GMIT seeks new president to move on from cheating scandal

The new president of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) will be tasked with putting the educational facility’s embarrassing plagiarism scandal to bed but must do so on a smaller salary than their two predecessors.

Michael Carmody retired last month, a year early, after taking up the reigns in April 2011. Marion Coy retired in November 2010.

Secretary/Financial Cokd for five months while a permanent head was found to replace Ms Coy. Mr Carmody started out on the same pay scales of €156,630, but this was cut to €146,000 in line with the 2013 public sector pay cuts.

The Salthill academic was also on a defined benefit pension scheme and received expenses of €7,142 in 2013 alone, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post.

His job has been advertised this month on the same pay grade for a five-year term, with the successful applicant in charge of 7,000 students across five campuses in Galway and Mayo. The new president will play a pivotal role in the resdesignation of the GMIT, Letterkenny IT and IT Sligo as the Technological University for the West/North-West of Ireland in line with the National Strategy for Education to 2030.

“The Governing Body of GMIT is seeking to appoint an exceptional candidate with the capacity and vision to lead the Institute as President in this exciting and challenging stage of its development,” according to the ad.

“The successful candidate will be an inspiring and strategic leader with a proven track record of leadership and achievement at a senior level in business, industry, the public sector or higher education.”

What is not mentioned in the job spec is they will have to manage the legacy of the long-running plagiarism saga which still overshadows Galway’s second biggest education facility .

In an interview with the Galway City Tribune in March, Mr Carmody said he was confident that the independent external investigation – which cost almost €500,000 – got to the bottom of a serious incident of plagiarism at the college’s School of Business.

He stated that disciplinary action had been taken against a number of employees arising from the plagiarism report but would not outline the nature of the sanctions or the identity of those disciplined.

The investigation sought to establish the facts around an allegation that a lecturer facilitated a student, her partner, to cheat in an assignment. The external investigation was also charged with exposing whether the cheating incident was “suppressed, concealed or covered up” by staff. A split in the investigation team later led to one of the investigators being re-hired.

Mr Carmody said the two reports differ slightly, mostly in style but not substance. He reiterated GMIT’s commitment to publish both reports, albeit with many names redacted. That so far has not occurred.

President of NUIG Dr James Browne has dropped from a salary of €240,000 to €200,000 since he took office.

The president of University College Cork, Dr Michael Murphy, is paid €232,000. The president of the Dublin Institute of Technology had a salary drop from €189,474 to €175,877.