a conflict of interest. Oh that Branson would do the same here. And Hoyt's handling of matters at UQ don't give anyone hope for change. Just another PR exercise. But no doubt the management company got a hefty fee.
Anonymous said…
Didn't David Hill and Christine Locher promise that the university environment would improve a year ago? How can you believe anything will change? Do not trust the lip service. Does anyone believe leopards will change their spots?
Anonymous said…
So... Ben Kile completely discredits the damning union survey data showing rampant abuse of staff in the dental school. "There is no problem," he writes and "I have complete confidence in the dean (Logan)," he says again and again. The ADC refuses postgraduate accreditation to the paediatric dentistry because of Gue's harassment and bullying. Logan was Gue's supervisor and failed to do anything for a long long time. Now, just pull-out that program and it is no longer a headache for him or Logan. Meanwhile, continue to make his KPI look good by talking about the international ranking of the dental school, which will take a dive in a few years - just mark these words. So... Kile has not just failed to prevent bullying, but had encouraged Logan to keep going it and protected him all along the way. Will Kile and Logan ever apologize? Will Logan apologize to his past bullying behavior? Will he apologize to past staff for allowing nasty documents to be tabled about the Bachelor of Oral Health program? The university has done nothing about this. Will the Integrity Unit ever look into it? Hard to believe anything will ever improve..... Do not believe what they say. Otherwise you will get very very hurt along the process.
Anonymous said…
The Adelaide Uni is one ABC news https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-24/university-of-adelaide-issues-public-apology-to-sexual-assault-v/100241054

This has trigger twitter discussions. According to a respected advocate for better academia, the university's newly formed Integrity Unit, which is independent of the Human Resources, is a bit like Title IX offices in American universities. But far too often they collude with the HR and senior managers, and are not independent of the university. These offices have failed miserably in the US - look at what is happening with Kurin at the UCSB.

Do not think the Integrity Unit will be independent of the Adelaide managers.
Anonymous said…
If you read the report in full you might notice a few sideways mentions of bringing academic integrity under the umbrella of the new Integrity Unit. Nowhere does the report mention the name of the current Research Integrity office. Why might that be? Has it fulfilled its intended functions or has it operated like a black hole?
Anonymous said…
The Black Hole is where the university has put all the concerns raised above and where they threatened to put those who raise them!!!
Anonymous said…
The only thing surprising about that last comment is there were threats rather than action.
Anonymous said…
So the School of Education is holding A Review with an External Partners Workshop. Is this where the private school lobby led by carefully selected personnel from the inner CDBD and Hackney, Apple Aust, the Happiness and Wellness Brigade and perhaps the Papal Nuncio come along and sing the All is Good song? Can't imagine too many from the state schools there especially the northern suburbs and country schools or too many representing the Chinese students who with their fees help keep the School afloat. No another case of the very willing suspension of disbelief and create your own reality.
Anonymous said…
If you want to see the fact that nothing has changed looked at the appointment of new Assoc Dean of Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Arts. Heaven help the world of academe! Well at least now the pain will be shared right across the Faculty. And if you want to see the need for the Integrity Unit you may ask why students in Education are forced/conned to be part of staff research into happiness and well being so that staff can swell their CVs with more irrelevant and useless research far removed from the real world of teaching. And they wonder why the Government has not rushed to save universities during Covid. Why would they bother with things like the aforementioned.
Anonymous said…
Perhaps at the next staff bonding exercise under the headship of White the School of Ed could watch The History Man and Taking over the Asylum- all on their ipads of course. The two Exeter Grads on staff could provide critical commentary. After all Exeter is as good as Oxbridge- well in their dreams anyway.
Anonymous said…
With reference to the last post surely the series to watch would be A Very Peculiar Practice made in 1986 and 1988. Staff could annotate the series on their ipads with their ipencils. Then under the directorship of the elearning head could make their own imovie where they all role play parts for the Schools own version of a Very Peculiar Practice. Or Practices as is the case at Adelaide. They could also have some rousing bonding songs led by the gifted singers and musicians in the School. Bentley on piano and Westphalen on guitar. Could start off with Michael Rowe the Boat ashore, followed by Your So Vain,Ruby, and to add to the occasion some moving hymns such as Faith of our Fathers. Be a real bonding time with plenty of time to practice authentic assessment.
Anonymous said…
Will the School of Education and the University pay for the medical bills of students who suffer from RSI and related health issues from the mandated use of Ipads and obsession with technology in teaching no matter the cost? After all they are paying them for such related issues in their staff are they not and currently have claims from staff connected to the over use of technology in the teaching program. And it is not like the School and University were not alerted to this potential problem.
Anonymous said…
Check out this as proof it pays to be private as you looked at level 8, 10 Pulteney and its St Peters hires and White ensconced as HOD and his lapdog barking at his heels with his iPad strapped to his arm- usually literally!

