American University of Malta

The American University of Malta is a private, American-style liberal arts college in Cospicua, Malta. The initiation of the educational institution was announced in May 2015, and the project was originally intended to regenerate the South of Malta and give said area an economic and social boost.[1] Since the proposal was announced, Dock 1 in Cospicua was chosen for the head campus, while extensions are being planned for other sites in Cospicua and Żonqor, Marsaskala.[2] It was officially established on 16 September 2016,[3]

American University of Malta
Former name
American Institute of Malta
TypePrivate
Established2016
Parent institution
Sadeen Education Investment Ltd.
ChairpersonZiya Alpay (CEO)
ProvostProf. Narcisa Mosteanu (Acting provost)
Address
Triq Dom Mintoff Bormla, BML 1013
,
Malta
CampusUrban
Websitewww.aum.edu.mt

The AUM welcomed their first small cohort of students in September 2017[4] while their main campus underwent major restoration. Once the restoration process of the main campus was finalized in January 2019, the AUM had their official inauguration ceremony in March of that same year.[4][5]

Academics

AUM offers 10 undergraduate and 3 graduate degrees in the areas of Business, Engineering, Technology and Arts.[6] The American standard for a liberal arts education combines a general and a specialized type of education. The general one focuses on a broad approach to education, while the specialized one is simply the major that takes an in-depth approach.[7]

Students in all undergraduate academic programs at AUM must complete the General Education Program. Students are required to take a set of courses outside their major to develop their understanding of broad disciplinary areas and the connections between and among them. The General Education requirements are a total of 41-42 US/82- 84 ETCS credits.[6]

Admissions

The American University of Malta is open to receiving both domestic Maltese students and international students from all over the world. All applicants can apply for their degree of choice online by submitting all the necessary documents. All programs at the AUM are taught in English. Candidates must provide proof of English proficiency in order to receive full admission to the University.[7]

Candidates without the proper documentation or low proficiency may begin their studies through the English for Academics Purposes pathway program.[7] The EAP program at the American University of Malta is designed to help students who meet all the requirements for admissions except for the language proficiency and need to improve their English language skills in order to begin their degree program. This program will help students improve their skills in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing to help them succeed once they start their degree.[7]

Housing

AUM offers campus housing in apartments close to the university. Students have access to a kitchen, bathroom, common living space, internet. Apartments are CO-ED apartments (females and males share apartments but not individual rooms). Co-Educational bedrooms are only available in case of married couples.[8]

The American University of Malta is also in the process of renovating a hostel property in Tarxien to be used as the official accommodation dormitories for students. This accommodation will be offered to students to assist in the compliance of Visa regulations.[8]

Campus Restoration

EM Architects' restoration designs included the restoration of the historic fabric of the overall building.[9] The project meant to rehabilitate the building into the current age whilst at the same time managing to showcase its historic elements. The building has since received the A’ Design Gold Award.[10]

Accreditation

AUM holds a university license from the NCFHE (License Number: 2016-002).[11][12] This license states that AUM is fully authorized to deliver academic degree programs at levels 6 (Bachelors), 7 (Masters), and 8 (Doctorate), according to the Malta Qualifications Framework and the European Qualification for Framework for Lifelong Learning.[13][14]

Planning and Opening

On 5 May 2015, the Jordanian entrepreneur Hani Salah and the Government of Malta signed an agreement at Auberge de Castille for the former to set up a private educational institution called the American University of Malta (AUM).[15][16] Initially the university was planned to be located in Spain, but the owner of Sadeen, Hani Salah, was persuaded to establish it in Malta by the then-Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat.[1][17][18]

The National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) officially accredited the AUM on 30 June 2016, after a 14-month process which included financial and academic evaluations. The original curricula of the AUM were provided by DePaul University.[19]

In January 2016, John Ryder was named as the head of the American University of Malta, assuming the dual roles of Provost and Acting Vice President of the AUM.[20] Ryder's qualifications for the post included a terminal academic degree in Philosophy and two-years' experience as president of Khazar University in Azerbaijan.[21][22]

