A university vice-chancellor involved in a disciplinary hearing chose to leave the institution through a “mutual separation agreement” instead.
Prof Henk de Jager, vice-chancellor of the Central University of Technology (CUT) in the Free State, officially left on Thursday – nine months before his five-year term could expire.
He was facing a charge of allegedly failing to act on a sexual complaint lodged by a staff member against another and was placed on precautionary suspension from November last year until March 11 this year.
He returned to work on March 12.
In a statement issued in November the council said he was being put on precautionary suspension “until a grievance-related inquiry has been completed in line with the university policies and procedure”.
The chairperson of the council, Matthew Rantso, told Sunday Times Daily that De Jager was undergoing the disciplinary process and “at some point he decided to exercise his right for a mutual termination which is in line with CUT’s policies”.
Our policy gives executives the right to extricate themselves from disciplinary processes if they feel the process is going to taint their professional reputation. It’s common practice.
“Our policy gives executives the right to extricate themselves from disciplinary processes if they feel the process is going to taint their professional reputation. It’s common practice.”
He said De Jager’s disciplinary hearing took place during March and April.
“The council wasn’t happy about how the matter [the grievance-related inquiry] was being handled, not necessarily by Prof De Jager, but it had reputational risk and so council assumed responsibility to mitigate the risk.”
He said they decided to investigate the complaint lodged by a staff member and the report recommended that De Jager face a disciplinary hearing.
He said he and De Jager were not allowed to disclose the details of the mutual separation agreement.
“We are parting very pleasantly. There was a farewell function for him on Thursday morning and the entire university community was there to bid him farewell.”
In a joint statement with De Jager, Rantso said: “Prof de Jager has served CUT admirably in his role as vice-chancellor under extraordinary challenges facing CUT and the sector. The CUT council is proud of his contributions, especially his sustained efforts in building external partnerships with government, business and industry.”
De Jager, who had been based at CUT since 2012 when he was deputy vice-chancellor for academic and research, was credited with increasing permanently appointed academic staff with doctorates to 40%.
He told Sunday Times Daily he did not resign but refused to disclose why he opted for a mutual separation agreement, saying he had signed a confidentiality agreement with the university’s council.
“All I can say is that I am leaving the institution with a clear name. There’s absolutely nothing against me and I’m not running away from anybody.”
Said De Jager: “I invite anybody to come and study the documents on what has happened on my performance and then make a sound judgement. I’m not an unethical person.”
He said in a statement that he “will always be thankful for the work we, as a collective, have achieved at CUT and the meaningful relationships that we have developed over the years”.
“I am optimistic that CUT will continue to impact the lives of all South Africans positively,” he said.
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