The University of Canberra will launch an independent inquiry into allegations Chinese students were given pass marks despite failing a journalism unit because of poor English language skills.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Vice-chancellor Stephen Parker returned early from overseas on Tuesday to deal with several issues - including the fallout from the university asking five investigative journalism students to withdraw Freedom of Information requests into cuts to the journalism course and financial details of the Brumbies sponsorship deal. Professor Parker said he would not intervene in changes to the journalism course but would examine the way staff handled the FoI requests and was preparing to call in an independent investigator over the Chinese student marks because ''I am concerned how these allegations might undermine our reputation''.
Meanwhile, the dean of arts and design, Lyndon Anderson, assured all five students involved in submitting FoI requests that they would not face any disciplinary action as a result.
One of the students involved, Lauren Ingram, went public with her concerns at being asked to withdraw her FoI request, saying she had been threatened with disciplinary action arising from breaching the university's ethics code.
Ms Ingram is scheduled to meet Professor Anderson later this week and said yesterday that she wanted a assurance from him that she would not be personally affected by the negative publicity her story has attracted.
Professor Anderson said: ''I know this has been a very stressful time for Lauren and I want to assure her no disciplinary action is being considered whatsoever''.
He noted that the university had complied fully with the FoI requests - with four of the five requests now answered and the fifth, which asks for details of the Brumbies sponsorship deal, still being compiled because of commercial-in-confidence considerations.
Professor Parker, who will address the university community in one of his regular bi-monthly staff meetings tomorrow said it had been a difficult two weeks for UC.
''What I need to do now is make sure proper processes have been followed.''
The incident with the Chinese students happened two years ago, but emails between the tutor and journalism lecturer and former Canberra Times editor Crispin Hull were leaked to the media last week.
Professor Parker noted the tutor had since left the university.
The university attempted to find the email exchange on its back-up server yesterday but last night believed it had been an exchange on private email accounts.
Professor Parker expected once the emails were obtained he would ''appoint someone independently to look at them, investigate and advise us''.
The students involved were Chinese students from Shanghai University of Sport who were undertaking part of a sports media degree within the faculty of health.
They were spending two of their four years of study at the UC - which has an articulation arrangement with the Shanghai University - before returning to live and work in China.
Mr Hull asked the tutor in 2010 to pass the students, despite their language difficulties, because they would not be practising journalism in Australia. He did not wish to add anything to what the UC said yesterday. Professor Anderson said the investigation would examine ''all of the assessable outcomes in that unit.''
''By no means is it an open and shut case. All of our journalism students need to be able to demonstrate high skills in audio, visual, production and written journalism. And if they are practising in Australia then quite clearly they need to have higher than average English skills. But if they are going to practise in another country and have all those other skills, it may well be the case that they can practise high-quality journalism in Chinese.''