Investigators unhappy with level of co-operation in €400,000 GMIT probe

The investigators hired by Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) to probe a cheating incident at the college, and whether it was covered-up, are not happy with the level of co-operation of senior staff members, who were deemed key witnesses.

The investigation team alleges that “not all relevant correspondence and information relevant to the investigation has been disclosed” to them by GMIT. The team also claims that the investigation, which has cost well over €400,000, was “unnecessarily prolonged” because relevant files were not made available when they started the investigation in Spring 2011.

Extracts of the report of the investigation into plagiarism and possible cover-up reveal that one senior staff member declined to participate as a witness.

The investigation, carried out by Professor Bairbre Redmond of UCD and Mr Ed Madden of NUI Maynooth, was launched in March 2011 and took nearly 30 months to complete at a cost in excess of €400,000.

GMIT President, Michael Carmody, was furnished with the report nine months ago and has so far not published it. The investigation relates to incidents prior to his appointment.

The investigators allege that another senior staff member’s evidence was “at times contradictory, evasive and lacking in candour”.

The investigators claim that there wasn’t “full disclosure” of the incident to the GMIT Governing Body. They point out that a trade union was more in the loop about the case than the Governing Body, which, in theory, oversees the running of the institute.
The investigation team also alleges that GMIT gave information to the media – in response to queries from the Galway City Tribune – that was misleading, and potentially damaged the college’s reputation.

The investigators say emails of Ms Marion Coy, who was GMIT president when the incident occurred and story broke, were deleted. Mr Carmody, informed the investigation team that Ms Coy’s emails were “not available on the GMIT system”.

The investigators make it clear that the deleted emails “might be relevant” to their inquiries. They have recommended that Mr Carmody engages a suitable independent person or organisation to investigate the “deletion of Ms Coy’s email correspondence after she retired from the institute”.

The revelations are contained in extracts of the report of the investigation, obtained by the Galway City Tribune.

The incident under investigation involves a Masters student in the School of Business who obtained an instructor’s manual – which contained model answers to assessment questions – and used the material to cheat in 2009.

The instructor manual could have been legitimately accessible by academic staff online only and was protected by a password. It is alleged the password was passed by a lecturer to the student, who then graduated and is now teaching.

This is the fourth investigation into the incident. The external investigation, according to extracts of the report, appear to be focusing in on whether the incident was “suppressed, concealed or covered up” by staff during internal investigations.

The investigators say the issue would not have been made public without the Galway City Tribune. They say, “the matters at the heart of this investigation are unlikely to have come to light but for the questions raised by the media in late 2010”.

Last month GMIT said it “will not be making any further comment on the report or taking a decision on whether the report is to be published or otherwise until all matters arising from the report are completed.”

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.