NTEU demands public review about commercial activities at CQU
7 July 2006
NTEU is aware that the Central Queensland University (CQU) Council is shortly to discuss proposals about to alter the relationship between the university and a large corporate operation. We think it is possible that the changes will reduce the control that the university has over its degrees and will profit private interests. We are also alarmed at what we think is plausible evidence that potential conflicts of interest may well arise for some of the members of CQU Council and Executive.
NTEU believes that the University Council is failing to ensure that open and public discussion is occurring about these major changes. As such, we believe that Council is not fulfilling its duty to the Central Queensland community and to university staff and students. We are calling on the Queensland Minister for Education to establish a public inquiry into the governance of the university and its relationship with commercial partners.
Around half of the students enrolled in CQU degrees are actually studying on campuses in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that are run by a private company. There are serious concerns about the adequacy of the control and governance of these campuses by the public university and of the capacity of the Council and senior officers of the university to ensure that the courses are of the highest scholarly content.
Many issues are raised in the damming report of CQU by the Australian University Quality Agency. The audit states that “a number of academic standards leave room for improvement” and questions whether or not CQU is meeting the National Protocols set for Australian universities. AUQA links these academic issues to what it believes is insufficient governance by the University over the joint company that operates the campuses in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
NTEU is particularly concerned about what seems to us to be the potential for conflicts of interest in the relationship between CQU and its private partner. Some of these issues have been raised in a recent article in The Australian that documents close personal relations between the Vice-Chancellor and the owner of the Campus Group Holdings that is the half owner of the metropolitan campuses. The Australian also, like AUQA, refers to “possible conflicts of interest on the CMS board”.
The CMS Board has four members – two of whom are from the CQU Council. The 2005 Financial Statement for CQU shows that two members of CQU Council are in receipt of quite substantial remuneration as what appear to be Director’s fees from the commercial company. In one case in 2005, this was over $90,000. The NTEU believes that this could also be a conflict of interest – especially since the Directors, in their capacity as members of CQU Council, will shortly be asked to consider plans to boost the private operation.
It is well known that CQU Council is shortly to consider a major proposal to alter the arrangement between CQU and its private partner. There have been strong rumours for most of this year that some kind of public float is being considered and the union wants assurances that the public equity will not be diminished and that we are not going to see privatising of profits.
The Vice-Chancellor is quoted as saying that it is not a listing on the Stock Exchange but " more a case of extending the relationship we have [with our private partner]." It appears to NTEU that a very substantial extension of the relationship is being contemplated. NTEU officers have seen a number of recent references to an organisation called Global Campus Management including a briefing by the owner of Campus Group to some CQU staff about where they would fit, along with a private language college, a New Zealand operation and a United States University.
We understand that members of Council have been required to sign a confidentiality agreement before being given any details of the proposal. NTEU believes that this will prevent the kind of debate that should occur in the community and the university about these matters. We are also aware that the Queensland Minister of Education has stated some concerns to the Council and the Vice-Chancellor and we strongly support the Minister’s request for transparency and probity.
For comments
Dr Howard Guille
Queensland Secretary 07-3846-2355 or 0419-673-092