Academic speaks out after ‘forced exit’ from Nanyang

An outspoken academic twice denied tenure is taking up a job at a Hong Kong university after saying he was forced to leave Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. After keeping silent during the debate over why he was denied tenure Cherian George, a former associate professor of journalism at NTU, has spoken for the first time about his high profile case, which appears to call into question Singapore’s commitment to academic freedom.

Pointedly referring to academic freedom in Hong Kong compared to restrictions in Singapore, George revealed in his personal blog that he had accepted the post of associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, known for its journalism department.

“I’m impressed by how Hong Kong academics, students and the public have succeeded in vigorously defending academic freedom,” George said.

A move to Hong Kong would allow him to interact “with its vibrant freedom of expression community. It was a bittersweet irony that, when I was forced to start searching, universities in Hong Kong welcomed me more warmly than did university administrators at home” in Singapore.

Denied tenure

George was denied tenure in Singapore on two separate occasions, despite strong recommendations from external reviewers.

In 2010 NTU blocked an attempt by the university’s school of journalism, the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, to renew George’s position as head of journalism. He was denied tenure again last year and his contract ended earlier this year, with no possibility of renewal.

Although many academics within Singapore and overseas had spoken out in his favour, George remained publicly silent about the circumstances surrounding what he now describes as his “forced exit” from NTU.

“Unfortunately, by opting to err on the side of discretion, I allowed some less informed opinions to propagate, including the truism that tenure decisions are increasingly rigorous and inherently subjective.

“It didn’t help that my employer issued this public statement about its general policy: ‘The tenure review process is purely a peer-driven academic exercise… The two equally important criteria are distinction in research and scholarship, and high quality teaching’.

“While this may be true in general, the process was not followed in my specific case,” George said.

Indistinguishable criteria

He noted that NTU’s official criteria for tenure are indistinguishable from its criteria for promotion to associate professor – “promotion and tenure go together. In 2009, I was promoted to associate professor. I was told I had met all the necessary criteria.”

“As for why the university took the exceptional step of withholding tenure from a faculty member who it decided had earned promotion, I will only say that I was assured categorically that this had nothing to do with my research and scholarship, teaching or service, and also not because I had conducted myself inappropriately in any way.

“Similarly, in 2010, no academic reasons were cited when the university leadership decided to turn down my school’s request to re-appoint me as head of journalism. When set against the facts of my case, my employer’s public statement that ‘all’ NTU faculty go through the same ‘purely’ peer-driven process is inaccurate.

“Fortunately, peers – including senior colleagues in NTU and the Wee Kim Wee School, external reviewers and others with knowledge of my case – spoke up for me. Thanks to them, foreign universities I dealt with subsequently could see past the cloud of controversy.

“Let me stress that NTU’s tenure decision was problematic not because my subjective opinion of myself differed from my employer’s academic appraisal of me... rather, the real issue was that my employer’s ultimate actions were inconsistent with its own positive assessment of my academic performance,” George said.

Support from deans

In April 2013 two former deans at NTU, Eddie Kuo and Ang Peng Hwa, had written to university President Bertil Andersson saying the controversy generated by the case was “unprecedented in the school’s history and one that is causing serious damage to academic reputation and professional integrity”.

They added that it had serious repercussions for the school’s ability to attract “top communication scholars” at a time when there were 10 faculty vacancies to fill.

“We are perplexed as to what exactly NTU expects of its staff in order to earn tenure. Those of us not yet tenured need to know: what more than Cherian do we have to do?” they said.