Turbulence at the top at UOW as HR boss, head of global strategy resign

An interim V-C will soon be appointed to lead the university until a permanent replacement for former V-C Patricia Davidson is found, with an appointment expected within weeks, University Chancellor Michael Still told the Mercury.

The university's Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Strategy Tony Travaglione is leaving after less than eight months in the job, after being employed last October to "advance UOW's global ambitions".

On Friday he left the board of UOW Global Enterprises, which earlier this year advanced its ambitions for a potential UOW campus in Saudi Arabia, drawing heavy criticism owing to the kingdom's human rights record.

UOW's Chief People and Culture Officer Joe Chalouhi has resigned after less than a year in his position, to "return to the corporate world".

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law Colin Picker is also leaving, to take up a deputy vice-chancellor position at RMIT University.

Acting V-C David Currow's temporary term was only until Monday. June 3; this will be extended until the interim is selected.

University Chancellor Mr Still told the Mercury the departures were not his doing, or an attempt to reset the institution's management following Professor Davidson's departure.

"I can guarantee you, they're not at all," he said.

"It's purely the management level.

"Yes, I have been investigating if you like, talking to as many people as I possibly can, all the way from senior politicians down to the students. I think that's just part of reading yourself into the role."

He said he did not know why Professor Travaglione was leaving, and Mr Chalouhi had received an attractive offer to return to the private sector.

"I can't explain Tony - I know none of that detail," he said. "That was purely at the management level."

V-C Davidson's departure

Professor Davidson had been the vice-chancellor for a little under three years and did not leave for another position elsewhere.

Some senior staff members have told the Mercury there was a "sigh of relief" when Professor Davidson's departure was announced, after a perception of too much power exercised from the top.

Professor Davidson had been carrying out a restructure across the university, with some specialist research centres or institutes dissolved and their work moved into faculties.

"At a university like this you should make use of your senior people and there's just a lack of consultation," one senior academic staff member said.

"We've [been] really concerned about the lack of vision and lack of strategy with regard to research."

Mr Still said neither he nor the University Council had asked Professor Davidson to leave.

"We sat around council and, with her advice and with her leading the discussion, moved to the point of there being the need for a regeneration of the strategic plan and the strategic planning process," he said.

"And what she realised was that this ... was going to take some time and would run to the end of her term.

"As I've said before, to somebody who was an exceptional chief executive ... that's not a good thing for the organisation. [She said] I'll stand aside now so that a new vice-chancellor can finish the strategic work and take it forward over the next five or seven years."

The Mercury sought comment through UOW from Professor Davidson.

Turnover at Global Strategy, COO

Professor Tony Travaglione started at UOW in October 2023, joining Wollongong from the University of Newcastle's wholly owned subsidiary based in Singapore, the Newcastle Australia Institute of Higher Education.

His appointment was announced last year by then senior deputy vice-chancellor Alex Frino, who himself was gone less than two months after Professor Travaglione started.

In December UOW would not give a reason for Professor Frino's departure despite several questions from the Mercury. On Friday Mr Still told the Mercury this was before his time as chancellor.

In human resources, Mr Chalouhi had replaced Michael Doran, who had been the chief people and culture officer for less than two years (on an interim basis).

The turnover was perhaps most acute last year in the seat of the Chief Operating Officer (COO), responsible for the university's operations and finances.

Former Macquarie Bank man Alan Corr came into the job as COO in November 2022 but was gone within four months for a job with global bank HSBC in Hong Kong.

Then vice-chancellor Patricia Davidson said Mr Corr had been "presented with another job opportunity more aligned with his career goals".

Mr Corr had replaced Cathy Duncan-Ross, who had left property developer LendLease to be the interim COO at UOW from June to November 2022.

Peter Janu, the UOW Golbal Enterprises executive director of commercial and legal, served as interim COO before Adam Malouf took the job in July 2023. He inherited the task of fixing UOW's $8 million underpayment of staff wages - a figure that was recently revised up, to $9.6 million.

Ms Duncan-Ross had replaced Damien Israel, whose three years in the position included the COVID-19 pandemic which drove a wrecking ball through the higher education sector.

Staff 'perturbed' by turbulence at top

The university last week reported a $95 million loss for the 2022-23 financial year.

Its annual report also identified a "staff wellbeing and progress" rating which slipped from 51 per cent to 48 per cent. (Ratings for graduate outcomes and student satisfaction improved.)

With multiple new high-level departures becoming known this week some staff are rattled, concerned about their job security, one staff member said.

"They are frustrated with a lack of information ... regarding why senior staff are being stripped of power before they promptly leave their roles."

The National Tertiary Education Union's UOW branch president Dr Andrew Whelan confirmed staff concerns.

"People are perturbed by these departures and by the fairly rapid succession of departures - and perturbed by them also in light of the annual report ... in which the university reported a fairly significant deficit, some of which is to do with this campus in Hong Kong," he said.

"And that perhaps there's some relationship between these departures, the reported deficit and [the] drop in revenue associated with restrictions on international students which are incoming."

The NTEU had concerns about who is in charge, with numerous "acting" positions.

"It feels like actually nobody is in charge," Dr Whelan said.

"There's a series of there's a kind of a chain reaction of, you know, somebody becomes acting whatever and then the people under them all step up or sideways and become acting something.

"And that actually now goes all the way down, so everyone is acting. My immediate boss is acting, their boss is the acting boss ... everyone is just somehow minding the shop.

"So it's very unsettled."

One senior academic was pleased to say Mr Still had been "very active in soliciting opinions from people both within the university and outside as to what's happened".

But he said there had been concerns about the number of high-level hires via direct appointment over recent years, rather than a broader recruitment process.

For a top job "you would put an open search and if your best person is internal, fantastic, if it's someone from overseas, fine," he said.

"But I've just seen a lot of appointments made here by direct appointment by the vice-chancellor and I don't think that's healthy."

Hard time to find a new V-C

The task of finding a replacement for Professor Davidson has been made harder by the fact five other Australian universities were looking for a new vice-chancellor at the same time.

Western University University last week took one candidate off the table, naming its new V-C as constitutional law professor George Williams.

Mr Still said it may take six months to find the best candidate for UOW.

"The process itself, to get it right, will take some months," he said.

"It might be achievable in four months or five months. I'm just saying six months or so is probably what it will take.

"We've got things to do - we can't go into a holding pattern.

"So an an interim V-C of some experience is the best route for the next six months."

UOW's desirability as a place to work will be vital for hiring a new vice-chancellor and also quality research, teaching and executive staff.

Mr Still was elected to the chancellor's position in December last year. In August 2023 the university's chancellor, Christine McLoughlin, announced she would be leaving after three years at the helm, saying it was hard to balance the job with her other corporate positions.

Ms McLoughlin was also chairman of bank and insurer Suncorp, director of hearing aid maker Cochlear, and chairman of the Minerva Network of businesswoman who mentor and support women in the business of sport.

The $95 million loss UOW reported was significantly affected by a $44 million writedown in the value of its Hong Kong campus, and an Australian Tax Office decision which reversed $25 million in franking credits (and is being challenged).

Do you know more? Email blangford@illawarramercury.com.au