July 28, 1997
For Immediate Release
Vancouver--The national organization representing Canadian university academic staff, and their provincial counterpart in British Columbia, today formally announced plans to launch an international boycott of the Technical University of British Columbia (TUBC), should the provincial government adopt Bill 30, the legislation establishing the institution, in its current form.
"This institution simply isn't a university," Bill Bruneau, president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), said. "The legislation violates two basic characteristics of a university: first, that professors and students should have the major voice in decisions about academic programs, and second, that professors should not be artificially constrained in their decisions as to which research projects to pursue."
If Bill 30 is not amended to correct these defects, CAUT and the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA/BC) plan to launch an international boycott of the institution, urging potential professors and administrators not to take positions at the new institution, nor to participate in joint research projects with the institution. The organizations also intend to notify British Columbians that their interests are not being served by this institution.
"The people of Surrey and the Lower Fraser Valley have been misled," Robert Clift, executive director of CUFA/BC, said. "They lobbied for the creation of a university because they knew it would give them and their children a good education and a competitive edge. The government has instead given them a private trade school, funded from the public purse."
CAUT and CUFA/BC have tried to convince the government to amend Bill 30 since its introduction on June 9, 1997. In a detailed analysis of the legislation, the two organizations charge: "the legislation allows for political control and interference in the operation of the new university unlike the other universities in the province. ... It has been designed by arrogant interests unwilling to consult with the academic staff who are the key to the operations of any internationally competitive university."
"Education Minister Paul Ramsey has made it clear to us that this institution is to serve the specific interests of business," Clift said. "This will ill serve the students, because it will result in degrees designed for specific employers, rather than general education and training they can use in a changing society and economy."
CAUT represents 25,000 university professors, professional librarians and other academic staff at universities across Canada. CUFA/BC represents 3,500 university professors, professional librarians, and other academic staff at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and University of Northern British Columbia.
The detailed analysis of the legislation and related documents are available on the world wide web at http://cufabc.harbour.sfu.ca/tubc/index.html
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For further information, please contact:
Bill Bruneau, President, Canadian Association of University Teachers,
(604) 224-3889 (Home), or (604) 822-5353 (Office)
Robert Clift, Executive Director, Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C.
(604) 291-5201 (Office), or (604) 817-1649 (Cell Phone)
Attachment: Backgrounder on University Governance at the Technical University of British Columbia (TUBC)
Universities are governed by two bodies, a board of governors and an academic senate (or equivalent bodies). The board of governors is usually comprised of a number of people from outside the university appointed by the government or by the board itself, supplemented by a smaller number of people elected by university professors, students, and non-academic staff. The board deals primarily with financial issues including the university budget, management of university property, tuition fees and personnel matters.
The academic senate is comprised of elected and appointed representatives of university administrators, professors, and students, supplemented by a smaller number of people appointed from outside the university. The senate deals primarily with academic issues including the design of programs of study, policies on teaching and research, academic discipline, and the criteria for awarding degrees.
This separation of responsibilities gives each body the authority to exercise power in its area of expertise. It also balances the internal academic interests with the external societal and economic interests.
In contrast, Bill 30, the Technical University of British Columbia Act, places all decision-making power in the hands of the board of governors, which is dominated by people from outside the institution, appointed by the provincial government. The part-time, non-expert board of governors has authority over almost all questions of program design, academic standards, and which areas of study will be offered, unlike the universities established under the University Act (which are the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and University of Northern British Columbia).
Also unlike those universities under the authority of the University Act, the board of TUBC has explicit authority to approve research projects undertaken at the university. Thus curiosity-based research, like that which led to UBC biochemist Michael Smith to win the Nobel Prize, will not be permitted unless the non-expert board of governors approves of it. Nor can we be assured the board will not direct instructors how to teach their classes. This will potentially limit the ability of the university to act in the public interest, as those business interests represented on the TUBC board will have the power to halt any research projects or programs of instruction potentially damaging to them.
For further information contact Robert Clift at (604) 291-5201, or access the following web site: http://cufabc.harbour.sfu.ca/tubc/index.html