In February 2021, the University of the South Pacific (USP) was plunged into crisis when Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia was unceremoniously thrown out of Fiji following a middle-of-the-night raid on his campus residence, accused by the then Fijian government of Voreqe Bainimarama of breaching the country’s immigration laws.
Within months of taking up the job in 2019, a bombshell report by Ahluwalia had alleged widespread financial mismanagement within the university under former administrations. It triggered an independent investigation by New Zealand-based accounting firm, BDO and Ahluwalia’s eventual expulsion from Fiji.
Three years later, USP finds itself beset by a host of new problems, most prominent among them an overwhelming vote this month by staff across Fiji (97% of academic staff and 94% of administration and support personnel) to go on strike over pay issues. The pay demands headline other contentions such as the number of unfilled vacancies and the strain that the unions say it’s causing staff, concerns about the diminishing presence of Pacific Island academics at what is a regional institution, as well as the absence of female academics, and questions over the way some key contracts have been handled by management. Some of these concerns are shared by key members of the USP Council and its Senior Management Team. Leadership emerged as a major point of discussion in interviews conducted by Islands Business. Ahluwalia does retain firm support from some Council members, and USP’s student association.
USP itself has refused to respond to questions from Islands Business. Over a seven-week period beginning January 22, we made several efforts to reach Vice Chancellor Ahluwalia. In mid-February, his office said he would not be able to provide an interview while at Laucala Campus “because of his busy schedule” (they specified “engagements with stakeholders nd other university-related activities”).
On March 6, after another follow-up request for an interview, Ahluwalia responded with the following email:
“Many of the questions that you ask in relation to staff are being discussed with the respective unions and it is inappropriate for me to make comments through the media. Most of your other questions relate directly to matters that are the business of our Council and its deliberations are confidential so it is inappropriate too for me to discuss these matters outside of Council.”
We also sought a response from Professor Pat Walsh, Acting Pro-Chancellor of USP, and Chair of the Council. Walsh is the New Zealand government’s representative on the Council. He did not respond.
In the absence of responses from USP, we sought comparative insight by speaking to senior regional academic figures such as Fiji National University pioneering Vice Chancellor and long-time academic, Dr Ganesh Chand; newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the Solomon Islands National University, Professor Transform Aqorau (who is a renowned regional academic and fisheries expert); and Dr Hilda Heine, who was Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the USP Council from January 2022 until December 2023, and resigned after winning back the Presidency of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Islands Business delves into these issues in this special report by Fiji correspondent, Joe Yaya, edited by Richard Naidu.
Framed in irony
If irony is central to storytelling, then the University of the South Pacific saga is perfectly framed. The same staff unions that rallied in support of Vice Chancellor Pal Ahluwalia after his deportation from Fiji in 2021, are now demanding his removal.
‘Pal to go!’ a placard read, as staff gathered outside the University’s Japan Pacific ICT Theatre on November 27 last year, voicing their demands for a pay rise and a new Vice Chancellor, as the USP Council met.
A Council meeting in May last year had directed Ahluwalia to discuss the matters with USP’s two unions – the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union – and bring the outcomes to the Council’s November sitting.
But, according to Administration and Support Staff Union president, Reuben Colata, Ahluwalia never called for any discussions with them, and when the unions tried to present the issue again in November, the Council did not allow the item onto the agenda.
The unions said the University had refused to negotiate their demands for backdated pay, and to address the extra workload on staff carrying the large number (455 in 2023) of vacant positions the University has failed to fill. They claim USP has saved around FJ$14.8m in not paying salaries for those vacant positions.
They say current salary levels are not enough to counter the annual 3% inflation rate, the increase of Value Added Tax in Fiji from 9% to 15%, and the 20% upsurge in compulsory medical insurance premiums this year.
After this month’s secret ballot in favour of industrial action, the unions offered management “one more chance to come to the table” before going ahead with a strike. Management had one week to engage in discussions and 21 days to reach an agreement.
COVID deal
The unions, according to Colata, had a deal with Ahluwalia that staff would forgo salary adjustments and 10 days of leave for the 2019-2021 triennium, to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 downturn. The arrangement was to be revisited when things normalised, Colata told Islands Business.
“The last time we got salary adjustments was in 2018. The amount was 5% paid in December and backdated to January. This time we are seeking another 5% increase, backdated to 2019,” Colata said.