The university was intended to accommodate 4000 students, primarily from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.[23] However, the university has consistently failed to meet its recruitment goals.[24] By the time all campuses are complete, it is intended to have schools of business, architecture and design, engineering, arts, sciences, and information technology, each offering one or more Bachelor Degree Programs.[25]

The original curricula of the AUM were provided by the DePaul University. The latter claims that it did not commit financial or human resources to the AUM, and it was not involved in any discussions with the Government of Malta.[26][27] However, a member of DePaul's executive administrative team, Khaled El Zayyat, became the AUM's first Vice President of Global Initiatives: "El Zayyat previously held teaching and administrative posts at DePaul University, Chicago, and supervised dual degree graduate programmes for DePaul University in Jordan." [28] El Zayyat initially hired and supervised IT staff at the AUM. Two months after the IT Administrator who reported to El Zayyat, David Aquilina, was dismissed, the Maltese government hired the same individual to work in an identical capacity in the Office of the Prime Minister.

The university was originally intended to create a social and economic boost to localities in the South Eastern Region of Malta, which is regarded as being less developed than the rest of the island.[1][29] The project has an investment of over €115 million, and it was intended to create around 400[1] to 750 jobs.[18] The project's estimated economic output was speculated to be about €48 to €85 million.[30] As of September 2016, demand for property in Cospicua reportedly increased as a result of the university project.[31] Also, concerns have arisen that the university's presence threatens the heritage and quality of life in the Bormla community and Three Cities region.[32][33]

The university originally planned to take in its first students in October 2016, with lectures at SmartCity Malta until the head campus was completed.[10] The beginning of the first academic year was later moved to 28 August 2017, with lectures held at the Dock No. 1 campus in Cospicua.[34]

In January 2016, John Ryder was named as the head of the American University of Malta, assuming the dual roles of Provost and Acting Vice President of the AUM. Ryder's qualifications for the post included a terminal academic degree in Philosophy and two-years' experience as president of Khazar University in Azerbaijan [35]

Location of campus and use of ODZ land
Żonqor Point, where part of the university campus is to be built

When the university project was announced in May 2015, the government offered the Sadeen Group 90,000 m2 (970,000 sq ft) of Outside Development Zone (ODZ) land near Żonqor Point in Marsaskala on which to build the university. A natural park, partially funded by the university, would be set up nearby. The proposal to use ODZ land raised concerns among environmentalists, including the NGOs Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Ramblers Association, Din l-Art Ħelwa, NatureTrust Malta, Birdlife Malta, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement and Greenhouse. The Malta Developers Association also stated that a better site should be found,[36] while the Church criticized the process used to select the land for the university.[37] Meanwhile, residents of Marsaskala and southern Malta supported the university project by signing a petition in its favour.[38]

The government initially planned to include the 19th-century Fort Leonardo within the university campus. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also stated that constructing the university in Marsaskala would pressure the owners of the former Jerma Palace Hotel to redevelop the site, which has fallen into disrepair since being closed down in 2007.[39]

Muscat responded to the environmentalists' criticism by stating that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority would consider other sites as long as they are located in the southern part of the island.[40] A public consultation process was subsequently made in order to select an alternative site for the university campus.[41]

On 23 May 2015, the Front Ħarsien ODZ (Maltese for Front for the Protection of ODZ) was set up in response to the proposed development at Żonqor Point. The group aims to protect all ODZ land in Malta, and it includes then-Labour MP, turned Democratic Party (PD) members, Marlene Farrugia, government whip Godfrey Farrugia and former Alternattiva Demokratika politician, turned Nationalist Party (PN) member, Michael Briguglio.[42] On 20 June, the front held a protest in Valletta against the development, and it was attended by 3000 people.[43]

