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Recent Posts
- Head of UBC Mathematics: The end of an era
- Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann 1945-2022
- UBC Campus Vision 2050, in a word, lacks vision
- Louis Nirenberg (1925-2020)
- UBC: The ill-fated revolt of those who ought to know better
- Shiny, happy, oblivious science
- NSERC has lost its bearings … again
- The Learning & Research of the UBC Board of Governors (II)
- The Learning & Research committee of the UBC Board: What a difference a year makes (I)
- UBC: Failures in governance are slowing down the pace of academic renewal
- A research community at the mercy of a leaderless NSERC
- A busy first four months on the UBC Board of Governors
- Academic publishing in the time of sanctions and boycotts
- Maurice Sion: 1927 – 2018
- Robert M. Miura: 1938 – 2018
- When the Walls of Governance Come Crumbling Down
- Why I am voting against the tuition increases for domestic students
- Resignation of the director of the Wall Institute: The reaction
- Why I am resigning from the directorship of the Wall institute
- Accountability and Governance at UBC: Budget
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Category Archives: Board of Governors
UBC Campus Vision 2050, in a word, lacks vision
By Professor Christopher Rea June 22, 2022 Dear Ms. McKenzie, President Ono, and Members of the Board of Governors: This is our “I have a dream” moment on campus housing. It is an opportunity for UBC to solve its existential … Continue reading
UBC: The ill-fated revolt of those who ought to know better
“We the undersigned are writing to express deep concern with the lack of transparency regarding the decision on the renewal of the Provost”. This looks like an ordinary enough preface to a standard petition signed by the usual “rebellious” suspects at a North American university. … Continue reading
The Learning & Research of the UBC Board of Governors (II)
(This post is a slightly updated version of an article that appeared on October 10 in The Ubyssey). On September 12, I resigned from the Chair of the Learning and Research (L&R) Committee of the Board. I chose to do … Continue reading
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The Learning & Research committee of the UBC Board: What a difference a year makes (I)
“You had demanded to chair the Learning and Research Committee,” the Chair of the Board proclaimed at last week’s open meeting of a Board’s committee. You bet I did, I replied, “because the reason I ran for the Board one more time … Continue reading
UBC: Failures in governance are slowing down the pace of academic renewal
I had promised many things to those who elected me to the Board of Governors as a faculty representative for UBC-Vancouver. But as I mentioned in a previous post, a data dump from the faculty association last October opened my eyes … Continue reading
A busy first four months on the UBC Board of Governors
Things are different from my earlier 2008-14 term on the Board of Governors, but I still don’t know exactly why. The 2015-17 “revolt of the faculty” has surely been a factor. The UBClean campaign was triggered by questionable actions of … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Faculty headcount, Housing Action Plan, Tuition, UBC, ubc board of governors
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When the Walls of Governance Come Crumbling Down
“We are deeply disappointed that Janis Sarra has had to step down as Director of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies … Like her, we will all work to secure the academic independence of the Institute and its programs, … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, R&D Policy
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Why I am voting against the tuition increases for domestic students
During my previous two terms on the UBC Board of Governors from 2008 to 2014, I always voted in support of the administration’s maximum government-allowable 2% increases in tuition fees for domestic students. But things are different this time. The … Continue reading
Resignation of the director of the Wall Institute: The reaction
The Board of Trustees of the Wall Institute is trying to reach out to a revolted UBC community by announcing a one-year moratorium on the changes they had dictated, only a week ago, to Director Philippe Tortell. This had led to … Continue reading
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Why I am resigning from the directorship of the Wall institute
By Professor Philippe Tortell Universities are places where imagination and unconstrained thinking converge to produce major advancements in fundamental knowledge. Intellectual breakthroughs hide in unusual places, and often appear when they are most unexpected. For this reason, the University must … Continue reading
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Accountability and Governance at UBC: Budget
By Professor Mark Thomson Mac Lean Over the past months I have become increasingly concerned about the disparity between UBC’s growing tuition revenues and enormous budget surpluses, and the struggles that many academic departments face in meeting their teaching and … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, R&D Policy
Tagged Budget model failures, Faculty’s enrolments, Governance, UBC, University Act
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Why am I running again to represent the faculty on UBC’s Board of Governors?
A good question indeed. My official statement below (restricted to 250 words) tells a part of the story but not all. I was personally stunned, upon rereading it, by how many times I call for “refocusing, re-establishing, reversing, returning, recovering … Continue reading
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Berdahl vs. Potter: The Tale of Two “Globe and Mail” Editorials
Oct. 22, 2015, Globe and Mail Editorial re: Jennifer Berdahl: “It’s far from clear, though, that her blog post was an exercise in academic freedom. Her post was one remark about one unexplained kerfuffle in a university’s administration, not a piece … Continue reading
The Latest Attack on Academic Freedom in Canada: McGill Turns Away from Controversy and Provocation
Originally posted on Commentaria:
? “While the Institute itself is non-partisan, MISC is no stranger to debate and controversy.”—https://mcgill.ca/misc/about “It is not a role to provoke, but to promote good discussion.”—McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier as quoted in The Globe and…
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Shaking up the UBC Board of Governors
Month after month of bad press in local and national media outlets didn’t do it. Petition after petition asking for transparency and accountability from the governors and the managerial class didn’t do it. Eight hundred faculty members voting non-confidence in … Continue reading
UBC’s new president is not a mathematician, but …
The last time I saw the fabulous Frances Bula, she said that she liked my tweets whenever I commented on mathematics and mathematicians. I think she really meant for me to leave the rest of the news and analysis to her … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, UBC Presidential Search
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Diversity, Ken Ono, Mathematics, Mental wellbeing, Ramanujan, Santa Ono, Stuart Belkin, UBC
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Thank you Chair Montalbano and Chancellor Gordon: UBC couldn’t have done it without you
“I think governance is always expressive of the gang that are there doing it at any one point in time.” With this statement, Stuart Belkin seems to be distancing himself from the practices of former Chair, John Montalbano, Chancellor Lindsay … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Board of Governors, Faculty Association, John Montalbano, Lindsay Gordon, Stuart Belkin, UBC
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Handling of conflicts of interest should be high on UBC’s governance reform
Any discussion of governance reform that will move UBC forward, and facilitate the task of the next president, must not only address the procedural irregularities around Gupta’s dismissal, but must also identify those who resisted the former president’s proposed changes … Continue reading
Faculty Awakening has already made a difference
Do not despair, Carla. There is no reason to feel blue. You have not only awoken your faculty friends, you have reminded them that they are the university. You have empowered them again and they appreciate you for it. The “assholes” … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Academic freedom, Board of Governors, Carla Nappi, Divestment, UBC
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Decolonizing our imaginations and building a university that reflects our society
It looks like Stuart Belkin is now a member of the UBC presidential search committee. This could have been a welcome positive gesture to the faculty had he replaced Lindsay Gordon in the Chair. Unfortunately, he seems to have taken … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Diversity, Greg Peet, Jennifer Berdahl, John Montalbano, Lindsay Gordon, UBC
8 Comments
Piece of Mind 