The academic and professional staff (represented by AUSPS) want a 3% increase, also backdated to 2019. Personnel in this category include the VC and the Senior Management Team (SMT). They received salary increases in 2018, but according to Colata, their payment was made in July that year and backdated to the start of that triennium in January 2016.
“In that payout, some staff got a 5% increase, some got 7%, and some 12%.”
USP has already paid out a 4% wage rise to staff in the current triennium (2% in October 2022 and 2% in January 2023), with another 2% approved for January 2024.
But the unions say the 6% was approved without any consultation with them.
AUSPS general secretary, Rosalia Fatiaki told Islands Business the backdated salary adjustments that the unions are demanding will cost the University around FJ$13.8m (FJ$7.2m for academics and $6.6m for administration and support staff).
Colata said the claims the unions are making is valid because “USP is making a surplus every year, and there is money in the reserves. Staff are overworked and the vacancies are not filled. People are taking on extra responsibilities without reward.
“Leadership is the problem.”
Vice Chancellor Pal Ahluwalia is welcomed back to Fiji in February 2023.
– “Many of the questions that you ask in relation to staff are being discussed with the respective unions and it is inappropriate for me to make comments through the media.”
Finances and student numbers
USP’s annual reports show it has been making an operating surplus – FJ$9.42m in 2017 to FJ$31.06m in 2020, dropping to FJ$11.09m in 2021 to FJ$4.04m in 2022, and forecast to bounce back to FJ$11.38m in 2024.
Cash reserves also increased from FJ$65.3m in 2017, surpassing the FJ$100m mark in 2022 (FJ$110.3m), and are expected to total FJ$118.3m in 2024.
The previous FijiFirst government’s freeze on Fiji’s annual grant contributions to USP in 2019 in the battle with Ahluwalia was lifted by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, with the first tranche of FJ$10m to USP released last February, along with the removal of the ban against the Vice Chancellor returning to Fiji.
Fiji’s Finance Minister, Professor Biman Prasad told Islands Business another FJ$20m will be paid by July end, and “so progressively we want to clear the rest of the amount owing (FJ$106.2m).”
Prasad said they had also recommenced the regular yearly grant of FJ$30m to USP, in addition to scholarship funding for Fiji students studying at USP.
While USP’s financial situation may be improving, concern surrounds the decline in student enrolments – down 30% in the last three years (by almost 5,000 students), according to the University’s 2024 Annual Plan.
In response to our questions, Ahluwalia referred us to a press release on the outcomes of last November’s Council meeting, which quoted him as saying the University was “delivering its priorities successfully against the backdrop of declining enrolment numbers and financial constraints.”
Prasad told Islands Business that after the COVID-19-induced drop in numbers and students switching to online mode, recovery will take some time.
Former Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the USP Council, now President of the Republic of Marshall Islands, Dr Hilda Heine, said in an interview with Islands Business in her office in the Marshalls that COVID-19 created the same problems at USP that institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the United States were experiencing.
But, she noted that the drop in numbers was mainly because a large number of students from Fiji were not able to get scholarships.
“That impacted the student enrolment together with COVID, but the fact that USP continued to survive, regardless of the many issues it faced during the last three years, is a testament to the fact that it’s a strong institution that needs to be cared for and supported.”
Dr Ganesh Chand, a former USP academic, Vice Chancellor of the Fiji National University (FNU) and Solomon Islands National University, says the numbers may reflect a gap between what the University is teaching and what the industry and workplace expect.
Chand, who pioneered the setting up of vocational programs at FNU when he was appointed the first VC in 2010 and is now Chair of the Council of Pacific Polytech, said the responsibility to provide quality education lies with the tertiary institutions and the Higher Education Commission Fiji (HECF), which regulates the curriculum offered by universities in Fiji.
Chand says the role of the HECF is to ensure the curriculum meets industry standards before they accredit the tertiary institutions to teach the courses.
“For example, in accounting, the regulator is the Fiji Institute of Accountants and for lawyers it’s the Fiji Law Society. The trainer will only train by the regulating authority’s curriculum.”
Islands Business sent questions to Ahluwalia on whether USP had carried out any research or investigation into the enrolment gap, and whether there are internal checks in place to ensure the higher education programs they teach are meeting industry standards.
In a press release in November 2023, the Council said the decline in student numbers was the main cause of USP’s problems, and management’s plans to mitigate them were in the 2024 Annual Plan. Those plans included evaluation of courses to meet the needs of stakeholders, legal action against students owing unpaid fees, and collection of fee payments in advance from next year.
