Craig Saunders
the Martlet
September 4, 1997
Page 7
VICTORIA (CUP)--Despite mounting opposition from student and faculty groups--and in the face of an international academic boycott--B.C.'s government is going ahead with plans for a new university.
Overshadowed by fish and forest wars in late July, the NDP government passed an act to create the Technical University of British Columbia (TUBC) in Surrey. The decision raised hackles on all sides, students and teaching groups alike.
An international academic boycott, launched jointly by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and the Confederation of University Faculty Associations - B.C. (CUFA/BC) is part of the retaliation scheme. Representatives of involved groups say that the school does not meet standards for academic freedom, and given its proposed governance structure, does not merit the title of "university."
The basic problem is such: opposers are worried the school's corporate sponsors will have too much say in everyday affairs.
The new school will not have an academic senate, as traditional universities do, nor will it have a tenure system. According to CAUT and CUFA/BC, the lack of senate, together with a strong corporate presence on campus, presents a serious threat to academic freedom.
"We don't reject the idea that an applied institution can have ties to business," said Robert Clift, executive director of CUFA/BC. "But it needs to have academic freedom measures."
TUBC's structure includes a fairly traditional board of governors, which includes token faculty and student representatives. Unlike traditional universities, however, the new school will have no academic senate.
Senates normally include faculty, student, alumni and community representatives, and oversee curriculum and programming issues. At TUBC, on the other hand, these duties will be shared by the Board of Governors and a 12-person "University Council," which includes faculty, students, two board-appointed staff members and four members of the "Program Advisory Committees."
The committees exist to advise the school on curriculum, and include a majority of seats from the business community.
But CUFA/BC fears that this structure will make the school a training tool for the corporations that will sponsor it.
According to Clift, a university should be a place where "general skills are being built within a context ... not merely providing a set of specific skills a student will use unquestioningly when working."
Representatives at the Ministry of Education, Skills and Training, and TUBC President Bernie Sheehan both feel these complaints are premature.
"A number of the structures are just being developed," said Deputy Minister of Education Don Avison. "I think it's disappointing and regrettable that at this stage in the process that alarm bell has been pressed ...Before [CAUT and CUFA/BC] have taken the time to adequately inform themselves," he continued.
Sheehan, who is both president and CEO of the new university, echoed Avison's sentiment, explaining the structure will develop over time.
"It's for the future to decide," he said.
In response to the university's proposed structure, CAUT does not recognize the new school as a university, and is encouraging academics to refuse to work there through an academic boycott. William Bruneau, CAUT president, is spending September in England and France in hopes of encouraging academic organizations overseas to support the boycott.
As the campaign, which includes newspaper advertisements, continues to develop, CAUT and CUFA/BC hope to see letters of support rolling in from similar organizations around the globe. They also intend to ask accreditation agencies to deny the new school status as a university.
None of this has phased Sheehan, though. He doesn't foresee the boycott having any significant impact on the school's recruitment campaign.
"It's disappointing that [CAUT and CUFA/BC] didn't have a more creative approach to the new university," he said. "[The boycott] is a bit premature."
TUBC's funding is a major issue raised by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), and the College Institute Educators' Association (CIEA).
"In the last couple of years, funding has been maintained, but the student population has increased," explained Maura Parte, chair of CFS' B.C. component. "There is less funding per student."
But the government, however, does not see funding as a major hurdle, despite cuts to federal transfer payments to education and declining provincial support.
"The government has expressed a commitment to the Technical University," said Avison. "I think it's pretty fair to say the resources there to assist post-secondary education are very strong...despite federal cuts."
While Avison was quick to be assuring about the government's commitment, he didn't comment on where the university's funding will come from.
Every document pertaining to the Technical University makes some reference to "industry involvement."
The approach TUBC is taking to education is definitely a new one. Its proposed academic programming will make industry-related courses as accessible as possible to its first wave of students.
"Access is really our big thing. The attempt to focus on the learner is the other big thing," said Sheehan. "We try to look at the world from the learner's perspective."
Sheehan said that B.C. has a problem with low participation in post-secondary education, and the Fraser Valley, although rapidly growing, has an even more significant problem. Putting a new school in the Valley is planned as part of the solution.
To make it easier to attend, the school will also be offering classes through the internet. Sheehan said the school wants to "see how far we can extend that technology" to make the courses available to people who can't get access to a traditional campus.
Although there is no official TUBC campus yet, a site is available to the school in Surrey, and they plan to offer some internet-based courses as early as September of 1998.
The first two program areas offered will be Information Technology, and Management. The former covers systems, hardware, software, and communication. The latter will include programs in business administration, entrepreneurship, international business and management of technology.
Later program areas will include Medical and Health Technology, Food Design (which could include packaging, new foods, or bioengineering), Industrial Design and Engineering, and application of technology to media and entertainment.