Madam, - I read with interest and dismay John Downes's article "Fear and Loathing in UCC" (The Irish Times, September 28th). Unfortunately, as many in academia will concede, the article's evocation of injustice and bullying aggressive tactics is all too common an experience in third-level institutions, and is far from a "sideshow" (Grace Neville, September 30th).
In the public sector of the universities, where one might expect enlightenment and openness, there is growing evidence to suggest that workplace injustices of all kinds are not being adequately addressed. In this respect, the Minister of Education's pressure on third-level colleges to be more accountable to the taxpayer and to modernise their management structures (The Irish Times, February 17th) should present a challenge to those who believe the Universities Act of 1997 confers autonomous statutory responsibilities on universities in relation to their day-to-day management.
I would hope that the accountability the Minister entertains would extend to a review not just of working conditions in such institutions, but of the complaints procedures currently in operation. The taxpayer, who finances 82 per cent of university funding might well be appalled to learn that over €100,000 can readily be spent by such an institution on legal fees when disciplinary cases are taken outside of the internal structure, perhaps because the institution refuses mediation, or because the complainant or the alleged perpetrator feels the internal structures to be unjust.
Presumably Prof Fanning, to whom John Downes refers, fell into this later category, and , whatever the merits or demerits of his case, he believed (surely quite correctly) that he had a right to a fair and impartial hearing.
The figures for such legal fees should certainly be published. Such accountability might encourage universities to ensure that their investigations, at an internal level, are conducted fairly for all concerned. What obtains at present is a system of internal investigation which is overseen by academics who (a) do not have the necessary legal expertise to conduct such complex investigations (b) are a part of the institution and whose impartiality cannot, therefore, be guaranteed.
Certainly, there is clear evidence that there are huge and legally inexplicable discrepancies between the ways in which individuals are dealt with by internal investigations. Unfortunately, the fallibility of the internal system can also extend to the appointment of a visitor, to whom an appeal may be made after the outcome of a disciplinary hearing: under the statutes of at least one institution, the visitor is chosen from two names put forward by the Senate of the University to the Government.
Just as investigations into alleged Garda misbehaviour are now to be conducted by an Ombudsman Commission composed of people other than members of An Garda Síochána, so too should internal investigations in our universities be conducted by an outside body. - Yours, etc.,
Dr SARAH ALYN STACEY, FTCD, French Department, Trinity College, Dublin 2.