Exclusive | Former IPM head criticizes institute for failing to assess teachers, students

David Quartermain

A former manager at the Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM) has criticized the Institute’s alleged malpractice and negligence of operations, specifying issues such as the absence of performance reviews for professors, poor student assessment (including cases of cheating) and even sexual harassment.

David Quartermain, former deputy director of the Institute’s Bell Centre of English, detailed to the Times how the Institute allegedly “misused public funds, covered up immoral and incompetent behavior” and “misled those involved in the accreditation program.”

The professor has worked for IPM since 2003, first as a trainer (2003-2005) and then as a manager (2005-2016), before moving to the Gaming, Teaching and Research Centre (GTRC) in December 2016.

Amongst the issues raised, Quartermain criticized the public institution of higher education for failing to supervise documents submitted by teachers at the end of each semester.

These documents are submitted by professors and detail what they have taught during the semester. Quartermain noted that IPM has never checked these files.

“There are no performance targets, no indication of what improvements are required and no penalties for teachers who receive critical feedback from students,” the former deputy director said. “At IPM, performance simply doesn’t matter.”

Quartermain said numerous teaching staff at IPM are employed on full-time contracts but have very little work to do, recalling that his contract required him to complete 20 hours of teaching per week, when he was only assigned to an average of 3.4 hours per week.

“Many members of staff spend most of their days watching movies, chatting with friends or simply being absent from their desks. I was certainly not the only teacher to do no work, despite receiving full pay,” he told the Times.

“In fact, since December 2016, I have only been assigned an average of 3.4 hours [of] work per week, or 17% of what I should have actually been doing. Between the final examination on 10th May 2017 and the start of the next term on 25th August (a period of 15 weeks), I was required to do no work whatsoever, despite receiving my full salary of MOP69,720 per month. Similarly, between the final exam on 11th May 2018 and my departure on 10th July 2018, no work was requested or done,” Quartermain said.

The scholar slammed the Institute for renewing contracts without any kind of review, claiming that IPM uses highly paid positions, such as directorships and sub-directorships of research and training centers, to bypass the usually strict criteria by which professors are appointed and promoted.

He also expressed that the appointments of center heads, such as IPM-Bell Centre of English, are made on the basis of personal friendships and political connections rather than suitability for the post, or competence when performing the job.

“There is no vetting process for such positions at all, they are made entirely at the whim of the president and rubber-stamped by the Board of Management with no formal application process or opportunity for alternative candidates to apply.”

The professor stressed that the promotion of staff was purely based on “party connections and personal recommendations,” implying that those from the mainland with political connections have a higher chance of being promoted.

“You would consistently see that the mainland connection kind of dominates everything; the politics of it and not about performance,” he told the Times.

Quartermain also recalled that there were professors who were moved to the institute’s GTRC despite having little or no knowledge in gaming.

According to him, the move was a means of transferring professors who were having internal issues with their seniors, and IPM often used GTRC as a “dumping ground” for staff. “Trainers who consistently rank at the bottom in student feedback surveys are still automatically rewarded with new contracts,” he said. “School directors who oversee a large decline in their department’s work are similarly renewed without any kind of review.”

Quartermain also mentioned the issue of cheating and the lack of preparation by foreign students in understanding English classes. He described teaching students from Cape Verde on a four-year scholarship, paid for by the MSAR government, studying gaming management. “Despite the fact that the entire four-year degree programme is taught in English, the students were not given any kind of English test before being enrolled. On 21st May 2018, accreditors visiting GTRC were falsely informed that there had been only one case of cheating during that semester’s final examinations. In fact, there had been three,” Quartermain said. “The teacher of that course (who was invigilating the exam) was later asked to tone down her report, so that it didn’t reflect badly on IPM and the organization could avoid taking any kind of action. For the same reason, invigilators were not informed of the other instances of cheating,” he continued.

The Times also had access to a complaint Quartermain sent to the institute’s board members in 2016, which includes many e-mails detailing complaints about a professor at the center made by students in 2014 and 2015.

However, Quartermain said that no action was taken, despite the scholar receiving low marks in student feedback surveys.

Quartermain slammed the institute for allegedly failing to take proper action against the sexually inappropriate behavior of a professor at the center, despite receiving complaints from visiting female professors from Xinjiang and a female Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.
“Despite all of the above, IPM have promised to renew [the professor’s] contract in August 2018,” said Quartermain, concerned.

“It’s worrying. We had several allegations of aggressive and sexually inappropriate behavior [and] nothing is [being] done. The only criteria it’s all about not upsetting the management,” said Quartermain.

According to the scholar, IPM ignores the correct disciplinary procedures when attempting to remove staff, and employees would receive an email less than 24 hours before a meeting.

According to him, IPM failed to provide students with fair and reliable examinations, and he recalled that the institute does not check whether or not the exams are “logical.”

The Times contacted IPM yesterday for a comment on the accusations, however, no answer was received by press time.

End of contract, reason unknown

David Quartermain also details the process that led to the termination of his contract as deputy director of the IPM-Bell Centre of English in November 2016. Following a meeting where the decision was announced, the scholar claims he was denied access to complaints made against him, and has been given no written information as to the reason behind the decision to terminate his contract prematurely.

“In my own case, I was given the ultimatum of receiving 3 month’s notice or moving to GTRC. […] My contract stated that I was an ESP Trainer at IPM-Bell, but my payroll statement listed my department as GTRC, and I taught at GTRC,” he said. At the center, he was officially listed as a member of “administrative staff,” despite the fact he taught alongside other members of academic staff. According to him, he had no other option but to accept the proposed transfer to GTRC.

Quartermain further said that he was forced to leave his post at the GTRC department recently, despite having worked for the institute for 13 years.

“I was told I had to leave [or] move department [and] was given no opportunity to ask why, call witnesses, mount a defense,” he explained.

“There is no due process whatsoever. Macau Labor Law and the IPM Personnel Charter are ignored. They make you sign a letter, then turn round to say ‘ah, you agree, so no compensation [or] explanation needed,” the professor added.