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- 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
- NSERC corrects a mistake, but many remain unaddressed
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Tag Archives: UBC
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
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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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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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
Interview with a mathematician: Nassif Ghoussoub
Originally posted on The Intrepid Mathematician:
Nassif Ghoussoub is the founder and current director of the Banff International Research Station, the founding director of the Pacific Institute of Mathematics, and the co-founder of MITACS NCE. On top of all that,…
Posted in Banff International Research Station, Honouring friends, R&D Policy
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Beit Chebab, BIRS, CFREF, CMO, Conacyt, Mathematics, Mitacs, Nigel Lloyd, NSERC, NSF, Oaxaca, Ono, Order of Canada, PIMS, Riemann Hypothesis, science, Tom Brzustowski, UBC
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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
6 Comments
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
2 Comments
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
1 Comment
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
Arvind Gupta was never given a chance: A personal account
This post was published by the Vancouver Sun. My first reaction to the resignation of UBC president Arvind Gupta was relief – Arvind’s nightmare was finally over. He could go back to what he does best: work to make this … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Board of Governors, Jennifer Berdahl, John Montalbano, Lindsay Gordon, UBC
8 Comments
Dean Marc Parlange weighs in on president Gupta’s “resignation”
In a letter to the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC, Dean Marc Parlange made some of his views known as to “the complex — and confidential — resignation decision of former President Arvind Gupta,” while throwing his support behind Chancellor … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Faculty of Applied Science, Marc Parlange, UBC
2 Comments
The UBC Board of Governors is operating in the “shadows”
This is according to a scathing letter sent today by the Executive of the UBC Faculty Association to thousands of its members. It is becoming clear that the replacement of John Montalbano by Stuart Belkin as Chair of the Board … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Andrew Wilkinson, Arvind Gupta, Board of Governors, Christy Clark, Stuart Belkin, UBC
1 Comment
Spring cleaning has started early at UBC
It was historic, it was rowdy, and it was fun. It has been a while since UBC has seen a couple of hundred of its faculty screaming their heads off, protesting the Board of Governors meeting, and demanding UBC management and Board accountability. … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, UBC Presidential Search
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Board of Governors, Faculty Association, Jennifer Berdahl, UBC
1 Comment
Together we can make UBC transparent and accountable
UBC faculty, staff and students will gather on Tuesday, February 2 at 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, 6163 University Boulevard. They will protest the upcoming UBC Board of Governors Meeting, and will publicly demand that the Board of … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, UBC Presidential Search
Tagged Board of Governors, UBC, UBClean
8 Comments
A few wise words from the UBC Faculty Association to the presidential search committee
By Mark MacLean, President, on behalf of the Executive Committee Dear Search Committee, Thank you for meeting with us on January 12. We welcomed the opportunity to communicate some of our concerns about, and hopes for, this presidential search process. We … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, UBC Presidential Search
Tagged Faculty Association, Lindsay Gordon, UBC
2 Comments
Searching for a president after disappearing another: The UBC conundrum
By Professor Leah Keshet In August of 2015, the UBC Faculty Association (UBCFA) sent some strongly worded letters to the administration and the Board of Governors, seeking open and full disclosure of the causes for termination of Professor Arvind Gupta’s … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
Tagged Arvind Gupta, Lindsay Gordon, Presidential search, UBC
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PR consultants, the “UBC side” and the rest of us
CBC Radio Early Edition host Rick Cluff introduced me at the beginning of the segment as someone who has been teaching at UBC for 38 years. Yet at the very end of my interview, he announced that “tomorrow, we will … Continue reading
Piece of Mind 