Cambridge to hold another review after losing tribunal

The University of Cambridge has announced the launch of a second independent inquiry in the space of a week, as the institution faces mounting pressure over its recruitment and institutional practices.

After calling a review into the appointment of Jason Arday, who has been accused of academic plagiarism, the university has said it will launch a separate inquiry into how it handled bullying allegations made by a whistleblower.

This case came to a head this week when a tribunal upheld complaints by astrophysics professor Wyn Evans that he was victimised after raising concerns about the treatment of female staff members within the university’s Institute of Astronomy.

The tribunal found a “clear pattern of trying to shut down” allegations of bullying made by Evans, in a bid to “protect the university from any possible damage”.

Deborah Prentice, vice-chancellor of Cambridge, whose handling of the matter was criticised by the tribunal, said the university needed to “look very hard at the judgment, its findings, and what went wrong”, and said that the university council’s deputy chair and the council audit committee will establish the terms of an independent review of relevant university processes.

She outlined that the outcome will be reported directly to the university council, and “will operate independently of, but alongside, the investigation into the circumstances around Jason Arday’s appointment and time at Cambridge”. 

The review will also contain an audit of its HR procedures following “calls from some members of our community”. 

It is the second time in the space of a few days that Prentice has written to staff in what has been a difficult week for the vice-chancellor.

In her latest letter, she reiterated her acknowledgement that there is “real anger and anxiety” around the “damaging and difficult” Arday case, stressing that recent weeks have “demonstrated the clear need for improvement at Cambridge”.

“Fairness, meritocracy and the freedom to raise concerns are vital to any organisation,” she writes, adding that standards of academic excellence have been a “core principle at Cambridge for many centuries”.

“I arrived in this role three years ago and inherited a number of complex issues. To deal with these issues, institutional change is required to improve and modernise our structures. I am fully committed to implementing the changes necessary.”

Prentice said she will use her position to “drive forward the required changes”, and to ensure that concerns are “assessed thoroughly and independently, and that we can learn from them and make the necessary changes”.

“Our aim must be clear: a Cambridge in which academic excellence, merit, fairness and due process are not simply principles we affirm, but standards that are consistently reflected in how we make decisions and how we treat our people,” she writes.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com