Accountancy firm Deloitte has been appointed to undertake a review of spending at WIT ‘as a matter of immediate urgency’, amid controversy about a €170,000 refurbishment of its current president Prof Kieran Byrne’s office.
In a statement to the press Donal Ormonde, Chairman of the Governing Body of Waterford Institute of Technology, confirmed an independent review would be taking place immediately into the spending.
Prof Kieran Byrne is a disgrace. Will give him a piece of my mind when we meet again.
What is astounding about all of this debate about Dr Byrne is that nobody has queried by what authority does he call himself Professor. Dr Byrne was once appointed to the position of Associate Professor by UL. . However, he was never appointed a full professor there. Also, since Institutes of Technology do not have professors.it would seem as if he carried his title from UL to WIT, but dropped the lesster title of Associate from the front of it.
Regardless of whether he was an associate professor or a ‘real’ professor, here is the academic convention.A professor is institutionally conferred by a university and it usually has a position description of some kind. A contrasting example is the title ‘Doctor of Philosophy’ (PhD) which is conferred by an international community of scholars upon achievement of a particular standard of academic performance. It is recognition that the holder has joined their peers in this broad, international academic community. Once gained, it is able to be used for life: there is no expiration date of the title, nor is it contingent on affiliation, employment or association with an institution. ‘Professor’, by contrast, relates to a particular position in a particular university and is conferred through reference to that individual institution’s classification and/or promotions standards. Importantly, it also has a date of expiration: this is the point at which employment or association with a particular institution ceases. It cannot be carried to the holder’s next position (unless, of course, the position in the new institution comes with the title) nor can it be used during periods of unemployment.