On 20 August, Muscat announced that the government had reached an agreement with the Sadeen Group that the campus be split between the former Dock No. 1 in Cospicua and a reduced site at Żonqor Point. The campus at Żonqor is much smaller than the one originally planned, and it will occupy the site of the water polo pitch and 18,000 m2 (190,000 sq ft) of adjoining ODZ fields. This campus is to consist of three faculties and student dormitories, with a maximum height of five stories. A new water polo pitch is also to be built to replace the one that will be demolished to make way for the university. The campus at Cospicua will occupy two former warehouses at Dock No. 1 which were built during Hospitaller and British rule. Additional buildings are to be constructed, but they are to keep with the architectural style of the area.[10] This restoration project is bringing an otherwise run down Dock no. 1 back on its feet, which had been abandoned with the end of the rule of the British. The government will rent out both campuses to Sadeen Group for around €200,000 a year.[44]

Front Ħarsien ODZ said that the proposal of splitting the campus was better than the original one, but said that it was still unacceptable to build on ODZ land.[10] The University Students' Council also expressed its disappointment at the government building part of the campus at Żonqor Point.[45] On the other hand, the move was welcomed by the Cospicua Heritage Society, who said that the Three Cities and Kalkara would greatly benefit from the project.[46]

The government approved the granting of land for the AUM after a 15-hour long debate in parliament on 15 December 2015.[47] Front Ħarsien ODZ called this parliamentary sitting "surreal" and said that it shows terrible governance.[48]

The British Building at Dock No. 1 in Cospicua

On 25 August 2016, the Planning Authority approved the restoration of the British Building at Dock No. 1, and its conversion into a campus to house part of the AUM. Parts of the building which were destroyed during World War II will be rebuilt, while an intermediate level and a new second floor with a contemporary glass-and-steel design will be constructed.[49] The renovation of the building was entrusted to the architect Edwin Mintoff, to be completed by April 2018.[50]

There are plans to restore the Knights' Building at Dock No. 1 and convert it into part of the campus, and this renovation is planned to be completed by 2017–18. The Marsaskala campus is to be ready by 2019–20.[21]

Accreditation and licensing

In December 2015, Leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil stated that since the AUM applied for the licence of a "Higher Education Institution", its marketing of itself as a "University" is illegal.[47] In January 2016, the National Commission for Further and Higher Education announced that Sadeen Education Investment Ltd had been given a licence to operate a Higher Education Institution under the name American Institute of Malta. This was the first step in the process to acquire a university licence.[12] The commission has stated that a degree issued by the American Institute would have the same value as one issued by the University of Malta.[51]

However, on 11 March 2016, Sadeen Education Investment Ltd was notified by a judicial letter that licensed higher education institutions are prohibited from using the word "university" in their advertising and publicity, unless they have been granted that status formally.[52] On 6 May 2016, Economy Minister Christian Cardona said that he had "no doubt that this will be a University and not an institute. This is part of a process, but the project will result in a University".[7]

The National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) officially accredited the AUM on 30 June 2016, after a 14-month process which included financial and academic evaluations. The commission imposed a number of conditions on the AUM, including an annual audit by the Clemson University.[11][53] Sadeen asked for a compromise on these conditions, but the commission insisted that they were not negotiable.[54] After the conditions were accepted, the commission issued a 5-year university licence on 16 September 2016.[3][55]

Two former employees of the National Commission for Further and Higher Education, both directly involved in the accreditation of the AUM, were hired by the university as lecturers in August 2019.[56] One of the two former NCFHE employees hired by the AUM visited the campus for an inspection soon after the mass firing of faculty in January 2018.[57] This episode became known as the accreditation-for-jobs scandal. Despite suspicions of ethical impropriety, an inquiry was never conducted.

Troubled tenure of founding provost

In July 2019, Provost John Ryder announced his resignation, stating that he had fulfilled his contract with the AUM but would have "loved not to have had some of the problems or [made some of the] mistakes" he did.[58] These mistakes included hiring too many faculty for the 2017-18 academic year, firing those same faculty en masse in January 2018, consistently hiding student enrolment figures to avoid media scrutiny and enacting poor quality assurance processes, resulting in the hiring of faculty who were guilty of academic plagiarism and degree fraud. Ryder was promptly replaced by another American higher education administrator, Jeremy Brown.