https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-old-school-tie-has-lost-potency-but-a-private-education-still-opens-doors-20210706-p587az.html
Anonymous said…
Sure does pay to be private

https://www.theage.com.au/national/it-s-a-case-of-the-jabs-and-jab-nots-but-don-t-blame-joey-s-boys-20210707-p587ii.html
Anonymous said…
So the University is at long last to have its own Hunger Games with Arts and Professions to be combined and 100 jobs to go. They wonder why the new VC was lying low for so long- no doubt consulting with colleagues on these matters.

I bet it will sure pay to be private, Anglo, whiter than White, ipad infected and non coloured over in the School of Education . Also explains the putting into all sorts of 'essential' so called 'leadership roles' of certain of Faye's Faves so they are well protected.

If the Uni really wanted to save money it could close Learning Engagement and Enhancement and at the same time improve its academic credibility by getting rid of interfers and meddlers that populate such units.
Anonymous said…
So in among the news about the job cuts and restructuring is mention of increased philanthropy to help save Adelaide Uni. The 562 posts above and the ICAC Report plus the appalling way the university treats its hard working staff and students may suggest the rivers of gold will not happen. Then again perhaps the private school lobby and its enablers and Apple will jump in and all will be well.
Anonymous said…
Now The Hunger Games are on and there will be 3 Super Facilities with 3 Super Deans are the previous advocates who were supportive of VC Bebbington's attempts to do this dusting off their prepared speeches? Who can't fail to remember the impressive speech the Dean of Arts gave in support of this proposal at the public forum to discuss this. I guess the Uni workers can feel a round of executive perks and lurks being written into new job descriptions.
Anonymous said…
Who will be the winners from restructuring? The deans and executive deans who have completely mismanaged the schools, bullied staff or protected the bullies and harassers. Why? Because they deliver what the higher management wants, tick off their own KPIs and keep their bosses pleased.

