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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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Tag Archives: UBC
UBC faculty to the Premier of BC: Help us out of this crisis
Two new types of allegations came out regarding John Montalbano, since I wrote 2 weeks ago the open letter asking him to resign from the UBC Board of Governors. One deals with his role in potentially compromising the academic freedom of one of … Continue reading
What if dissent was manufactured?
Many colleagues wrote after last week’s post, that they had never heard of rumours of a “Deans’ rebellion”. Actually, I had started wondering about this when I learned that a few of the deans are as shocked and upset by … Continue reading
Why the UBC Leadership Crisis Matters Beyond the Ivory Tower, by Professor E. Wayne Ross
The ongoing drama at University of British Columbia may look like a tempest in a teapot, but the dispute among university governors, managers, and faculty has implications that reach beyond the ivory tower. Two principles are at the heart of the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Academic freedom, Arvind Gupta, Board of Governors, John Montalbano, UBC
3 Comments
Prominent UBC Professor and FRSC, James Zidek, calls on Montalbano to resign
This is a comment directed to Mr. John Montalbano regarding the announced resignation of Professor Arvind Gupta from the Presidency of UBC. In my 49 years at UBC in various professorial and administrative positions, I have never seen a situation as badly … Continue reading
An open letter to Angela Redish, interim UBC president, by Mark Mac Lean
Dear Dr. Redish, The Faculty Association at the University of British Columbia strongly supports and acknowledges the University’s commitment to academic freedom. We particularly support and agree with your unqualified commitment set out in the Statement from UBC on Academic … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged Academic freedom, Angela Redish, Faculty Association, John Montalbano, Mark Mac Lean, UBC
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Unclear on the Concept: the UBC Board of Governors, by Elizabeth Hodgson
The UBC Board of Governors has spoken out in the last 24 hours on its two related controversies which have made the national news. As a UBC faculty member, I am deeply distressed by the UBC Board’s apparent choices in … Continue reading
Canada loses again
By Nancy Reid, Professor, University of Toronto and Officer of the Order of Canada This was the subject heading in an email I sent to an American colleague, on learning of Arvind Gupta’s sudden and unexpected resignation as President of UBC. … Continue reading
Open letter to Martha Piper, by UBC Professor Leah Keshet
Dear Dr. Piper, A recent email from you, which is still in my inbox, closes with the UBC motto “Tuum est”. My understanding is that this means “It is yours,” as in UBC belongs to us (the faculty, the students, the staff, and yes, even the administration). At … Continue reading
An open letter to John Montalbano, chair of the UBC Board of Governors
Dear Sir, I have been a faculty member at UBC for 38 years, and I have served this great university in many other functions, including six years on the Board of Governors (2008-14), three of them on the Board’s Management … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged John Montalbano, Martha Piper, Shared Governance, UBC
17 Comments
Beyond UBC’s clumsy announcement regarding Gupta’s resignation
There are many puzzled, devastated, concerned and angry friends, colleagues and citizens wanting to learn about what happened at UBC last Friday evening. How can a promising energetic UBC president with far-reaching and refreshing ideas be led to resign after … Continue reading
How dare UBC take diversity so seriously?
It has been a year since UBC announced its very first …“president of colour”. And as of yesterday, UBC-Vancouver has its very first woman provost. On the surface, these look like de-facto corollaries of a post-racial, post-sexist era, at a … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Change of the guard, Diversity, leadership, UBC, UBC Provost, Women in leadership
5 Comments
UBC’s free fall in university rankings
University rankings may be questionable. Their evaluation criteria may be flawed or unrepresentative. They may be based on false or manipulated data provided by some institutions. They can even, occasionally, be bought. But the reality is that they do matter. … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
Tagged Arvind Gupta, research, TA strike, UBC, University of Toronto, University rankings
7 Comments
The President of the University of Alberta asked us to think twice, and we have!
Back in 2009, a dozen faculty members from 10 different Canadian universities initiated an open letter to the Prime Minister imploring him to “not leave Canada behind.” The federal “stimulus” budget had just announced a substantial cut to the three … Continue reading
On the dark side of philanthropy
“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, and … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, Uncategorized
Tagged Academic freedom, Independence, Jim Balsillie, Munk Institute, UBC, Wall Institute, Waterloo, York University
1 Comment
Return on investment in faculty rarely captured by university CFOs
“Mr. President, We are not employees of the university. We are the university.” With these words, Isidore Rabi, a distinguished faculty member at Columbia University, interrupted Dwight Eisenhower, who had started off a speech by addressing the faculty as “employees … Continue reading
Bye Bye Board
Yesterday was my last day on the UBC Board of Governors, the end of an extremely rewarding six-year stint. To the faculty who elected me decisively twice for the Board and another time for the Presidential search committee, I say … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged Board of Governors, Brad Bennett, Doug Mitchell, John Montalbano, Stephen Toope, UBC
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The 2013 BC government budget and what it means for UBC
The BC 2013 budget document is out. It doesn’t even use the words: productivity, innovation, research, university, or college. By taking a leaf out of the feds’ work manual, the provincial government is expecting us to rejoice upon hearing that … Continue reading
A historic institutional housing action plan at UBC
Cambridge and Oxford Universities have one. The Weizmann Institute has one, and so does Harvard, Princeton, NYU, Columbia, Stanford, UCLA and UC-Irvine. And in a Canadian first, in a move that will differentiate UBC from any other university in Canada, UBC has now … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, UBC Housing Action Plan
Tagged Housing Action Plan, Recruitment, Retention, UBC
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University governance: From UBC to the University of Virginia and back
“What’s happening at the University of Virginia is surreal, a real estate developer is now running the place,” wrote Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at NYU. At the same time, UBC, normally at the receiving end of this kind of statement, was being commended … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged Board of Governors, Helen Dragas, Kris Olds, Teresa Sullivan, U. Virginia, UBC
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Piece of Mind 