Chancellor of the UPNG interim council, Jeffrey Kennedy, says they were not aware of the appointment of Professor Frank Griffin as the Vice Chancellor.
“This is new information for the Interim Council and the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology,” Kennedy said in UPNG circular no. 646.
“I, as the Chancellor, only became aware of an alleged contract when I came across one being circulated in the social media! Whether it is genuine or backdated is anyone’s guess because the Interim Council has no copy of such an employment contract!
“Why has the suspended Council not complied with the Requirement under the University of Papua New Guinea Act 1983 (UPNG Act) and The Higher Education General Provision Act 2014 (Higher Education Act) for the appointment of the Vice Chancellor? These two legislation state in mandatory terms that the decision of the UPNG Council on the appointment of the Vice Chancellor shall be communicated to the National Executive Council for its endorsement, followed by publication in the National Gazettal before any contract of employment can be executed.
“No contracts can be executed unless this process is complete.
“Why has the suspended council failed to follow these steps? Other universities have followed this process except for UPNG. There is no excuse here! NASA (National Academic Staff Association) and its members have clearly been ill advised of these matters.
“Interim Council has requested a report on the status of the appointment of the Professor Griffin and such report is yet to be presented to the Council.
“The underlying question for the Interim Council is why no substantive appointments have been made for the position of the Vice Chancellor in the past three years. This is more alarming when the substantive appointments are in fact for a term of three years!”
NASA working committee member and head of anthropology, Dr Linus Digim’Rina, said Dr Griffin, an eminently qualified Papua New Guinean, was appointed through a “rigorous four-stage vetting process” which has involved all senior staff of the university requiring to assess, provide commentary and statistically rate the seven short-listed candidates on their presentation and qualification.
“Candidates of the vice chancellor’s post are of the highest order and are carefully selected on a merit-based appointment process established in 1965,” said Dr Digim’Rina.
“On record, this process has not failed the university and has ensured that UPNG gets the best person to be vice chancellor – since 1965.
“It is for this reason that NASA is asking why this process has been undermined by the Minister.”
The academic further pointed out the discrepancy between the University of Papua New Guinea Act 1983 (UPNG Act) and The Higher Education General Provision Act 2014 (Higher Education Act).
“That Act (Higher Education) is becoming a bit of a problem because it has suddenly given too much power to the Minister without proper scrutiny,” said Dr Digim’Rina.
“That Act really needs to be reviewed.”
Dr Digim’Rina further said the Higher Education Act has been quite problematic for other tertiary institutions as well.
(Chancellor of the UPNG interim council, Jeffrey Kennedy)