Ryder's decision to hire too many faculty before the first academic term and fire them without cause at the start of the second term damaged the institution's international reputation and complicated efforts to make cooperative agreements with other universities, even after his departure. Arkansas State University reconsidered its earlier decision to collaborate with the AUM on dual degree programs after uncovering former employees' negative comments on the site Glassdoor describing the mass termination event.[59][60] In an interview with investigative journalist Lizzie Eldridge, Ryder confessed that although he was not among the faculty fired in January 2018, it was still the "worst day of my professional life by far."[61]

Criticisms

Members of the Maltese political elite, media, civil society, academe and the diplomatic community have all raised critical questions about the university. Former AUM employees have also expressed concerns about the fledgling higher education institution.

Not American

One criticism is that the AUM is not authentically American. The company behind the project is from Jordan, not the United States. Almost a year before her death, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia noted that "the man the Jordanian outfit has chosen to be rector of this questionable 'university' is John Ryder, who is the only American aspect of the project" [62] In 2018, the AUM hired an American president, Lewis N. Walker, as well.[63]

In a series of articles on the AUM, titled 'When is a University not a University?,' investigative journalist Lizzie Eldridge suggested that one possible explanation for why the AUM retains its American identity is to "maintain appearances" as a legitimate higher education enterprise: "Sometimes, as, for example, in instances of money laundering, where a company is deliberately set up as a front, appearances are crucial." [64] Rumours that the AUM selectively recruited U.S. citizens to make the institution appear American are substantiated by an ex-staff member who claimed that in a Skype interview with provost John Ryder, he was told that ‘the main thing you have going for you is that you’re American.’ [28]

Philip G. Altbach, Boston College faculty member and director of the Center for International Higher Education, expressed concern that institutions such as Sadeen-owned AUM are "business interests starting universities to make money using the American brand." [65]

When asked in an interview about her views concerning the controversial American university in Malta, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Malta G. Kathleen Hill insisted "It's not American...it's not an American initiative but an initiative by the Sadeen Group which is out of Jordan." [66]

To this criticism, the AUM's provost John Ryder responded that the university is "not a brand or offshoot, or run by any American university ... [but it is] American in curriculum and organisation."[21] The curricula are officially provided by DePaul University, Chicago. A spokesperson for DePaul University issued a statement, qualifying the legitimacy of AUM's curricula: "Faculty designed degree programs in areas that were requested, with the dual goals of being academically well-designed and meeting regulatory requirements in Malta. Individual faculty members were selected with the help of teams -- composed of associate deans, school directors and department chairs -- in the relevant colleges. Faculty then were asked to design the curriculum, and they were compensated for their work," also adding; "[t]he right to use our name (DePaul University) is specifically in connection to the curriculum. While specifics of any DePaul contract are proprietary, I can tell you that it went through the usual, internal multi-step review process."[67]

Lack of transparency and violation of public trust

Criticism has also been levelled at the AUM and Maltese Labour government for keeping the contents of its agreements secret from the Maltese public. Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was accused of a lack of transparency with regard to how government agreements with Sadeen were made. He responded by saying that the public was informed on the first occasion.[68] NGOs have called for the publication of the agreement between the government and Sadeen Group.[69] A pressing concern is that without full transparency, the government's agreed-upon terms could serve the interests of Sadeen, while costing the Maltese taxpayer and undermining public trust.

Former AUM employees have criticized the AUM for its lack of transparency. A former staff member has called the AUM's social media and marketing campaigns "smoke and mirrors," meant to hide the "AUM’s activities...from the public eye, behind a Facebook page designed to make you believe you’ve entered an idyllic higher education wonderland, in which it’s nearly impossible to distinguish between fiction and fact, fantasy and reality, glitz and horror." [70] A former lecturer at the AUM cited a confidentiality clause in the institution's standard employment contract that restricts transparency by threatening punitive measures against employees who leak information to the media. The lecturer reports: "There was a confidentiality clause which stated that we would have to pay back twice our yearly salary, if we broke it—a provision that is quite bizarre in America, and unheard of in Malta." [71]

