The ACOD education union has backed Ghent University rector Petra De Sutter’s plan to tighten recruitment procedures.
The union said that hiring for contract research staff and bursary-funded researchers should no longer be decided by a professor alone.
In a response to De Sutter’s proposals following the suspension of Nathan Cofnas, ACOD said this is currently the only staff category in which a single professor can make the hiring decision without a second person or a selection panel being involved.
According to the union, changing the procedure would help prevent individual senior academic staff from repeatedly selecting researchers “whose profile is highly problematic”.
ACOD also rejected the argument that additional oversight would restrict academic freedom.
“I know some people defend the current system in the name of academic freedom, but that is nonsense,” the union said, noting that professors and assistants are already recruited through a selection procedure.
De Sutter said earlier that she wants to examine whether candidates should in future be required to explicitly endorse Ghent University’s code of ethics before being hired, and whether the university should apply stricter scrutiny during recruitment.
