THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

Letter: 24 March 2006

No longer family affair

That Piero Tosi, the president of the Italian Rectors' Conference, has been suspended for
allegedly favouring his son's appointment to a university hospital ("Siena imbroglio", March 10)
will surprise no one familiar with recruiting practices at Italy's universities.

Raccomandazione (pre-selecting candidates on the basis of connections) is the norm,
meritocracy the rare exception.

Tosi rightly sees the interference by the magistrates as a blow to university "autonomy".

But the blow, long overdue, is merely an attempt to uphold the rule of law in a country
where autonomy amounts to the right of university barons to confer appointments to family members
and their friends.

DAVID PETRIE

Chair Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy
University of Verona