In May 2019, the AUM's plans to develop protected land in Zonqor, which were previously a matter of public record, disappeared from the Malta Planning Authority website. This event coincided with the Planning Authority's adoption of a new policy to only disclose documents which are part of completed development applications. So long as the AUM maintains an incomplete application, it can effectively hide from public view the planning documents for the controversial second campus at Zonqor Point. The Planning Authority's policy has since come under scrutiny by the Ombudsman.[72]

Locating university in higher education saturated Malta

The Maltese government has also been criticized for permitting AUM, a foreign university, to establish itself in the small country of Malta, which is already home to several higher education institutions.[73] The government stated that the AUM would end the monopoly that the University of Malta has on higher education.[74] In response to this, lecturers at the University of Malta disagreed with the use of the term "monopoly", stating that the university already competes with other institutions such as MCAST.[75] The Maltese Ministry of Education has supported other foreign higher education start-ups in Malta, for instance, Global College and Woolf University.[76][77]

Faculty recruitment for accreditation purposes only

Maltese blogger and political commentator Manuel Delia and a dismissed AUM lecturer criticised the Maltese accreditor and the AUM, alleging that the initial recruitment of faculty, including several highly qualified academics from the United States and Britain, "was a scam to demonstrate academic prowess to the National Council for Further and Higher Education in order to acquire accreditation." [78][79][80] In the aftermath of the mass firing event in January 2018, new faculty demonstrated reduced qualifications, received significantly lower salaries and, in at least four cases, were guilty of ethical improprieties of which their predecessors were not.[81][82][56]

Negative impact on cultural heritage, quality of life and public space

Despite government projections that the AUM project would improve the social and economic situation of southern Malta, Media coverage points to the university's negative impact on the local Bormla community and the greater Three Cities region. Reports indicate declining quality of life and reduced public access to open space and cultural heritage sites.

Expressing a concern "to safeguard the public interest" by preserving open spaces and historical sites, the Partit Demokratiku opposed the university's application filed with planning authorities to expand the Dock 1 campus into the nearby Cottonera district, including a student dormitory, underground parking garage and a rooftop pool.[83]

In March 2019, Maltese environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar warned that the planned extension of the AUM campus would effectively privatise the majority of public space along the Bormla waterfront and destroy cultural landmarks. "Such a building in this historically and visually sensitive area should be restored and rehabilitated through best practice and not simply bulldozed to make way for incompatible uses to the detriment of cultural heritage." [84]

In September 2019, citizens in the Three Cities region formed the civil action group Azzjoni: Tuna Artna Lura (Maltese for Action: Give Us Back Our Land) and started a petition to oppose the AUM's planned construction of a dormitory between the British and Knights Buildings, which would deprive the community of public space and a heritage site.[85][86] In a protest video, activists demonstrated the graphic damage the AUM's expansion would inflict upon the heritage site, superimposing the planned buildings on top of iconic European landmarks.[87]

On 19 November 2019, the Environmental Commission of the Catholic Church in Malta (Curia) publicly declared its opposition to the AUM extension, citing its deleterious effects on Cottonera resident wellbeing and heritage protection: “The application to occupy some of the few remaining open spaces in the heart of Cottonera, in order to accommodate facilities for AUM, is a clear example of these dangers [to quality of life and heritage preservation]. When so many doubts have been expressed about the need or even the usefulness of these facilities, and when they are evidently not in the best interest of the people of Cottonera, one cannot but be gravely concerned about who is being served by planning in this country.”[88]

In response to pressure from activists and political leaders, the Maltese Planning Authority rejected the AUM's proposed extension to the campus on the Dock 1 site, citing the need to preserve cultural heritage, maintain public open space and ensure the continued view of the Gates of Fort St. Michael from Bormla, which would have been blocked by the planned building.[89]

Inadequate quality assurance

The AUM has also been criticised for its poor quality assurance practices. Currently the AUM is accredited by the Maltese National Commission for Further and Higher Education, but has not been able to meet the more rigorous standards of U.S. accreditation.[11]

