Case Analysis of The Newcastle University Plagiarism Scandal

1. The Newcastle University Plagiarism Scandal
SMU MBA Elective: Managing Reputation and its Risks
Professor: Dr. Michael Netzley
Sarah GOH | LEE Wan Ming | Robin Low

2. Main issues
• Cover-up by the senior management despite whistle-blowing
• Violation of Newcastle University's disciplined policies and its credibility
compromised
• Double standards: lowering of standards to pander to full fee-paying
foreign students (cash cows)
• The university’s original charter compromised
• The more important issue at hand (beyond
the reputation of Newcastle): the credibility
of Australia’s tertiary education system,
hence the early involvement of the
Education Ministry

3. Newcastle University’s Constituencies
& Their Attitudes
Constituencies Attitude about Plagiarism Attitude about Newcastle
Staff of Newcastle (academic and • They have more at stake as this • Outrage over the staff who are at
non-academic) will tarnish their profession fault (“the black sheep”)
• However, there will be some who • Loss of trust in Newcastle’s
do not care as they would wish to management as the school policy is
protect their cash cows or simply not being enforced
do not wish to put in more work to • Deeply concerned as this will affect
check for plagiarism their careers as the school will have
• This may be a wake-up call to set a bad name thereafter
the process right
Student Body (including Alumni) & • There will be those who do not care • Outrage over students and the
Parents about plagiarism as their sole school officials who are at fault
objective is just to graduate • Loss of trust in Newcastle’s
• The majority of the students, their management as the school policy is
parents and the alumni will be not being enforced
concerned about the reputation and
prestige of the school if plagiarism
is not clamped down?

4. Constituencies (cont’d)
Other Australian Universities • Other Australian Universities who • The Australian universities and
(including their students and alumni) hold the same practice would not their students/alumni would be
& University Partners in other wish for others to rock the boat but upset about Newcastle’s behavior
countries remain status quo as this would affect the overall
• They would want to protect their reputation of the Australian
cash cows as well education system
• The good universities would like a • The University Partners would be
revamp of the Australia education concerned but they have recourse
system to improve its reputation to find other partners should the
and increase credibility partnership with Newcastle fallout
after the investigation
Ministry of Education, Science & • Holds a firm stand on this to uphold • If the allegations proved to be true,
Training (Education Ministry) the reputation of the Australian they would feel outraged over
education system Newcastle’s behavior as it is a
• They would require more breach of their charter as a
accountability from the universities university
ICAC • The issue is on breach of trust of • With the pending investigations,
the school academics and they may be doubtful over the
management (since many integrity of Newcastle’s
universities are funded in part by management.
the government)
• They would require more
accountability from the universities

5. Constituencies (cont’d)
General Public • May hold diverse views • Some may feel outraged
• Some may view it as insignificant • Others may just feel indifferent
as they do not fully appreciate the
value of intellectual property
• Some may lose faith in the
academics who are supposed to
uphold integrity
Media • They may view the issue as • Interest in the school is stirred up
something of news value as this as they can create more news from
involves greed in the public service the pending investigation
– the conflict between upholding • They would want to interview the
the charter of the university and different officials or students from
protecting their cash cows Newcastle to find out about their
• Attention is drawn to the lucrative school policy
business of export education which
makes up A$5.2 billion a year,
growing at a year-on-year rate of
15%-20%

6. Organization: Newcastle University
Newcastle University’s expectations on each constituency
All constituencies
• Affirm university’s position that it does not condone any form of plagiarism
• Be reminded of and clear on its existing policy governing plagiarism
Whichever way ICAC rules on its investigations, be advised that:
• The university will accept the investigation findings
• It will review its policy on plagiarism to see if the policy needs revision to be more well-defined
and robust
• It will establish a whistle-blowing policy allowing anyone to report a case of plagiarism or one
that has been improperly handled directly to the chairperson of the academic discipline
committee
• Be reminded of the university’s strong academic standing, as well as its long and rich history
• Be advised of its renewed commitment to stay true to its education and research charter
• Be advised that it will take concrete action against any individual(s) found to have handled the
plagiarism case improperly
• To forgive it for any possible mishandling of the plagiarism case, depending on the ICAC
investigation results

