With the provincial election just around the corner, Daniel Weeks, president of the University of Northern British Columbia, has come under attack.
Expressions of concern came from the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia regarding a recent message sent to the UNBC community from the president that appeared, according to the CUFA-BC, to "wade into the election in support of the platform of the Liberal party of B.C."
The message outlines the pledge regarding undergraduate engineering at UNBC made on the provincial election campaign trail recently. The commitment, made by Liberal party representatives, was that UNBC will receive 70 undergraduate engineering seats.
The president continued to say that undergraduate engineering at UNBC is something the university has been working towards for a long time and that the UNBC community and the northern B.C. community has shown considerable support for it.
"Last year we took our undergraduate curriculum for civil engineering to Senate and Board for review and approval and over the past many months I have had ongoing conversations with our partners at the Ministry of Advanced Education to make a case for the value of undergraduate engineering at UNBC," Weeks said.
"Time and time again, UNBC has proven that if we train people in the north, they stay in the north. In fact, more than 13,000 alumni live in the north, contributing to our society, culture and employment base. I imagine engineering, should it be offered at UNBC, would add to those figures."
In response, CUFA-BC president James Johnson said that in the message, Weeks outlines his support for a B.C. Liberal proposal to increase science and technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates at UNBC.
"As you know, or should know, these proposals are also supported by both the Green Party and the new Democratic Party of B.C." Johnson told Weeks in a letter.
"These comments could fairly be interpreted as an endorsement for the re-election of the Liberal government. I hope you would agree that university presidents should remain strictly nonpartisan during an election campaign."
Johnson went on, referring Weeks to a quote in the Vancouver Sun about a substantial campaign announcement regarding UBC's medical school.
The announcement read, "Dr. Dermot Kelleher, dean of the medical school, could not comment on the Liberals' proposal. Katie White, a spokeswoman, said, 'The institution does not comment on party platforms during the election.'"
Johnson went on to tell Weeks that his comment exacerbated concern that the politicized composition of the Board of Governors could compromise the independence and integrity of B.C's research universities.
"Your highly inappropriate statement to faculty, who in the end are your employees, does a disservice to the entire UNBC community," Johnson wrote.
Weeks did not wish to comment further but did respond with a letter to the CUFA-BC saying that it is his policy to remain impartial on political matters.
"Providing you an update was not intended to be an endorsement or to express support for any particular party," he wrote.
