Mr Sofield was sacked on grounds that he had exceeded his authority and made unfounded allegations against department head Dr Frank Go and associate head Joseph Ruddy.
Professor Poon last night said ''there was definitely no question of my resigning''.
''It would be a disservice to Hong Kong people,'' he said. ''Am I a fool? I have to be accountable to the whole institution.'' He said he doubted if the four lecturers' criticism represented the general feeling within the department.
''To be fair, we must listen to the view points of the other staff.'' Professor Poon stood by the decisions over the inquiry, saying they had been reached after considering the inquiry report and other feedback and had the full support of the senior colleagues and the council.
He said he understood some staff had described him as a ''dictator'' but he said: ''I am one of the most open-minded directors''.
He said he had formal and informal meetings with various levels of staff and students regularly and their views were taken seriously.
In view of the loss of staff, he said the polytechnic did not intent on keeping staff who did not meet the standard but would try to keep the impact on the students to a minimum.
Lecturer Perry Hobson said yesterday he had rejected the polytechnic's offer to renew his contract because he supported Mr Sofield and was disappointed about the outcome of the inquiry.
Another lecturer, Jeremy Huyton, said he had decided last October not to seek to renew his contract, as he felt he could not work with Dr Go.
He and colleagues Woon Chi-ching and Roberta Leung Wong Kow-won - whose contracts are not being renewed for other reasons - will leave at the end of this academic year.
The four criticised the directorate's decision to keep Dr Go, although the inquiry found he had neglected some responsibilities for leadership and management of the department.
They feared the departure of Mr Sofield and Mr Ruddy - whose contract will be terminated by mutual consent - would be a blow to the department as those people, instead of Dr Go, knew about its management.
The lecturers said the students would suffer from the loss of at least 10 lecturers by this summer. Mr Sofield had been supervising six students' research projects and had planned to teach two new subjects next term.
Professor Poon has described Dr Go as a man with vision, but the lecturers questioned how a man with vision could lead a department which was found to suffer ''a sense of lack of direction''.
The lecturers said as Professor Poon had been responsible for appointing and retaining Dr Go, whom they did not consider an effective manager, the director should shoulder the responsibility of making an error of judgment.
They also criticised the director and the directorate for having too much power over such issues as the appointment of staff, and the way they concluded the inquiry.
Mr Hobson said Professor Poon had sought to act as the gatekeeper of a new grievance committee by suggesting that the director should decide which appeals should be passed on to the committee.
The lecturers said if the highly centralised power structure and management style of the polytechnic did not change, it would be difficult to bring change to the institution which will soon be renamed a university.
Professor Poon joined the polytechnic in 1991 and was reappointed unanimously by the council last week for another four years until 1998. He was unavailable for comment last night.
An associate director, Alexander Tzang Hing-chung, said earlier yesterday the polytechnic ''never did, and never will'' terminate a staff member's contract merely because he or she had made complaints about the management.
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