The vice-chancellor of the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of New South Wales is to step down after two years in the job.

Rory Hume last week resigned from his A$750,000 (?309,099)-a-year job after informing John Yu, the chancellor, that his relationship with members of the governing council had broken down.

Staff called for the councillors who had forced him out to go instead. Ten senior executives from the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California, Los Angeles, where Professor Hume was executive vice-chancellor from 1998 to 2000, wrote a letter saying they regard him as "of the utmost integrity".

Rumours on campus claim that the main reason for the UNSW council's disquiet was Professor Hume's decision not to uphold charges of scientific misconduct against Bruce Hall.

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This was despite an external inquiry that found that Professor Hall had published material with "a deliberate intent to deceive or in reckless disregard for the truth".

Professor Hume, who was 21 months into a five-year contract, also appears to have fallen out with Dr Yu.

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Professor Hume persuaded the council last year to overturn a ban on full-fee places for Australian students. Dr Yu had previously voted in favour of the ban.