Billboard blues ... for NMMU

NMMU's integrity is under the spotlight

NMMU Prof in CV Scandal …

These words screamed at us from the billboards en route to our university. They’re words that fill us with shock, curiosity and anger; words that trigger questions and disbelief; words that hurt.

It does not matter whether we are staff members or students, the billboard and accompanying lead story in today’s Herald newspaper about a former dean’s alleged plagiarism and fraudulent actions, impacts upon us all.

But none more so than Prof Velile Notshulwana, whose integrity and credibility is at the centre of story.

An investigation is underway at NMMU to verify the validity of Prof Notshulwana’s CV after the university was alerted by independent sources that all might not be as claimed by the good professor. Possibly at about the same time, the local newspaper, the Herald, began its own investigations. Today’s front page and page 2 stories are the result of that investigation.

And it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

Prof Notshulwana who studied in the States, but originally comes from Port Elizabeth, is alleged to have provided false information in his CV, claimed authorship of journal articles of which he was not involved and plagiarised the writings of others for his weekly columns in the Herald back in 2011 and 2012. The famed Dr Phil is among those whose writing he is alleged to have used without the source’s acknowledgement.

There are now also aspersions about the validity of his doctorate.

As part of the appointment process at NMMU, all CVs of short-listed candidates are vetted on behalf of the university by an outside agency. The university followed this process with Prof Notshulwana. No information was brought to NMMU’s attention by Kroll (Managed Integrity Evaluation (Pty) Ltd) to doubt the material claims made in the CV.

Right now, however, this is immaterial. Right now, what’s important is that NMMU completes its own investigation and responds accordingly. They must either apologise profusely for the embarrassment caused to our former colleague or mete out punishment according to its our own disciplinary code.

Whatever the findings, it’s imperative that we do what is right to protect our integrity.

NMMU must walk the talk and uphold its values, especially that of integrity and taking responsibility.

Failure to do so will impact upon us all because we’re all tainted with the same brush – students and staff together.

The public doesn’t look for the detail. It’s the broad strokes they see … for everyone knows bad things happen (that’s life); it’s how we handle the bad stuff that’s important.