7. Organization (cont’d)
Additional expectations of the Education Ministry
• To audit the university’s internal systems put in place to detect and handle cases of
plagiarism
• To provide stewardship in enhancing and protecting the reputation of higher education in
Australia:
- Include academic integrity as part of the criteria in university rankings
- Provide authoritative guidelines on the detection and handling of plagiarism
- Penalize any serious infraction of guidelines by cutting future funding
Additional expectations of the Media
• To grant the university a fair hearing on the plagiarism case
• To report objectively on the facts of the plagiarism case as revealed by the ICAC
investigation and comment objectively on them
• To respect the finality of the ICAC investigation and not approach any member of the
university and its affiliates for any additional information
• Not to paint the higher education industry in Australia in a negative light

8. Organization (cont’d)
Newcastle’s resources
Reputation and Academic Standing
• The university should allude to its existing good reputation and academic standing in its
response to its constituencies
Time (unavailable)
• The incident occurred in Jan 2003; remarking was discovered by Ian Firns a month later.
The university's investigation started on 14 Mar; a complaint was formally lodged with
ICAC in early Aug. Newcastle had wasted almost seven months in dealing with a
seemingly small case of plagiarism without any satisfactory results. Time was no longer on
their side when issuing a public statement to an extended group of stakeholders; the
school needed to counter the dangling allegations made on air by Ian Firns and Brendan
Nelson (Australian’s Education Minister)

9. Organization (cont’d)
Newcastle’s reputation post-controversy
• Newcastle has always had a good reputation as one of Australia’s top research
universities
• Its reputation has somewhat been compromised as a result of this plagiarism incident
• However, we believe that it is still highly recoverable, especially since ICAC has not
published the results of its investigation
• The university needs to take advantage of the narrow opportunity between the airing of the
Sunday program and release of the ICAC investigation results to respond to allegations of
sidelining of this plagiarism case, position itself correctly and pre-empt the investigation
results

10. Newcastle University's messages
Primary spokesperson: Roger Holmes
• Holmes’ seniority as vice-chancellor and President of the school mirrors the emphasis
the university places on the issue
Message strategy: Mortification, then ingratiation
• Mortification: A problem-solving mechanism, with Newcastle
being a part of a future solution. Creates acceptance of the
lapse between disciplinary action and policies; regardless of
the results of the ICAC investigation
- The university has mechanisms in place for solving the
plagiarism scandal and preventing a future case.
- Newcastle will set up an academic discipline committee made
up of the heads of the various schools within the university.
This committee will handle all future efforts by the university to
monitor, curb and handle cases of plagiarism. Brian English to
head this committee and he is to liaise with the Ministry of
Education on audit and other plagiarism matters, as well as
adopt best practices
• Ingratiation: Attempts to re-gain public approval and
willingness to cooperate with ICAC investigation and Education
Ministry

11. Messages (cont’d)
Internal vs external stakeholders: Tailored messages for different parties involved
• Internal stakeholders include academic (professors) and non-academic staff, local
partners, as well as the student body
- Academic staff: to be informed of the communication plan and the simplified key
messages. To advise their students not to speak to the media but instead direct all media
queries to Roger Holmes & team. Likewise, the academic staff to refrain from speaking to
the external media and channel all media to Holmes & team
- Non-academic staff and student body: to be assured that internal review process in
motion and to direct all media queries to Holmes & team
• External stakeholders include the media and general public etc.
- Mortification, then ingratiation. The commitment from the highest level of management to
work with authorities to review into the university policy, regardless official findings, in
order to improve and set best practices

12. Messages (cont’d)
Communications plan and timeline
• Sunday program: Roger Holmes to be the key spokesperson representing Newcastle and to
respond to comments by Brendan Nelson
- Express regret that there had been inconsistencies in discipline and policy; assure that
Newcastle had internal processes in place
- Assure that local partners also operate within the confines of the university policy
- 100% cooperation with ICAC and acknowledge accountability to the findings
- Acknowledge the need to review and update the policy, adopt best practices with guidance
from authorities or experts, eg. Education Ministry, regardless the results of ICAC investigation
- Future whistle-blowers and similar cases to be treated with due attention and the formation of
an academic discipline committee to handle them
• Press conference and media release: To follow the interview on Sunday with Holmes as the
primary spokesperson, English to attend the conference as well
- Key messages as above
- English to briefly discuss objectives of the internal academic discipline committee as well
• Post-ICAC investigation: The platforms to be determined in the future, but regardless,
Holmes and English to report on the progress on the internal committee and highlight
improvements in the internal processes

13. Thank you
by Sarah GOH | LEE Wan Ming | Robin Low