The Annual Plan says retention rates from 2016 to 2022 fell by 9% from 77% in 2016 to 67% in 2022.
“Completion rates show a more disturbing trend,” the document said, pointing to a drop from around 37% in 2015 to 18% in 2021.
In contrast, New Zealand Ministry of Education figures show the completion rate for their universities at 89% in 2020, dropping to 86% in 2022. The completion rate for Maori students in 2022 was around 75%, and for Pacific Islanders around 60%.
The drop in student enrolments is having a direct impact on collecting tuition fees. The 2024 Annual Plan states that income from tuition fees have decreased by 18% in the last three years and is projected to make up only 34% of total revenue this year.
In 2022, the losses in tuition income totaled FJ$11m (a 5% drop from 2021).
Meanwhile, FNU only recorded a 1% decline the same year, while tuition income as a proportion of its total revenue is at 44%.
Dr Ganesh Chand told Islands Business that revenue from tuition has never been sufficient to cover all the costs for any university in Fiji.
“That’s why the regional governments are required to pay a grant.”
But, Chand says, the grants come with an expectation from taxpayers who are footing the bill.
“All taxpayers want the operations of every institution where our money goes to be efficient. We want an efficient USP, we want an efficient FNU, and all the other entities.
“Efficiency means ensuring least cost for the activity undertaken, but when you try to increase efficiency, there will be grievances because people will be required to do more for the same salary they are being paid.”
Last year, the coalition government wiped off FJ$650m owed by 53,725 students and allocated a further FJ$148.3m to fund the 20,000 Fiji students currently studying at USP.
Pacific talent/women in leadership
The USP Council meeting in May last year heard concerns that management had not delivered on plans announced in 2020 to increase the presence of Pacific academics and nurture women in leadership.
A Council member, who asked not to be named, told Islands Business that at present, there are no academic staff at professor or associate professor level working at USP in Fiji, who are from the region.
The Council member said in one instance, international reviewers had approved the recruitment of a Solomon Islander to take up an Associate Professor post at USP, but the recommendation had been overruled.
Union leaders have also expressed disappointment that the last remaining female professor at USP, Professor Elisabeth Holland, who was director of the Pacific Center for Environment and Sustainable Development, finished in December 2023 even though she was eligible for another year of employment.
“Holland held an important post for the region and when you remove someone at that level, you are not putting the institution first,” said former AUSPS president, Elizabeth Fong.
Holland was USP’s Professor of Climate Change from 2012-2023. According to her profile on the USP website, she has more than 30 years of climate change research experience and has served as an author in all six cycles of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the IPCC.
The USP website describes her as an “advocate for the greater diversity and increased representation of women, Pacific Islanders, and underrepresented minorities in climate change, earth, ocean and ecosystem science and research communities.”
Islands Business’ questions to Ahluwalia, included whether concerns about the absence of support for Pacific academics and women leaders was an issue among academic staff.
On International Women’s Day earlier this month, members of USP’s unions held a march on Laucala Campus to protest the lack of women academics at USP, and the lack of female representation in the SMT (which currently has only one female), according to AUSPS general secretary, Rosalia Fatiaki.
“As a starting point, the union would like to see at least 30% females in the SMT and increase to 50% over time,” Fatiaki said.
Holland reacted to posts of the march on social media, commenting that the number of women academics at USP is declining and having no women in the SMT or among professors was “outrageous”.
“Both Fiji National University and National University of Samoa are led by capable women Vice Chancellors,” she said.
“The number of remarkable Pacific Island women working at and leading other CROP agencies (Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific) is impressive. FFA (Forum Fisheries Agency) is led by the remarkable Manu Tupou-Roosen.
“Time to grow up boys!” she posted.
Holland declined Islands Business’ request for her comments regarding her contract.
Away from Suva
Ahluwalia has worked from Samoa since August 2021, after a brief stint in Nauru.
According to Fong, the unions wrote to the Council in May 2023 asking for Ahluwalia to be brought back to Suva. But the Council did not make a decision. Fong said they were later informed by the acting Pro-Chancellor, Pat Walsh that the VC could not return to Suva because his contract did not allow it.
Fong said after USP hosted a welcome ceremony for Ahluwalia and Price in February last year, staff expected him to return to Fiji, but he did not, and instead returned to Samoa.
