Auditor-general blasts University of Cyprus over ‘irregularities’

Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides hauled the University of Cyprus over the coals on Thursday, flagging a series of irregularities – including their keeping on the payroll a Nobel laureate past his retirement.

The matter of Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides came up at the House audit committee, where Michaelides presented the findings of his special report on the state-funded university for the years 2019 and 2020.

Pissarides, who in 2010 won the Nobel Prize in Economics, is listed on the faculty as Professor of European Studies.

But according to the auditor-general, in 2015 Pissarides (whom he did not refer to by name) retired from the university at the age of 67.

His contract then got renewed – unlawfully according to Michaelides – until the year 2026.

But essentially Pissarides has little to do with the university – he gives one lecture per semester, and doesn’t participate in any research programmes.

Despite this, the university continues to “artificially” keep Pissarides on staff, in order to milk his reputation and earn points in global university rankings.

“You can’t pay a professor €100,000 a year just so that you can stay high up in the rankings, essentially deceiving ratings agencies,” Michaelides said.

Countering, University of Cyprus Rector Tasos Christofides denied that Pissarides’ contract had been extended illegally. He said the law provides for exceptional cases for such contract extensions, and that they had got the green light from the minister of education as required.

“You won’t find a single university in the world that doesn’t want a Nobel laureate on its staff, someone who imparts prestige and raises a university’s rankings.”

Christofides also dismissed the notion that Pissarides “sits around all day.” He described Pissarides as “a mentor, who advises students and professors, gives seminars and speeches.”

Next MPs discussed another matter highlighted by the auditor-general – the university’s ongoing employment of a professor with a criminal conviction.

The man in question had been found guilty of fraud and forgery, and sentenced to seven months in jail – although the court suspended the sentence.

But the university decided to keep employing him, sanctioning him only by downgrading his paygrade.

Responding again, the rector pointed out that it was the university authorities themselves who had initially reported the man to the police.

The decision to later keep the professor on staff, claimed Christofides, was based on the recommendation of the court itself. In its judgment, the court said it was suspending the prison sentence in order not to deprive graduate and post-graduate students of a key faculty member and throw the teaching schedule into disarray.

Christofides said the issue had been referred to the university’s disciplinary board, who decided not to fire the professor but let him stay on, albeit on a lower salary.