In at least two instances, Provost John Ryder and Quality Assurance Manager Rania Allam failed to meet minimum quality assurance standards for recruitment and hiring. Soon after the mass firing of faculty in January 2018, the AUM recruited, hired and employed a lecturer with a history of committing plagiarism, clearly having violated the principle of academic integrity.[81] Due to inadequate quality assurance, Ryder and Allam allowed a second faculty member, fraudulently claiming to hold academic credentials he did not, to join the AUM faculty.[82]

Investigative journalist Lizzie Eldridge has noted how the AUM's mass dismissal of faculty combined with poor quality assurance in hiring replacement faculty normalises unethical practices for new enterprises in Malta: "It becomes normal for a ‘start-up’ university to engage in mass firings of their newly employed and highly qualified staff and then hire both a plagiarist and a fraud."[90]

In August 2019, two former employees of the Maltese National Commission for Further and Higher Education, both directly involved in the AUM's accreditation process, were hired by the university as lecturers, suggesting the possibility of a revolving door or quid pro quo arrangement between the accreditor and the AUM.[56][57]

University of Malta Education Professor and public intellectual Peter Mayo described the difficulty of obtaining US accreditation with poor quality assurance practices as the AUM's primary obstacle to becoming a legitimate higher education institution: "The main struggle for institutions such as the new AUM, situated on an island at the heart of the Mediterranean, strategically posed [sic] to attract students from North Africa and Europe, is, not only to attract an adequate number of students (this has been incredibly low to the extent that some recruited academics were dismissed before the end of their probation period), but, one would imagine, to establish links with US universities and perhaps seek accreditation from important USA agencies." [91]

The AUM has still not been able to obtain U.S. accreditation.

Controversies

In the first three years of the AUM's existence, the higher education institution has been plagued by a number of controversies. Despite the university's small student body, high employee turnover and growing legal troubles, Malta's Education Minister Evarist Bartolo insisted that the AUM is not entirely a “garage operation” [92]

Suspicions of corruption, kickbacks and quid pro quo

In 2019, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who had persuaded Hani Saleh to locate the university in Malta, was named by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) as 'man of the year in organised crime and corruption'.[93] In 2020, immediately prior to the ascension of Muscat's successor, Robert Abela, it was discovered that €20,000 airline tickets to Dubai, used by Muscat, his wife and children for a recent family vacation, were purchased in Jordan, provoking suspicion that they constituted a kickback from Sadeen Group for the AUM concessions.[94]

The Maltese press also raised concerns that the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) turned a blind eye to the mass dismissal of faculty in January 2018 in a quid pro quo arrangement with the AUM. Two former employees of the NCFHE, both directly involved in the AUM's accreditation, were hired as lecturers by the university in August 2019, less than two years after the dismissal of the university's entire faculty: "Manuel Vella Rago was until recently Head of Quality Assurance at NCFHE, while Audrey Abela was its Head of Accreditation, both key roles in the regulation of the AUM." [56] According to investigative journalist Lizzie Eldridge, "Manuel Vella Rago’s previous position [was not only] as Head of Quality Assurance at the NCFHE, . . . he was [also] one of the inspectors who made that ‘surprise visit’ to the AUM last year [soon after the mass firing of the AUM's faculty in January 2018]."[57] In spite of these revelations, no investigation of the matter was ever initiated.

Low student enrolments and inability to achieve targets

In the AUM's first two years, refusals by then-Provost John Ryder to publicly release the official enrollment figures was a recurring flashpoint of controversy. An early promotional video presented the new university's plan to admit 1,000 students in its first year, eventually reaching a total enrollment of 4,000 students by its fourth year.[95]

The AUM officially began offering classes on Tuesday September 12, 2017, rather than Monday September 11, to avoid association with the September 11 attacks anniversary.[4] Asked how many students the AUM admitted for the Fall semester (academic year 2017-18), then-Provost Ryder would only say that student recruitment was “proving to be challenging." [96] In November of the same year, the Times of Malta reported that the AUM's revised plan was to enroll 330 students in its first semester, but the "university managed to attract 15 students."[97] The figure was denied by university officials.[98] Four days later, Ryder acknowledged in a Television Malta interview that the AUM student body numbered 23.[99]

