Charles Darwin boss steps down

Charles Darwin University (CDU) vice-chancellor Scott Bowman has quit his post with immediate effect amid outcry over an accreditation bungle that has engulfed the institution’s training arm.

In a statement, CDU said Bowman and the university’s executive council had agreed that it was in the institution’s “best interests” for him “to step aside at this time”.

“This decision will enable CDU to work through its current challenges and fulfil its responsibilities to students, staff and the Northern Territory community,” the statement says. “It is important that the focus remains firmly on the issues, and that efforts are galvanised to deliver quality training, teaching and research.”

Bowman’s contract was due to expire in April and he was reappointed to a second five-year term just last November, weeks after the university announced plans to establish a branch campus in London. In early February, CDU notched the best results of any Australian university in a staff wellbeing survey.

Since then, major problems have emerged in the dual-sector university’s TAFE training division, with hundreds of graduates ordered back to class after being incorrectly awarded certificates.

The ABC reported that the errors had affected some 135 carpentry apprentices and about 230 students in other fields. CDU TAFE chief executive Michael Hamilton had resigned as the Northern Territory’s education minister, Jo Hersey, demanded answers.

Bowman told the broadcaster that CDU had discovered “some elements of some units…weren’t really assessed properly. We’re completely focused now on getting this problem sorted out. There’s no two ways about it – this will impact the university’s reputation.”

Hersey reportedly wrote to Bowman expressing “profound disappointment” that she had only been notified eight weeks after the issue had initially been raised with her government’s vocational training overseer, Skills NT. She told radio station Mix 104.9 that she was “shocked and horrified”.

Hersey has also called on the national training regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (Asqa), to explain why it re-registered CDU last September without uncovering the “massive” accreditation failures, according to the NT Independent.

Bowman has taken immediate leave pending his formal departure. CDU provost Fiona Coulson has stepped in as acting vice-chancellor and will serve as interim boss for around six months following the formal end of Bowman’s term, as the university scouts for a substantive replacement.  

CDU chancellor Trevor Riley apologised to the students affected by the assessment errors, and noted Bowman’s “significant contribution” – including expanding the university’s “reach and impact”, and establishing the territory’s first medical programme – since taking the helm at CDU in 2021.

“In so many ways, Charles Darwin University is on a stronger footing because of Scott’s leadership,” Riley said. “These are not easy moments, and I want to acknowledge Scott’s grace in this decision and his commitment to CDU above all else.”

Bowman declined to comment to Times Higher Education. Asqa has been approached for comment.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com