Grassroot level staff will be the real losers.
Anonymous said…
The intended reshaping of the UofA reminds one of the selling of the blue blocks that were put in the men's urinals in the Faculty of the Professions and the Apple isation of the Ed School Curriculum by McCallum and Barberi. Both were done with the zeal of the Taliban but in the end the blue blocks in the men's urinals and the Ipadisation of the Curriculum were both not worth pissing on. The same will undoubtedly be true of the revamped and reshaped organisational structure of UoA.
Anonymous said…
The university wants to run workshops for all dentistry staff about respect and team building. Logan is overlooking this. F*** me. Isn't he the main problem (bully and supervisor of the harasser, Sam Gue) under Kile's watch? What a joke! As if anything good will come out of proven poor team builders and horrible leaders. So staff have to attend these workshops for all the bad things that Logan and Kile did.
Anonymous said…
If you want to be a leader at the University of Adelaide, bully and harass subordinates, sell your soul to the devil and be your superiors' lapdog. For all your nasty deeds, your superiors will protect you and run some team building workshops. ICAC reports come and go. The university will twist the trust and dodge it. There is no problem and "if they (grassroot level staff) do not like it, they can leave" - an infamous quote from a senior manager in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
Anonymous said…
To previous comments: how long will you have to spend on these team building exercises that will be run under the bully's and harasser's supervision? Oh, no problem if it will exceed the workload model and breach the Enterprise Agreement. The Health Sciences manager said repeatedly, "The workload model is just a guide". No, it is not. You are breaking the law and no one can do anything about it.
Anonymous said…
It is amazing how Sam Gue's supervisor at the Women's and Children's Hospital is not longer working there but his university supervisor, Richard Logan, is now overlooking the program to build the team that he has dismantled bit by bit over the last few years. You dismantle the school and then pretend to rebuild it. People can see right through this - the lies and gaslighting. Logan and Kile do not have the guts to apologize to the people whom they bullied and gaslighted. Amazing how such abuses can still go on like this and a team building workshop will fix it. What a lie.
Anonymous said…
Given that the Ed School had these caring and sharing workshops and outside investigations by NTEU nominated hacks and nothing happened except Fay and her Faves remained firmly in control and the appalling behaviour continued when Shaw and HR did sfa the Dental School may as well just give everyone a big dose of nitrous oxide and space out for a while. Because the Uni sure as hell will do nothing. The Dental School Alumni could of course decline to be part of the philanthropic drive to save the Uni as part of Chairman Hoyt and Chancellor Branson's new initiatives. Money or the lack thereof can be a powerful motivator.
Anonymous said…
Channel 9 just ran a fancy advertisement for University of Adelaide

2 Nobel Prize winners, Top 100 in Medicine Dentistry .....

How much money did they waste on this? How much are they spending on other television channels?

Oh I thought they did not have money to pay staff
Anonymous said…
No this advertising on Channel 9 is part of appealing to the UniSA Demographic in preparation for the merger. The Adelaide Establishment must be chocking on their bubbly that the Uni has had to appeal to the working class demographic and Tony's Tradies or Scomos yobbos via Channel Costello. Oh for the days when it meant something to come to the Uni of Adelaide where you could just mix with the right private school types.

Anonymous said…
For those who haven't it is worth reading OVERHEARD AT ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY Facebook to see the latest in the degradation of the academy by the new VC and his Management team. As one student said one way to help is to stop giving them money in the first place. And V. Masson's piece on the NTEU Adelaide Web Page is worth reading for its insightful analysis. About the only thing on the NTEU web page that is worth reading by the way. The rest is the usual inane politically correct rubbish.
Anonymous said…
And if you want to see how out of touch and basically useless is UofA- and it is not alone in that respect- compare the recent comments on Overheard about how useless graduates found their degrees with the effusive praise the DVC A has poured on recent grant winners. All on the most esoteric and brain dead of topics. And as the current pandemic has pointed out along with wage theft in universities students pay for teaching- most of it done on the cheap while out of touch grant winners are feted and supped by university management. Talk about a giant disjuncture. Grant winners are grinners and students are the losers. Well along with the overworked and demoralised who person (no sexist talk here) the teaching programme.

They wonder why federal ministers of education intervene in the grant award process and why unis were not given job support in the pandemic.

And look at what unis turn out. Matt Canavan has a honours degree from UQ in the dismal science of economics, Abbott is a Rhodes Scholar. And one could go on and on.Much to be said it seems for ignorance.
Anonymous said…
Want to see how the private school lobby run not only the School of Education but in fact the whole Uni of A then look no further on the post on Overheard at Adelaide Uni on the composition of Council and the plan to merge schools and faculties.
Anonymous said…
Faculty merger - funding cuts - redundancies - $10 million profit in 2020 despite a forecast for a massive loss

Is the VC getting a big bonus for making a $10 million profit or what?