“This is where we feel a little hard done by Ahluwalia because he never told us the truth.”
Union leaders have also expressed concern about the cost of Ahluwalia working out of Samoa.
“When he travels to Suva, he collects a daily per diem of FJ$615. If he stays for a week, he collects more than $4,000. That’s not including the airfares which USP also has to pay,” Fong said.
Islands Business sent questions to Ahluwalia for his response to these claims.
Regional concerns
Solomon Islands National University Vice Chancellor and leading regional academic, Professor Transform Aqorau raised eyebrows when, during an address at the Fiji National University’s Nasinu Campus, he spoke out about the state of USP.
“It is disheartening to see [USP] being torn apart by those whose interests do not align with serving the peoples of the Pacific Islands but rather advancing their own agendas, thereby threatening the future of our thought leaders. I challenge us to consider who among us will … reclaim our regional university and restore its rightful place in the Pacific.”
Speaking to Islands Business afterwards, Professor Aqorau said he and Ahluwalia were on the same flight from Adelaide to Nadi, when Ahluwalia first travelled to Fiji in 2018 to take up his new post at USP.
Aqorau said in their conversation, he told Ahluwalia that he needed to turn USP into a center of excellence for the Pacific.
“I encouraged him not to look back at what’s happened at USP but to work with the mindset of taking USP forward. But he has spent half of his energy trying to fix the past instead of trying to think about what the future of USP can be like.”
The problem at USP, he said, was “leadership, plain and simple.”
“A lot of academics from the region and Fiji are leaving USP because they feel they are not valued anymore. They are not happy with the environment they are working in.
“You can’t have a VC not living on the main campus, fair and simple. That must be sorted out first.”
Aqorau said the solution for USP’s problems is to get a new leader.
“Find a new VC who loves the Pacific, knows the Pacific, and has a heart for the institution.”
Commenting on the looming strike action, Tongan Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni-Huakavameiliku said on X: “We are concerned especially since we have a lot of students studying at USP.”
Leadership
While the unions, observers such as Aqorau, and sections of senior management and the Council (albeit off-the-record) are critical of Ahluwalia’s actions on several fronts, a report by a Joint Committee of Council and Senate (JCCS) lays out an even-handed critique of Ahluwalia’s ‘strengths’, as well concerns about his leadership as part of an internal exercise to determine whether to extend his term for a further two years from August 2024 to August 2026. The exercise was required as part of USP policy.
Islands Business obtained a copy of the report, prepared by a subcommittee of the JCCS from face-to-face interviews and written responses from key stakeholders across USP governance, management, and operations on the basis of confidentiality, given the “sensitive nature of the reappointment process and the need to ensure an enabling and “safe” space for open and frank conversation with stakeholders.”
The report said the extensive feedback on the VCP’s term at the University “highlights a leadership context of navigating complicated waters in unprecedented times.”
The report found his “ability to steer the University through crises, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, was a recurring theme. His resilience, flexibility, and prudent financial decisions — all without exhausting reserves or resorting to layoffs — were particularly acknowledged.”
On the other hand, the report said Ahluwalia’s leadership style “was identified as an area of critical concern.”
“While his crisis management skills were acknowledged, there was criticism around his approach, which was seen by many respondents as centralised, authoritarian, and reliant on personal loyalties. This approach created perceptions of divisiveness, with a lack of trust and a sense of disconnect felt among the staff. It appeared to contribute to a work environment where some staff felt disempowered or undervalued.”
The report said the VCP “currently faces a challenge in rebuilding trust, particularly with staff and staff unions. Addressing issues of perceived favouritism and ensuring fair recognition and development opportunities for staff are crucial. Staff welfare, including appropriate remuneration and opportunities for professional growth, was highlighted as an area needing attention.”
It also found “a clear indication of unrest and dissatisfaction among the University staff, stemming from several factors, including perceived unfairness in recruitment, promotions, inconsistency in policy application, and unaddressed human resource issues, including the failure to address issues of gender equality in staff recruitment and in leadership. These concerns, coupled with the sense of not being heard or valued, have affected staff morale and, potentially, staff retention. This signalled an unstable University environment that required urgent attention.”
The report also said that feedback highlighted Ahluwalia’s “prolonged absence” from Laucala Campus as “an area of real concern and creating much uncertainty across all areas of the VCP’s functions and responsibilities.