At the start of the subsequent academic year (2018–19), the AUM's provost and the director of student recruitment only disclosed the number of countries from which it received applications, but not the total numbers of applicants or enrolments.[100] Despite then-Provost Ryder's promises to eventually share enrolment figures with the media, none were ever officially released. An anonymous source at the university divulged to the Times of Malta that six new students had been admitted in the fledgling institution's second year of operations.[101]

In his role as Chairman of the Cottonera Rehabilitation Committee, Maltese Parliament Member and Labour Party insider Glenn Bedingfield expressed scepticism that the AUM would fulfil its contractual obligation with the Government of Malta to reach the agreed-upon number of students four years after the building phase of the Cospicua campus is completed: "I am beginning to doubt whether they [the AUM] will ever be able to attract the 4,000 students in the promised timeframe [2025 to 2029]." [102] On the 13 October 2019, the Times of Malta reported that the AUM had only recruited one-fifth of the targeted number of students, 143 of the 710 it had promised the Maltese government.[24]

Mass dismissals and other personnel decisions

AUM personnel decisions have also generated controversy, raising concerns about the legality of the new institution's employment policies and practices. Within a period of seven months, the employment contracts of 10 university employees were terminated, either by dismissal or resignation: (1) Deputy (Construction Project) Manager (dismissal), (2) Admissions Director (dismissal), (3) Marketing and Public Relations Director (dismissal), (4) Vice President for Administrative Affairs (dismissal), (5) IT Technician (dismissal), (6) Webmaster (resignation), (7) Admissions Counselor (resignation), (8) Human Resources Director (dismissal), (9) Professor of Finance (dismissal) and (10) Dean of Student Affairs (resignation).[103]

Several of these terminations precipitated legal action by ex-employees against the university. The dismissed deputy manager filed a judicial protest against Sadeen Education.[104] The former admissions director sued the university for unfair dismissal.[105] In a judicial protest, the former Assistant Director of Admissions alleged that the AUM fraudulently misrepresented salaries to prospective hires (wage agreed to in Euros but remunerated in U.S. Dollars), mismanaged the student recruitment process and, upon completion of the employees' service, failed to pay final salaries in full, "presumably from loss of currency exchange." [106]

On 4 January 2018, Provost John Ryder informed the 12 remaining AUM faculty members by e-mail that their employment with the university had been terminated without cause.[107][108] Five of the terminated faculty members sued the AUM for unfair dismissal and abuse of the six-month probationary period rule.[109] According to Maltese Labour law, the six-month probationary rule stipulates that "[t]he first six months of any employment under a contract of service is deemed to be probationary employment, unless otherwise agreed by both parties for a shorter probation period. [...] During the probationary period, either party may terminate the employment at will without reason. Provided that a week’s notice of the termination of employment has to be given to the other party in the case of an employee who has been in the employment of the same employer continuously for more than one month." [110] The five lecturers reached an agreement with Sadeen to settle the case before it reached adjudication, the terms of which were never made public. Arkansas State University, which signed an agreement with the AUM in March 2019 to offer dual degree programs, decided in September 2019 to freeze and scrutinize the AUM agreement after discovery of the mass firing of faculty in January 2018.[111][112]

In a two hour interview with investigative journalist Lizzie Eldridge, soon-to-be-retired Provost John Ryder admitted that the mistake that led to the mass dismissal of faculty from the AUM in January 2018 was his own, an error in forecasting the number of students, courses and instructors required for the first academic year: "Part of the problem was that we were way overstaffed because I had hired with certain assumptions about the number of students and we weren’t even in the neighbourhood for the first intake of students . . . It turned out to be much more difficult than we thought. We were way over-optimistic about recruiting and hiring." [61]

In 2020, despite a significant shortfall in projected enrolments and the fresh memory of the 2018 mass firing of faculty, the institution tweeted: "We are proud to have grown our student numbers over the years and we are even more proud that we still cultivate strong relationships between students and professors." [113]

