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USP BETRAYAL: Craddock refuses to sign the apology letter, accuses Esther Williams and Heather Stadel of betrayal; Listen to the Audio Tape: "There was no mention of further action...I have broken no code rules"

30/6/2014

3 Comments

 
PictureStadel, HR chief!
Sunday 29th June

Dear Heather –

"I will not be signing the letter sent to me as I do not accept that I have broken any  codes, ethics or regulations except that I did not make it clear on the Media Release(MR) that it was my personal viewpoint.  However- I have issued many MRs in my media work here, which dates back to the early 1990s, and not one MR has ever been questioned by the USP except  this last one. Future media releases will be clearly identified as coming from myself. 

I stand by my view that the original MR was accurate, balanced and a response to items that were already in the news arena.

Before giving an interview to any media  I advise them that the views are my own. I  have followed the procedure during my many years at the USP and working for other NGOs and media. You and Dr. Williams betrayed me. We had an informal conversation. That is on audio tape, yours and mine. There was no mention of further action. That night the USP issued a strong and inaccurate statement. Next morning we met and I was asked to write a draft for the basis of a new media statement. I received no comment on the draft and then received your letter, which I consider a threatening statement. I acknowledged that  I signed that I read the code of ethics. I did not say I broke any.

I have issued a Media Release today. Ana will receive a copy. Pat
."


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Wadan Narsey: Some USP investigations quick off the mark but what about the resignations of Professors Susan Kelly and Biman Prasad? Answers demanded from Ikbal Janif, the chairman of the USP Council

PictureNarsey (top) and Janif (bottom)
Letters to the Editor, 30 June 2014

Dear Sir,

It is wonderful that USP management is so quick off the mark to investigate possible breaches of the USP code of conduct by two journalism lecturers, who merely gave their personal views to the media on continuing media censorship in Fiji, and military brutality in the past.

But so far, both USP management and the Chair of USP Council have refused to initiate any inquiries or make any public response whatsoever into two important issues concerning the performance of USP management, raised previously by the public through the media.

Both these issues concern transparency, good governance and accountability, which are all part of USP’s Mission and Vision statements, that an honest and effective USP Council, the ultimate governing body of USP, should demand from USP management.

First, can the Chairman of USP Council (Mr Ikbal Janif) inform the tax-payers of Fiji and the USP region, what exactly were the circumstances which led to the recent resignation of Professor Susan Kelly (Deputy Vice Chancellor at USP), at great financial cost to the University and taxpayers?

The second issue concerns talented and scarce regional academics leaving USP, clearly unwanted by the USP management.  The most recent case was Professor of Economics, Dr Biman Prasad, who was outstanding as Dean for several years, and in the opinion of most senior academic colleagues and sectional administrators at USP, eminently qualified, both academically and administratively,  to be appointed to the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor, for which he had unsuccessfully applied (I mean no disrespect to the appointed individual who has the good luck to be a beneficiary of the circumstances).

The USP Appointment Committee (of which Mr Ikbal Janif was also Chairman) was entitled to make its own judgment. But, as a tax payer and a former USP professor concerned about serious ongoing governance issues at USP, I wish to question if the final appointment committee meeting,  followed the basic principles of fairness and natural justice to Professor Biman Prasad.

(1) after six months of delay while Professor Prasad (and the applicants) were put through any number of interviews and tests, why was the appointment committee meeting not postponed for a few days, because the Chairman (Mr Jannif) was supposedly “ill-disposed” on that particular day of the final committee meeting?

(2) why was the meeting chaired by the Deputy Chair of Council, who was not on the original Appointments Committee, who was not present at the public presentations by the candidates, who was not part of the earlier interview processes, and who would therefore not have been in a position to judge the relative merits of the candidates?

(3) is it correct that at that last appointment committee meeting (at which there were two absentees), the same Acting Chairperson, supported by the Vice Chancellor, took an active role in pushing for the current appointee, who had nowhere near the academic or administrative qualifications of Professor Prasad, instead of letting the normal committee members make the decision?

Mr Janif  must be accountable to tax-payers both as Chair of the ultimate governing body, USP Council, and as Chairman of this particular Appointment Committee, which supposedly found Professor Biman Prasad’s application for the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor, inferior to that of the current appointee.

Can Mr Ikbal Janif, also a former Chairman of Transparency International Fiji, please personally enlighten the public on these two issues, answer the three questions raised above, and put into practice the principles of transparency and accountability, which USP management are often preaching to the Pacific taxpayers who “own” USP?

Professor Wadan Narsey
Suva



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3 Comments
Can USP investigate?
30/6/2014 04:05:56 am

Can USP investigate why Ashwin Raj is holding two jobs and paid double salary?
Can USP investigate why Ashwin Raj as MIDA chairperson is allowed to operate out of the VC’s office?
Can USP investigate why USP is using regional taxpayers funds to subsidise MIDA operations by way of paying for Ashwin Raj’s time spent doing MIDA work?
Can USP investigate murder-suicide of female USP student/husband and former journalism lecturer in love triangle?
Can USP investigate who covered up this scandal and why?
Can USP investigate how Jai Karan was appointed to marketing manager without post being advertised?
Can USP investigate how Angela Jokhan was appointed Associate Professor even though appointments committee rejected her application for lack of publications?
Can USP investigate how a drunken professor swore at fellow staff and a made a scene during an awards ceremony and no action whatsoever was taken?
Can USP investigate how a lucrative position was especially created for deputy vice-chancellor Esther Williams who should have retired by now?
Can USP investigate the conduct of its vice-chancellor Rajesh Chandra and and his deputy esther williams for their bullying, intimidating tactics?
Can USP investigate all the questionable and dubious promotions and appointments engineered by its vice-chancellor, Rajesh Chandra, from behind the scenes.
Can USP investigate all the policy breaches and breaches of the strategic plan by VC Rajesh Chandra?
Can USP investigate the steady erosion of the rights of staff members and their benefits engineered by its VC Rajesh Chandra?
Can USP investigate the decline in academic standards?
Can USP investigate the steadily deteriorating infrastructure due to lack of planning?
Can USP investigate the lack of resources for students?
Can USP investigate the top heavy, costly, unwieldily bureaucracy set up by its current VC to make his life easier at great cost to USP?
Can USP investigate the legal bills incurred by USP due to poor decision-making by VC Rajesh Chandra and deputy esther williams?
CAN USP COUNCIL FINALLY INVESTIGATE ITS VC PLEASE?

Reply
Culture of bullying at USP
30/6/2014 06:07:22 am

This is typical of the culture of bullying, intimidation, threats, and denial of staff rights that has taken hold at USP under the vice-chancellorship of Rajesh Chandra.

Reply
USP MAFIA
30/6/2014 06:58:14 pm

USP HR is screwed under Heather Stadel who is not up to the task. She has covered up many staff complaints related to bullying, intimidation and denial of staff privileges. Stadel just does VC Rajesh Chandra's bidding. Rajesh Chandra octopus like tentacles has USP in their grip. Vengeful Rajesh Chandra uses people like Esther Williams to settle scores. Wadan Narsey has exposed how Rajesh Chandra rigged the appointments committee for the deputy vice-chancellor to get rid of the top applicant, Biman Prasad. Rajesh Chandra has acted in the same manner in many other cases. All his talk about due process and procedures is hypocritical and deceitful. They are designed to deceive. Rajesh Chandra cunningly plays the system to his advantage. He uses it to punish and expel people he sees as rivals. An investigation into USP is long overdue.

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