“Much of the uncertainty manifested in staff and students interpreting his decisions differently, coupled with what was being described as varying explanations on his decisions to management and to those close to him.
“There was acknowledgement that while his stay in Samoa amid the Fiji crisis was justified, the current situation required his regular presence at Laucala for effective leadership, especially since his anticipated return—following the revocation of his deportation order—was marked as the onset of a “new era” for the University.”
Students, on the other hand, “trust his leadership and express a desire to continue to support the VCP,” the report said.
“Student leadership confirms the VCP has demonstrated effective management of student concerns. He actively listens to their concerns and maintains open lines of communication. Students appreciate his honesty and realistic approach, particularly in acknowledging the University’s limitations in resolving certain issues.”
Outgoing student president, Lepani Naqarase, who was one of the two student representatives on the Council last year told Islands Business, the student body supports Ahluwalia because he places student welfare first and is the only VC in USP’s history who has truly served the region by working from different member countries despite the challenges. Incoming student vice-president, Salote Duaibe said the student body’s stance on Ahluwalia has not changed this year, despite the decline in student numbers and other crucial statistics.
“We are trying to improve upon it and we are going forward with what we have,” Duaibe said.
The committee compiled their findings in October in time for the November Council meeting where 13 members voted for and 10 against, extending Ahluwalia’s term till August 2026.
Politics
Former USP Pro-Chancellor and Chair, now Marshall Islands President Dr Hilda Heine says during her term with USP, one of the “strong challenges we faced was the issue with the Vice Chancellor.”
“He’s a strong figure that has a lot of supporters, as well as a lot of opposing parties. So, it was very difficult trying to navigate through that and create a semblance of stability, when you have so many different opinions about leadership,” said Heine.
“It’s very difficult the way the University is governed, because the big countries in the region have control of the University, regardless of what the smaller countries might think about leadership or this or that. They’re outnumbered by the big countries,” said Heine.
“As long as the governance is being controlled by a few countries and it’s not a level playing field for all the countries, it’s very difficult to overcome some of the political issues. Some of the politics influences how the University is run, unfortunately.
“One of the things we tried to do was change the composition of the Council, we tabled that and were going to come back to it, but it was obvious that the big countries don’t want to change the formula.
“Like any other big institution, there is a lot of politicking that goes on inside the University. As Chancellor, I tried to stay out of the politics but it’s not easy to remove yourself from it.”
Former USP Pro-Chancellor, now Marshall Islands President, Dr Hilda Heine.
– “As long as [USP’s] governance is being controlled by a few countries and it’s not a level playing field for all the countries, it’s very difficult to overcome some of the political issues. Some of the politics influences how the University is run, unfortunately.”
Fiji’s Finance Minister, Professor Biman Prasad told Islands Business, it was the previous FijiFirst government who “wanted to impose what they thought was right even though the Council wanted something else.”
“So as far as the coalition government is concerned, we don’t want to push the government’s agenda at the University.
“The Fiji government has five reps, we go there, we vote, or we propose. But if the region decided otherwise (referring to the vote on Ahluwalia’s contract extension), we have to accept that,” Prasad said.
Council workings
Acting AUSPS president, Dr Tamara Osborne, was the Senate representative on last year’s joint committee that canvassed internal views on whether Ahluwalia’s contract should have been extended. She shared the Council’s workings when dealing with the committee’s report.
According to Osborne, the draft report was compiled in September last year. The final version was supposed to be ready one week before the Council met on November 27 and 28. She said the report was given to Council members on the last day of the meeting just before the Confidential session to discuss Ahluwalia’s contract.
She said some Council members asked to defer the matter to this year’s May Council, because they had not been given enough time. But based on the ordinance that contract extensions must be given six months before the contract ends, the approval to extend would have to be given by February, since Ahluwalia’s contract was expiring in August 2024.
Osborne said the Council was then presented with a one-page summary containing a recommendation from the JCCS to renew the contract. The recommendation was supported by three members of the JCCS – the representatives of Australia, New Zealand, and USP. Osborne’s was the only objection.
Without a unanimous decision of the committee, the Council went to vote via secret ballot. The results went Ahluwalia’s way – 13 against 10. Two countries did not vote while one was invalid. Twenty-six of the 30-member Council were present that day.
This year’s Council meeting has been moved from May to April 26-27 when Ahluwalia’s extended work contract is expected to be finalised.
– Marshall Islands reporting by Nic Maclellan
