University of the South Pacific (USP) Council members meeting in Cook Islands in late November heard Vice Chancellor and President (VCP) Pal Ahluwalia state his intention to resign, and that he wanted to negotiate the package and terms of his resignation.
Professor Ahluwalia’s leadership of the University has been plagued by controversy, culminating in a strike by the Association of USP Staff and USP Staff Union, calling for his resignation or removal in October.
USP says it has not received any official resignation from the Vice Chancellor in response to questions from Islands Business.
A media release issued by USP noted that Professor Ahluwalia referenced the new Solomon Islands campus of USP, and USP’s ascension by 200 places in the 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, as evidence of its strong performance in 2024 in his report to Council.
In the only reference to the dispute between USP management and the staff unions, the VCP noted that discussions were ongoing and being conducted in good faith.
However, three former and current USP staff members, Professor Vijay Naidu, Elizabeth Reade Fong and Morgan Tuimaleali’ifano, have since written that if Professor Ahluwalia does depart, “it is vital that the USP Council and Senate revert to the criteria used in the past to shortlist and appoint VCs. Eligible candidates must have Pacific work and/ or research experience. The criterion that only a professor can be appointed should be removed for two reasons: first, USP’s experience with recent professorial appointments has been disastrous; and second, it closes the door on potential Pasifika candidates. The two best VCs from the region were the late Mr Esekia Solofa and the late Mr Savenaca Siwatibau. One need not necessarily be an academic to be a good VC.”
They note that “several courses and programmes at USP have either been canned or are in crisis because of the flight of good staff and failure to replace them. The former flagship Governance programme is dead, and Development Studies is dying. Other disciplines such as Agricultural Science, Marine Studies, History, Sociology, Geospatial Science, Population Studies and Demography, and Pacific Studies, are in crisis. USP Press is dead, and the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture is fading away.
“Among staff who have resigned and left are some very good regional staff. USP under the present VC has failed to provide an enabling environment for the advancement of qualified younger regional academic staff, and has shown little interest in retaining more senior regional staff.
They suggest the convening of a USP Futures Conference to “bring together new ideas and strategies to plan the best way forward to regain its premier status”.
