Negotiations and Consequences
This is one in a 2016 series from the desk of the FSA Executive Director, Paul Reniers.
March 21st Edition
Minister Speaks on International Education
FSA VP Silvia Raschke and I attended a breakfast meeting held by local MLA Richard T. Lee on March 18. The featured speaker was Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson on the topic of the value of international education. Wilkinson wants BC to be a major exporter of higher education services, noting that it is Australia’s third largest export industry. Creating a better path to permanent residency status for international students would provide a major boost in BC’s overseas educational marketing. An audience member noted that international enrolments are growing significantly in BC except at the private language schools where enrolments are flat. The difference is that students at the language schools don’t get the right to remain in Canada on a work visa. Other limits on international student recruitment are access to spaces in quality programs and housing. Although we weren’t introduced as representing BCIT, several audience members approached Silvia and I afterwards to express their interest in collaborating with BCIT on business opportunities. Because the event was a fundraiser for Richard T. Lee, BCIT was unable to send anybody.
Post-Secondary Sexual Assault Legislation Gets BC Government Support
A private members bill put forward by Andrew Weaver of the Green Party has been endorsed by Premier Christy Clark. If passed, the law would require every BC post-secondary institution to have a policy that sets out how it will respond to sexual violence involving students. Student input would be required in the development of the policy. Institutions, including BCIT, also would have to collect and report data on incidents, complaints, accommodations, services, and initiatives and programs relating to sexual violence. Regulations for the proposed bill have not yet been prepared but they may include penalties for institutions that fail to comply with its provisions.
CUFA-BC Defends Institutional Independence
The Confederation of University Faculty Association of BC, a CAUT affiliate representing faculty associations at UBC, SFU, UVic, UNBC, and Royal Roads, has published its case for more independent governance for BC’s post-secondary institutions. CUFA-BC calls out the provincial government for micro-managing institutions more than any other Canadian jurisdiction through its use of partisan political appointments to the boards of governors, by dictating bargaining mandates through the Public Sector Employers’ Council, and through government mandate letters. While noting that ten out of eleven government appointees to the UBC board have personal or business links to the BC Liberals that have amounted to $387,000 in political contributions in the last ten years, CUFA-BC claims that government interference in BC has “created extra bureaucracy and reduced the ability of universities to respond dynamically to changing societal conditions its graduates face.
CAUT Investigation at Laurentian Uncovers Familiar Stories
Changing grades assigned by Instructors, blocking the appointment of program heads and co-ordinators, interfering in hiring decisions, and understaffing: FSA members have identified all these issues as occurring at BCIT in recent years. At Laurentian University in Sudbury, an investigation by the Canadian Association of University Teachers has found them to be so rampant that they constitute a treat to academic freedom. The report on CAUT’s investigation, published March 16, has brought national media attention to the standards of collegial governance expected at Canada’s post-secondary institution. The attention serves as a caution to post-secondary administrators that the rights of faculty to participate in the governance of their programs are being closely scrutinized.
In its response, the university claims that several of the identified issues are being addressed. While that might point to CAUT’s ability to influence local administrations, CAUT is looking for a cultural shift at Laurentian and has made significant recommendations to address the pattern of issues as well as specific instances of abuse.
International Day for the Elimination of Racism
