By MATT NICHOLLS
FORMER University of New England vice-chancellor Jim Barber said he was shocked to learn of chief operating officer David Cushway’s sacking.
Professor Barber, who stood down from his position in February, said in his time working with Mr Cushway there were no performance-related issues that would see him dismissed.
“I didn’t know it was coming and was surprised when I heard,” he said.
“We spent 12 months working together and in that time there were no issues.”
Professor Barber, who has returned home to country Victoria, said he still harboured a love for UNE and was concerned about the university.
“It’s never good to have instablity at the top,” he said.
“This kind of thing does happen in the public sector though when you have a change of leadership.”
Professor Barber said he had “great respect” for Annabelle Duncan, who is the interim vice-chancellor until the recruitment process is completed for his replacement.
“Annabelle is a capable and strong leader and I can only assume she had her reasons (for sacking Cushway),” he said.
The former vice-chancellor told The Australian last week he quit his position because he was conflicted between his vision for higher education and the needs of UNE.
“UNE was terrific, the council and others really tried to support initiatives, but I knew there was a limit to how far I could go,” he said.
“(In theory) you really could jettison UNE’s entire on-campus operation, get rid of enormous cost and run a fairly lucrative (online) operation.
“But the sort of damage that does to the (Armidale) region for the foreseeable future is unconscionable.”
