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Great Scott
USyd finds new leader in NSW Department of Education secretary .
Mark Scott has signed on the dotted line to become the next vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney .
The secretary of the NSW Department of Education will take up the mantle in July . Former vice-chancellor Michael Spence wrapped up his duties in December after a 12-year stint at the helm .
New USyd VC Mark Scott . Photo : USyd Twitter
Scott ’ s five-year term comes with a $ 982,800 remuneration package , along with a 20 per cent bonus potential .
Spence , by comparison , attracted an estimated salary of $ 1.6 million towards the end of his tenure – a figure criticised by academics late last year .
A former managing director at the ABC , Scott has a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University , a Master of Arts ( Political Science and Government ), Diploma of Education and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and honorary degrees from the University of Sydney , UNSW and UTS .
University of Sydney chancellor Belinda Hutchinson said Scott “ has demonstrated a deep commitment to serving the Australian community and a strong track record of ‘ leadership for good ”.
The search for Spence ’ s replacement started in April 2020 and included consultation with the university community .
Hutchinson said : “ When we asked our community what kind of VC they wanted , they told us that they wanted someone that could relate to all levels of the institution with a track record of strategic leadership in complex environments , an extensive record in government , industry and community relations , strategic and financial acumen and the demonstrated capacity to lead and dynamically lift the performance of an organisation .
“ Mark ticks all those boxes and more .” ■
Paper copy
Academic ’ s paper pulled after plagiarism probe .
A journal has retracted a Monash University academic ’ s paper over potential plagiarism .
Monash conducted an investigation on the publication after a student raised concerns about potential plagiarism by a supervisor .
The retracted paper described research about placental serotonin systems and was co-authored by Dr Padma Murthi , a senior research fellow in the Department of Pharmacology .
The journal ’ s publisher , Elsevier , retracted the publication at the request of the authors .
In a note on the article ’ s webpage , Elsevier wrote : “ The University concluded on the balance of probability that a significant part of the text in the paper was included without knowledge , without consent and without correct attribution of the original author who , at the time , was a student at the University .
“ The results discussed in the review article are still scientifically valid .”
Monash offered the student co-authorship of the article but they declined and instead asked for the article to be retracted .
The university pulled the paper from its website . Murthi ’ s Monash research profile was also unavailable but she is still employed at the university and received counselling on the issue .
The placentologist told The Age that there was no wrongdoing but declined to answer any questions about the issue , saying it was “ a university matter ”.
In a statement , Monash said no other complaints have been made against the academic and “ there is nothing to indicate this has happened before ”.
“ Monash University takes academic integrity seriously for staff and students and has policies and procedures in place to deal with any allegations of breaches ,” a spokesperson for the university said . ■
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