Everyone associated with the establishment of the University of Northern British Columbia celebrates the achievements of the best new university in the country and suffers a little when things go wrong. The announcement that Maclean's had selected UNBC as the best institution in its category was the cause of much celebration.
I can assure you that, in the founding years of the university, few people in government and the provincial post-secondary systems foresaw such a quick and impress ascendancy into the top ranks of the country's universities.
Earlier this year, when the university suffered through a difficult strike, fans of UNBC watching from away were saddened by the challenges created by enrolment challenges, the state of government funding and need to offer competitive salaries.
The same is true, more recently, with the contretemps over the selection of James Moore, UNBC graduate and former federal cabinet minister, as chancellor of the university.
The institutional debate has found a following outside Northern British Columbia, much of it part of the continuing attack on the former Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
This critique, waged over the remains of a decade-long administration, has been intense and sustained. Those familiar with the fallout after the defeat of Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1984 (remember the long-term fury over the National Energy Program?) will recall the vitriol reserved for governments that stayed past their "best before" date.
A controversy - on campus and off - about an appointee is perfectly normal.
Universities should be pillars of free and open speech, allowing for a polite and reasoned exchange of views. There are many who support the selection of Moore and others who are opposed.
Debating the selection is not unusual and provides evidence of a robust and engaged university community. One would expect that the university and Moore would have preferred a rousing endorsement of his appointment, but the controversy is what it is: a sign of intellectual health.
But seen from afar, the debate over the chancellorship has also become complex, largely unfortunate and messy. The wide-ranging critique of Moore on the basis of animosity toward selected actions or the administrative style of the Harper government has often been over the top. Moore is being reviled, unfairly in the main, for being part of a government that offended some and angered many.
That he opted not to stand for re-election in the federal contest has not protected him from criticism of the past actions of the Harper administration.
The Canadian electorate passed judgment on the Harper administration less than two months ago but that has clearly not to have ended the hostility. There are also elements of internal politics as the campus addresses the inevitable emotions left over from the strike.
As the debate spreads in such instances as their, becoming a foundation for commentaries for many different constituencies, it typically losses its focus, potency and, sadly, accuracy.
The debate also reveals misunderstandings of the role of the chancellor in the Canadian university system. Some commentators appear to assume that Moore will have real power over UNBC and that he will be a salaried employee.
Chancellors are volunteers, typically devoting hundreds of unpaid hours per year to the ceremonial life and outreach activities of their institution. They help with introductions and connections and, increasingly given the financial state of universities, with fund-raising activities.
The best chancellors are excellent cheerleaders for their universities, celebrating institutional accomplishments, and working in the broader provincial, national and international arenas to create opportunities for the institution's faculty, staff, students and graduates.
Prof. Ken Coates was UNBC's first vice-president academic. He is currently the Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and director of the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development at the University of Saskatchewan.