Says a lot about the council and the bosses
Anonymous said…
Word on the campus last week is that the staff who will be let go have been identified by senior management . They just have to be notified. As a backdrop to this one of the infamous mentioned more than once in the above blogs did her best to talk some staff into taking the loads of ones she wanted to get rid of. When they were not willing to be part of this they did not have their contract renewed and were let go. Luckily they were able to find posts at other unis in Adelaide. And surprise surprise were replaced by mates of the HOS.
Anonymous said…
Given the School of Education divested itself of the only indigenous staffer/s and person/s of colour we can be sure who will and who won't be kept on there. More of the Adelaide Establishment looking after its own.
Anonymous said…
And with respect to the above post this news item would have to be of relevance- to the extent that the School of Education needs to look at itself.

https://www.theage.com.au/business/entrepreneurship/degrees-not-required-but-working-class-targets-miss-the-mark-20210910-p58qll.html
Anonymous said…
And what should be noted is what has been happening behind the scenes. Again people who have featured on the many blogs here have had their lackeys comb Facebook pages for any assorted moans and groans from students. Now. they have been mightily selective in how they have reacted. If you are one of the faves any adverse comments are ignored but if you are not one of the elect and in-group and get an adverse mention from disgruntled students you are called in and your courses and leadership roles are stripped from you and given to the faves. So you are then left vulnerable to being made redundant in the forthcoming Hunger Games. And on this score the current Review of the School of Education drew almost universal and highly critical submissions from almost the whole of the support and admin staff connected with the School. But of course these will be Whitewashed away. No pun intended there. Nothing came from any of the other recent reviews and inquiries so why would this latest one be anything other than a Tick the Box compliance and pat ourselves on the back exercise.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous @ September 12
This is how it works in many other schools, not just the Education. Can you trust any inquiry or the complaint handling process? If you believe in making ICAC complaint they will most likely be handed over to the university chancellor or vice-chancellor. Whenever the university has to investigate itself, it goes in not wanting to find anything wrong. Beware of "independent" external consultants who specialize in producing reports in favour of the university management for disability claims, injury claims, sexual harassment claims, bullying claims.
Anonymous said…
Published at https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-warning-to-students-in-archaeology.html

These strike a cord with the 580+ comments here.

"Anonymous said…
Very similar to today’s news about the FBI’s mishandling of Larry Nassar’s case, the spotlight on these cases justly shifts from the despicable individuals to the equally despicable institutions that put them there and then failed to act and protect the innocent.
Shame on UCSB. Shame on IFR. Their silence and coverups allowed this to continue for years. At least the FBI director publicly apologized to Nassar’s survivors.
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036968966/gymnasts-nassar-fbi-senate-hearing-simone-biles-aly-raisman-wray
September 15, 2021 at 6:37 PM


Anonymous said…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/sports/olympics/fbi-hearing-larry-nassar-biles-maroney.html

Simone Biles: “To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar, but I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,”
Senator Patrick Leahy: “A whole lot of people should be in prison,”
September 15, 2021 at 10:05 PM "
Anonymous said…
The review of Education School and what not ... is this part of the process to address the KPMG report and other "external" inquiries? The university has put this grant process into place, and somehow all the problems would have been managed in the final submission to you know who. And what will the credible management say? They will find no problem and the staff who complain are losing their minds so they must be sacked. The external body will accept the report with no question asked. When Independent becomes no longer independent....
Anonymous said…
There are complaints of the Title IX investigations in the US being ineffective against sexual harassment and abuse claims.

https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-warning-to-students-in-archaeology.html

At least they are better than in Adelaide. They literally do nothing in Adelaide. Gue harassed so many over nearly a decade and the higher university management (VC's team) did nothing. The external consultant who specializes in producing favourable reports for the university (and gets paid big bucks) helped to gaslight those who complained. Finally the investigation at the Women's and Children's Hospital got rid of him. Gue's supervisor at the university, Logan, did nothing about until the end and his boss, Kile, says he is doing a great job. Watch out, the senior management in VC's circle believes both of them are doing a great job and they will be the ones to be promoted?
Anonymous said…
The chancellor is known as a past retired judge and Human Rights Commissioner. Will the chancellor do anything about the problems highlighted in this blog? Or will they do everything in their power to say that the university has a clean record?

