(file image) Photo: Facebook / Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff
A group of concerned alumni of the University of the South Pacific has called the institution's delay in releasing the outcomes of the 98th USP Council meeting, held in Rarotonga in late November, "totally unacceptable".
The group released a statement on Thursday, stating that the regional university's main decision-making body and support staff's failure to provide a timely update "to keep the Pacific Islands taxpayers and fee-paying students fully informed about important decisions…is becoming totally unacceptable".
"This is particularly so as the USP unions' strike action mandate is active," the statement read.
Earlier this week, there was speculation that the USP vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia, who has fallen out of favour with the staff unions, had stepped down from his role at the Rarotonga meeting.
However, the USP told RNZ Pacific that information about Professor Ahluwalia resigning was "inaccurate".
The university did not respond to RNZ Pacific's specific question on whether the VCP had resigned.
"The University of the South Pacific wishes to clarify that the allegations regarding events at the 98th Council meeting are inaccurate," a USP spokesperson said.
"The USP Council will issue an official statement on the outcomes of the meeting in due course."
Professor Pal Ahluwalia Photo: USP
But the USP alumni statement included a "summary of the major Council decisions", including the appointment of a new VCP as one of seven main outcomes of the two-day meeting in the Cook Islands.
"A new USP Visitor has also been appointed. He is Mr Daniel Fatiaki, former Chief Justice of Fiji and Vanuatu. He is an alumnus and Preliminary 2 graduate in the early 1970s.
"On the first day, VCP [Ahluwalia] indicated he would be stepping down from the VCP position."
The USP is jointly owned by 12 Pacific Island nations. New Zealand and Australia have been major development partners of the institution since its inception in in 1968, providing core funding for the university.