Another source of controversy is the alleged legal and ethical wrongdoing by members of the AUM's board of trustees. The board members are (1) Prince Jean of Luxembourg (chair), (2) John Ryder (scholar), (3) Taddeo Scerri (chairman of the board at the Bank of Valletta), (4) Hani Salah (Chief Executive Officer of Sadeen Group), (5) Taher al-Masri, (6) Derrick Gosselin and (7) Carine Boonen.[114]

Board member Taddeo Scerri was accused of ignoring conflicts of interest between his AUM board appointment and his current and past professional positions in Malta's financial sector.[115]

Board member Derrick Gosselin exploited a so-called Revolving door (politics) between an executive position in a private energy company and a senior policy position in the Flemish government in order to unethically influence public policy for his employer's financial benefit.[116]

Board member John Ryder, who was appointed immediately after his resignation as provost, undertook the mass firing of faculty in January 2018 as well as hiring replacement faculty with histories of plagiarism and fraud in the aftermath.[107][81][82]

On 23 January 2020, Adrian Hillman, former Allied Group managing director, was removed from his role as the government's representative to the AUM board. A spokesperson for the Maltese Ministry of Education stated, "Mr Adrian Hillman will no longer be the Government nominee on AUM."[117] Three years prior, Hillman was appointed to the board of trustees while under criminal investigation for laundering money and receiving kickbacks from the Maltese Prime Minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri, who has been implicated in the Panama Papers money laundering scheme and the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.[118][114][119]

Poor community relations and backlash

Despite initial support from the local Bormla council, the AUM's continued expansion in the Dock 1 area has soured relations with some members of the Cospicua community. Citing increased traffic congestion and a shortage of vehicle parking caused by the new university's presence, Bormla's mayor requested that the university allow local residents to use 50% of the AUM's parking spaces in a planned underground complex.[120]

The daughter of Malta's former prime minister Dom Mintoff, Yanna Mintoff, filed a protest with planning authorities to the proposed "privatisation" of public space by the AUM, warning against premature campus growth "considering the very low uptake of the AUM educational services to date, and the lack of any positive multiplier effect on the local community and the country as a whole." [121] Member of Parliament Glenn Bedingfield complained that the proposed student dormitory to be built as an extension to the Knights Building is "too big for AUM's dozen students." [122]

On 26 September 2019, the Maltese Planning Authority board decided to reject the AUM's decision to extend the campus on the Dock 1 site, citing concerns that the building would obstruct the view of Fort St. Michael, reduce public open space and damage the social fabric of the community, thereby transforming "Bormla into Sadeen town."[89]

Palumbo Group, which operates the nearby dockyard, requested a court injunction to stop the AUM from blocking the parking entrance to Dock 1. "The university cannot close off the area," a Palumbo representative claimed, "as it is fundamental to the works being carried out by the dock yard." [123]

Hotel development claim

The planned extension of the Dock 1 facilities fuelled rumours that the Sadeen Group intended to declare the AUM project a failure and transform the site into a luxury hotel. A coalition of Cottonera residents and community groups "expressed concern that the long-term objective of constructing a dormitory was to convert it to a hotel in a few years' time."[124] Even prominent members of the Labour government speculated that the planned rooftop collegiate sports pool would become a hotel pool fit for relaxation and sunbathing.[125]

Students abscond to Europe

The Maltese press revealed that nearly a third of the AUM's new students had absconded from Malta to mainland Europe, rather than remain in Malta to start their studies. "In what may be a case of irregular migration," wrote Ivan Camilleri, Times of Malta journalist reporting on four Bangladeshi students who escaped to continental Europe, "they are suspected to have used the Schengen visas they were granted on the strength of their student status to make their way to another EU country. The Schengen visa allows its holder free movement in 22 EU Member States and four other European countries." [126] In an interview with investigative journalist Lizzie Eldridge, Provost John Ryder admitted that foreign students had used the AUM as a launch board into Europe. Responding defensively, he acknowledged that the absconding students posed security risks (human trafficking and terrorism), but insisted that all were reported to Maltese immigration authorities.[127]

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gollark: You can totally afford AI things, Google Colab lets you run random dubious AI projects for free.
gollark: *News: Trading company invents faster than light communications system.*

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