Sheila Reynolds
Surrey/North Delta News Leader Contributor
Saturday, August 2, 1997
Page A5
A call for international boycott of Tech B.C. by professional teachers' groups is forging ahead following Wednesday's adoption of Bill 30, the legislation establishing the institution.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and the Confederation of University Faculty Associations (CUFA) have begun a campaign slamming Tech B.C.'s credibility and are warning professors world-wide it is "not a university as they might traditionally understand it."
The groups claim Tech B.C. will not guarantee academic freedom under the current governing system.
Education Minister Paul Ramsey defends the university, saying it will be a quality institution that will guarantee academic freedom.
He believes teaching applicants will be "beating down the doors", and labels opponent's threats as mere rhetoric.
"I don't how whether he doesn't understand or whether he's just posturing," says Robert Clift, CUFA's executive director, puzzled by Ramsey's response. "He is not appreciating the fact that when a cloud is put over an academic institution, it takes a long time to get it off.''
Tech B.C. chair Ron Dickson is also unconcerned by the boycott's potential damage, but wishes the university could have a more "cooperative relationship" with the teachers federations.
"We want to cooperate with these people and work with them," Dickson said Thursday.
At the centre of the dispute is the method of governance adopted for the new school. Most universities function under a two governing boards - one that deals with business and financial issues while the other handles academic matters.
Tech B.C. placing all responsibility in the hands of one board. Opponents charge the system will lack balance.
The first print advertisement in opposition to Tech B.C. is scheduled to run locally Aug. 8.
Meanwhile, Tech B.C. is still looking for a place to call home.
The provincial government had originally chosen Cloverdale for the university site, but Surrey-Whalley MLA Joan Smallwood has lobbied to relocate the school to Surrey City Centre.
Now Dickson has revealed the university board is looking at a broader range of locations as well because it is caught in a capital freeze and must find "more efficient ways of doing things."
Even if the Cloverdale land is not used for the institution's main site, he hopes the land can be retained for other university facilities.
The adoption of Bill 30 will allow site negotiations to proceed more quickly, according to Dickson.