The following letter was sent to Premier Glen Clark on July 21, 1997. It requests his intervention to stop Bill 30 from proceeding in its initial form.
July 21, 1997
Honourable Glen Clark
Premier
Province of British Columbia
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4
Via FAX Transmission - 10 Pages - (250) 387-0087
Dear Premier Clark,
I write to you on a matter of great importance with respect to a bill currently before the legislature. We believe that Bill 30 -- Technical University of British Columbia Act -- is structurally flawed, threatening the academic freedom fundamental to a university, and leading to programs of instruction and research of questionable quality and credibility. Attached you will find copies of a July 3rd letter and a July 21st letter to Paul Ramsey, Minister of Education, Skills and Training, which detail our concerns.
In summary, the legislation puts into the hands of the board of governors the power to make detailed decisions with respect to educational and research programs to be pursued at the institution. This differs from the those universities incorporated under the University Act, and those colleges and institutes incorporated under the College and Institute Act and the Institute of Technology Act, where the professional instructional and research faculty have that authority as exercised through academic senates and education councils.
Shared governance, realized through an academic senate, embodies both a philosophic commitment to democracy and freedom of inquiry, and a practical delegation of duties to those people best qualified to make such decisions. The senate model of academic governance recognizes that a part-time board of governors neither has the time, nor the expertise to effectively, and efficiently, render decisions on specialized programs. It also recognizes that if the institution is to employ professionals, it best give those professionals the latitude to do what they do best, or risk losing them. It is our position, based on experience, that such decision-making ought to be left to the expertise present on senates, rather than a part-time board of governors.
The effect of the board of governors retaining such authority is two-fold. First, the institution will not be able to attract high quality faculty. Faculty in the technical fields are in high demand and will prefer those institutions which allow them to exercise their professional judgement in devising and delivering instructional and research programs. Second, without assurances that educational and research programs are being determined by faculty, other institutions will view credentials from TUBC with a jaundiced eye, and graduates from the institution may be unable to gain admittance to further study at other institutions.
We believe this matter to of sufficient importance that our member faculty associations and the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association of University Teachers have approved an action resolution (a copy of which is attached) that, in the event Bill 30 passes third reading, will result in a national and international campaign advising prospective faculty members not to accept appointments at TUBC, and advising academics not to participate in conferences or research programs sponsored by the institution.
We prefer not to implement this resolution, and have attempted to resolve this matter through Minister Ramsey without success. Thus, we request your intervention in this matter. As the legislative agenda is moving ahead quite quickly, we plan to inform the Official Opposition of our concerns by Monday, July 28, 1997, unless there is some indication from your office or Minister Ramsey's office that we can work together to resolve the concerns.
We look forward to your earliest reply.
Sincerely,
Tony Sheppard
President
c: Paul Ramsey, Minister, Education, Skills and Training
Doug McArthur, Deputy Minister and Cabinet Secretary
Ron Dickson, Chair, Interim Governing Board, TUBC
Bernard Sheehan, President, TUBC
Dean Goard, Secretary, University Presidents' Council
Bill Bruneau, President, CAUT
Ed Lavalle, President, CIEA
Robert Blake, President UBC Faculty Association
Jean Koepke, President, SFU Faculty Association
Clare Porac, President, UVic Faculty Association
Todd Whitcombe, Vice-President, UNBC Faculty Association