The rectorate of Amadou Mahtar Mbow University (UAM) has responded to accusations made by the SUDES-ESR section, which denounced an alleged "misconduct" by the rector in the handling of a dispute concerning a teacher-researcher.

From the outset, the UAM management clarifies that "academic debate can only flourish in truth and respect for the facts. If each union chooses to speak to the press without bothering to verify the information with the authorized bodies, no crisis can be resolved peacefully. Amadou Mahtar Mbow University remains committed to dialogue, consultation, and the rigorous application of the texts that govern university governance."

According to the university administration, the case dates back to the expulsion, decided over a year ago by the Council of the Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technologies (UFR STA), of a lecturer-researcher who had been regularly recruited and had not been found to have committed any proven disciplinary offenses. Several mediation efforts undertaken by university authorities have failed to produce a compromise.

"Despite several mediations initiated by the rectorate and other academic authorities, no consensual solution could be found. Faced with this impasse, the Board of Directors, the supreme governing body of the university, was called upon to examine the matter, in accordance with regulatory provisions. It deliberated in complete independence and in compliance with the applicable texts," states the UAM, which insists that disciplinary jurisdiction does not fall under the purview of the UFRs.

It is also important to remember that, according to the regulations, the Faculty Council has no disciplinary authority to expel a faculty member. Its role is advisory and deliberative in educational, scientific, and administrative matters, but decisions concerning the status of faculty members fall exclusively under the purview of the Board of Directors and, where applicable, the relevant national bodies.

"Furthermore, the teacher in question is a member of another union, which could have, if it had wanted to, adopted the same media approach. This means that the denunciation stance adopted by a single union cannot be established as institutional truth. The university is not a battleground for unions, but a space of law, dialogue and collective responsibility," the rectorate warns.

While affirming its commitment to trade union and academic freedoms, the UAM calls for "restraint, responsibility, and scrupulous respect for the rules." The institution states that it remains open to dialogue within a structured framework of consultation that complies with the regulations governing university life.