Troubles escalate at ‘dream’ research university

It was supposed to become Ecuador’s dream research university – an international hub for science and higher education, able to recruit top talent from around the world. Instead, six-year-old Yachay Tech University, nestled in the mountains two hours north of Quito, has long been mired in conflicts. Now, Ecuador’s economic woes and shifting politics have stirred new turmoil that threatens the university’s drive for ‘independent’ status, which would allow it to run its own affairs, write Lindzi Wessel and Rodrigo Pérez Ortega for Science Magazine.

The past year, dozens of professors were fired or left because of salary reductions or alleged mistreatment, and those who remain have had to work extra shifts. The departures have left students struggling to enrol in courses or find thesis advisers, they say. On 13 October, Ecuador’s Higher Education Council (CES) ordered the university to file a “clear and accurate report” within 10 days answering complaints and inquiries from two professors and a group of students. They allege the university’s administration has violated professors’ rights and made long-term decisions with little transparency.

The turmoil – which follows a previous spate of firings in 2017 – comes at a sensitive time. In Ecuador, new universities are established by the government but must go through a process called institutionalisation, which includes awarding tenure to some faculty and democratically electing university leadership. Given the current chaos, Yachay Tech will almost certainly miss the 31 December deadline for doing so, sources say.
Full report on the Science site