Has the chancellor done anything other than lip service to improve human rights record in the university? Oh, forgot, there is no problem.
Anonymous said…
And meanwhile down at the micro level of the class room cash strapped students , some of whom are homeless and are living on the streets- yes truly - can't afford to eat properly let alone find the cash for the compulsory iPad mandated for the School of Ed. And what is the reaction of the School. Oh we can arrange a personal loan for you. How completely out of touch are these people. But getting into bed with the giant tech that is Apple has enabled the Apple freaks in the School and the Uni to bask in the glory that an Apple Award brings. Never let the hype get in the way of an empowering and critical critical curriculum. Seems that swiping right or left is enough to graduate now.
Anonymous said…
And irony of all ironies they talk about catering for diversity- yes you can be technologically diverse as long as you have an Apple iPad. And yes you can learn in different ways as long as you follow the mandated purchase of the e version of the text. Don't dare mention the hard copy version. Ignore all the evidence there is on different learning and teaching styles. And yes we will talk about the special issues of first nation learners- after we got rid of those very same staff - and now the classes on this area will be taken by a White Anglo Saxon middle class presenter. Yes irony is an art form in the School of Education. Perhaps a bigger question might be who is getting incentives and of what sort for this sort of techno worship in the curriculum.
Anonymous said…
And for the latest trick with course and departmental reviews currently under way the people who get to speak to the Review Panels are carefully vetted by HODs and management. One HOD who gets a frequent mention here was quick to delete persons she did not approve of speaking to the Review Panel. Best keep it all among the private school lobby and the Apple devotees. No wonder the Education School Brands itself as an Apple School. Of course the Americanism does not readily translate to Australia- and there is another piece to be written there- but the Ed School sure acts like a school- bullying , favourites and favouritism.
Anonymous said…
Do not trust internal review panel. They go in with the intention of finding no problem and clearing the university's name. Who is allowed to speak to the review panel is irrelevant. The HOS can pick and choose who will give glorifying reviews and that is it. If it is an external review panel, they will find ways to speak to you (if you contact them). Meanwhile HOS like these are the ones who will prosper in senior management that is running a system that is rotten to the core. How is a lo level staff going to change it? If you do not want to be gaslighted, and if you care about your own health and happiness, give up and accept the new norm.
Anonymous said…
The upper and lower houses of the South Australian Parliament has stripped off ICAC's power to investigate maladministration and misconduct. The bill passes with flying colors.

This is what the ABC says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-24/sa-icac-bill-passing-fuels-debate/100489280

The bill, which was swiftly passed in Parliament last night, will reduce the powers of the state's ICAC, Ann Vanstone, so she can only investigate allegations of corruption and not misconduct or maladministration.

On Thursday, Ms Vanstone described the proceedings as "extraordinary", saying the jurisdiction to investigate corruption had been "decimated".

On Friday, Mr Lander also expressed strong opinions about the changes, saying he was as "horrified" about the legislation as Ms Vanstone was.

"I'm as horrified as she is by what the Parliament has done by passing this act," he told ABC Radio Adelaide.

"It's also designed to protect corrupt police officers — and it has that effect.

"It will also incidentally, because of the major changes that have been made, protect senior public officers who also are corrupt."
Anonymous said…
And given what happened to ICAC yesterday the advice above is probably correct. 590 blogs here about all matter of things and the leaders in the Mitchell Building have done not a jot to change the culture. From the Chancellor all the way down they have toughed it out and not one thing has changed. Well worse the key perpetrators have largely escaped unscathed or even climbed further up the academic pole. Ratjhen was unlucky. If the new trimmed ICAC was in place he may well have not ended up where he did. Such is fate.
Anonymous said…
Rathjen was a sacrificial lamb - no, a sacrificial goat. The senior managers are all like that and they never had any intention of changing anything. Because of the "whingers", they have had to carry out internal reviews. It costs money but will still feed the loyal external consultants who will produce glorying reports for them. So they pat on their own back and it is money well spent.
Anonymous said…

Sign a petition to protect jobs in Adelaide.

https://www.nteu.org.au/adelaide/stop_job_cuts

Virginie Masson writes

We are urgently contacting you about the proposed Organisational Sustainability Program (OSP).

