DONS have raised concerns that an agreement signed between Oxford and a little-known Saudi Arabian university is illegitimate.
The "Memorandum of Understanding" signed with Prince Sultan University (PSU) on May 4 is founded on the "basis of mutual assistance and the furthering of academic study and understanding" between the two universities. Reference to the agreement appears prominently on the PSU website* and describes it as "a historical moment for both the University of Oxford and Prince Sultan University". Nothing about the memorandum can be found on Oxford University's website, and a number of senior Oxford staff have said that they knew nothing about the agreement.
Oxford's motives for signing the agreement have been called into question by senior members of the University. The basis of the memorandum comes from the Ashmolean Agreement, which was signed in connection with a "munificent benefaction" of £2 million from the Prince Sultan in order to establish an Islamic Gallery at the Ashmolean. The contract states: "Oxford... welcomes the opportunity to develop its relations with Prince Sultan University (PSU) in the light of clauses 2.5 and 2.6 of the [Ashmolean Agreement] that was reached in connection with that benefaction." These clauses state that links between both universities will be "proactively developed" and that "both parties shall endeavour within one year of this Agreement to agree the terms of an exchange programme".
Concerned at the message the memorandum sends, a senior Oxford staff member told the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), "I think it is short sighted to give the impression to a donor that his donation has bought collaboration." Another senior member of the University raised concerns about signing a memorandum with a university of PSU's status. He said, "This deal sounds very worrying. Prince Sultan University is not an internationally reputable institution. It is unclear what the terms of this deal are, but what benefit Oxford gets from it and how it was concluded is extremely puzzling. It will be interesting to know what the University Council made of it, if they knew about it."
The memorandum is signed by Dr John Dellandrea, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Development and External Affairs), who runs the University's Development Office and whose principal job is to raise funds. Members of the University other than the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar can only sign contracts for the University if authority is delegated to them in writing or if Council gives permission. A senior University member claimed that the absence of the Vice-Chancellor's or Registrar's signature, despite the memorandum not going through Council, undermines the agreement's academic value. He told the THES, "This is deeply problematical. The academic case for this is entirely obscure. It looks like the partnership has been bought and signed for on behalf of the University by the development office, bypassing academic monitoring."
Many staff within Oxford University know little about the agreement with PSU, despite its being the only international university other than Princeton that Oxford has official links with. Administrators in the departments of economics and the computing laboratory, cited in the memorandum as areas of "resources and expertise" that will "suit PSU students", said they were unaware of the memorandum and had not been consulted. The University also failed to seek the approval of Council or Congregation, the two central decision-making bodies of the University.
Gill Evans, a professor at Cambridge, drew particular attention to a section of the memorandum which states that it will "seek to expedite the application process" for PSU students. She noted the implication that PSU students' applications would be treated preferentially and said, "I am concerned that Oxford has agreed to give special admission terms to applicants from PSU. This is in breach of the Quality Assurance Agency guidelines and should be of concern to the Office for Fair Access. I think any partnership with another university is a very big thing for Oxford to take on. Not to ensure that this one was approved by Council and Congregation and not to announce it, or ensure it is visible somewhere on the University website, is, to say the least, remarkable," she added.
An Oxford spokesperson said concerns about the failure to announce the agreement and pass it through the University's governing bodies were unfounded. "These things don't necessarily need to go through Council or Congregation. This one didn't. It wasn't picked up on at the time, and now it has been. There's nothing sinister about it," she said. "It is a memorandum of understanding that looks into useful areas of collaboration. It is part of the University's interest in forging international links," she added. The Registrar was unavailable for comment.
* Some time after this Akme posting the Prince Sultan University's web pages recording its agreement with Oxford were changed. For the benefit of scholars, Akme has kept the original pages and here recreates them as a single file. Also click for Oxford's PR webpage (exits Akme).