I have resigned from Manchester Metropolitan University.
My position there now is untenable. I was suspended for questioning workload arrangements and appointment procedures. The university then issued misleading statements to the press implying that there were other reasons for the charge of ‘gross professional misconduct’. This attack by the university on my rights as an academic, on my scholarly work and on my trade union activities has had lasting effects, and every attempt to try and repair the damage done has been blocked by them. Written evidence presented to my disciplinary hearing by one of my managers included the unwittingly telling sentence: ‘I deeply regret the situation and the inexorable damage incurred by my Department and the University’. I must say I agree! The basis of the campaign to support me was that issues of secrecy and control were at the heart of the activities that led to my
suspension, and that the documents should be released to make clear what the charges were and so clear my name. An archive of material about the case was accumulating throughout the campaign at www.asylumonline.net/ian
...
I have to carry on now outside MMU. I have editing and writing projects and psychoanalytic work which will keep me busy. I will continue
to work in the context of the Discourse Unit, and in association with different academic institutions around the world. The university was making me sick. It was time to get out.
Ian Parker
The entire statement can be found at: www.parkerian.com/mmu.rtf