Under this plan, Vice Chancellor Peter Høj and Senior Management propose to cut up to 130 FTE professional staff positions and an unknown number of academic staff.

They also plan to attempt a complex faculty merger, reducing us from five faculties to three.
Meanwhile staff workloads and stress levels are at an all-time high and trust in University leadership is at an all-time low.

Staff and students at the University will once again be severely impacted by these highly questionable management decisions.

If we are to maintain and build on our world-class research and teaching, then academic and professional staff require secure working conditions. We also need stability and trust in our leadership to work in the best interests of the University.

Under our Enterprise Agreement, redundancies can only be considered where work no longer exists. Under this plan, remaining staff will end up with unsustainable workloads.
As university staff and NTEU members we know that honest, evidence-based and democratic decision-making will guarantee a future for our University. There are many alternatives that could be pursued before forced redundancies.

We ask you to sign our petition that calls on the University of Adelaide to drop this proposal and commit to quality, accessible learning, teaching and research supported by fair, safe and secure working conditions.
• Stop the job cuts and mergers.
• Cut executive salaries.
• Challenge the false economy of reliance on external consultants.
• Stop out-sourcing our core business to external providers.
Anonymous said…
University management knows it is a very unpopular move, but fair for them. Who cares about staff welfare? Pocket big salaries for themselves and that is all that matters.

You can see the true colors of the chancellor, vice chancellor, deputy and executive deans, most deans, and not to forget about the council that is letting all this unfold.

After the Human Resources Director came into power some 15 years ago, the system has become impenetrable for the victims of bullying and sexual harassment and a safe haven for the prepetrators. Rathjen just ran out of his fortune.

Considering all the bullying, sexual harassment and gaslighting of victims, you can say with confidence that almost everyone in the senior leadership seems like Rathjen's clone.

Adelaide University = Rathjen University.
Anonymous said…
Who cares about Enterprise Agreement? Violating it means nothing to university leadership.

If the case goes to the federal court, the University's ironclad legal team and external consultants will jump in to protect the university's reputation. Oh, the university never does anything wrong or immoral.

Unless the union can up its defence team, what is the point of fighting for the right? Everyone should just give up. At least, save yourself from pain, trauma and humiliation of reliving the losing battle.

Even if 60-80% of staff say the move is bad, the university senior leadership cannot care less. Before you stand for what is right, ask yourself if you have an ironclad legal team first.
Anonymous said…
The NTEU as usual is full of hot air and not much else. As an aside look closely at the people who are to be let go. Anyone who dared speak up is having to apply for another position. A truly awful day for far too many good and decent people.
Anonymous said…
in NSW the state Premier resigns in the wake of an ICAC over allegations she helped mates. At Adelaide McCallum stacks the School of Education with her mates from the private school sector. She gets study leave, her protector in Shaw gets promoted to DVC and Mc callums mates prosper with promotions and preferable treatment. There would be rejoicing at Pulteney St over the gutting of the SA ICAC.
Anonymous said…
Same in the Health Sciences - just read the comments above. Logan is kept there for doing a bad job - failing to do anything about sexual harassment (as Gue's supervisor) and bullying.

Logan tried to force people who lacked clinical experience to supervise patient care. So this does not breach the national law? There are national laws - look at the AHPRA website. In a twist of fate, Logan is a key figure in AHPRA and you can disregard the national law as long as you are in the big boy's club.

Kile says Logan is doing a great job and the senior management is brushing everything under the carpet.

Who is Kile's supervisor? Some Deputy VC or Pro VC? The VC is next step up and then the Chancellor. Is it even a surprise?

Today the Deputy NSW Premier resigned. Politicians have a higher level of ethics than uni administrators. Sinking to a all time low with lip-service.
Anonymous said…
When scandals are exposed in politics, politicians resign. When scandals come to surface in universities, the perpetrators get a promotion and the bosses do everything in power to protect them and punish the whistle-blowers. Be good at lip service and you can get away with anything.