"When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn"

Professor John Biggs' chapter demonstrates clearly how the history of cover-up and collusion at the  University of Newcastle has become its established way of operating.  Here is a sample of relevant quotes (emphasis added).

“The University of Newcastle faced many difficulties, and instead of admitting there were problems and endeavouring to correct them, generated poor public relations by appearing to refuse to admit that any problems existed, or that if they did, it was because of recalcitrant and difficult individuals outside — never inside — the Administration.”

“Two notorious cases, the Spautz Case and the Bayley-Jones Case, wasted millions of dollars in legal fees and settlements, both in and out of court, not to mention the incredible waste of man hours, stress and pain, for over a decade.”

“The damage caused by the University’s handling of just the Spautz and Bayley-Jones cases was colossal: to the people concerned, to the University’s own national and international reputation, to its finances, to staff morale and division amongst staff, to time-wasting, to the general functioning of the University as an educational institution. One could be forgiven for thinking that the Administration of the University of Newcastle was unable to get anything right, no matter who was Vice-Chancellor.”

“A culture of lying and cover-up had become endemic, resulting in 2003 in the University being investigated by the St. James Ethics Committee, over yet another plagiarism case.”

“The life of the University went on as usual, with Spautz, Bayley-Jones, the Rose incident (whereby a newly appointed professor left within weeks claiming he had been misled), the Academic Plan (which disadvantaged selected departments without prior consultation), the Rigged Failure Rates (another face-saving case where the University breached its own examination regulations) and other items on David Clark’s list to keep us amused.”

“I called an emergency meeting of Faculty Board. We passed two sets of resolutions for Senate to endorse: (1) expressing grave concern at the way the matter had been handled, especially the appalling lack of consultation, (2) requesting the proposals be withdrawn and alternatives explored.

Senate agreed with both resolutions by a large margin. The VC’s wrist was slapped for his nonconsultative modus operandi, and Council was asked to scrap the plan and go back to the drawing boards.”

“… here we’re looking at a whole string of things, and most follow the same pattern: a problem, a long period of indecision, then a sudden decision made by one or a few select senior administrators, with minimal consultation (least of all with those most affected), and little or no published rationale or case made. Such a style is the antithesis of everything a university is supposed to stand for. The essence of academic work is to arrive at the best approximation to truth or the best decision. So, you base a case on evidence and sound public argument; you invite criticism, not reject it as an impertinence.”

“… part of the tragedy is that universities must take much of the blame for this, in their refusal to listen to whistleblowers, and so to clean up their act.”

How is it possible that the University continues to act in the same way? - on-going cover-up and collusion rather than dealing with issues constructively.