I suspect there's a big variation, particularly in whether the university has placed the keys to the kingdom in the hands of a "partner" of, shall we say, dubio

I suspect there's a big variation, particularly in whether the university has placed the keys to the kingdom in the hands of a "partner" of, shall we say, dubious competence and understanding of academia, after getting rid of decades worth of local experience. Fortunately those with decades of experience outside Networks group can usually find an "impossible" way to work around notwork and other roadblocks, but it's so much wasted time.