Corruption watchdog's university probe ends in tears

Alyssa White gives evidence at the ICAC inquiry on Friday. (Supplied: NSW ICAC)

Former University of Wollongong chief governance officer Alyssa White ended three days of evidence with admissions about recruitment processes and conflicts of interest.

She tearfully accepted her conduct had corroded university culture.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption's findings are not expected to be tabled until the end of August.

Three weeks of probing by the NSW corruption watchdog has ended in tears.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption has spent the past 15 days examining allegations involving recruitment practices, consultancy contracts, governance reforms and conflicts of interest during a period that would ultimately lead to a major university restructure and hundreds of job losses.

Former chief governance officer Alyssa White, who left the university before becoming a central figure in the inquiry, concluded three days of evidence on Friday.

In the final minutes of the public hearing, Commissioner Paul Lakatos stepped away from individual appointments and instead summarised what he said Ms White's conduct had amounted to.

He put to her that she had helped friends and former colleagues through recruitment processes, provided assistance that was not available to other applicants and effectively influenced outcomes.

Commissioner Lakatos suggested the processes had become "unfair and opaque rather than transparent", to which she replied, "Yes, Commissioner."

He then suggested she had effectively placed her "finger on the scales" in favour of preferred candidates.

Commissioner Paul Lakatos during the final day of public hearings. (Supplied: NSW ICAC)

"With your extensive experience in governance at tertiary institutions, you must have known that if your actions in these recruitments came to light, or even if there was a perception of what you did coming to light, that would corrode rather than improve the culture?" he asked.

The most emotional exchange came Commissioner Lakatos asked, "Can you tell me why you did it?"

"Very desperate to not only secure staff, but staff that would be able to work well together and staff that would be able to work in the environment that I could see that was in place at the university, particularly in the governance and policy space.

"It's a difficult space to work in … I did not do the right thing, but I didn't want someone to end up in that environment without knowing what they were signing up for."

Earlier on Friday, Ms White was questioned about a proposed $400,000 position she expected to occupy