The University of Northern B.C.’s senate passed a motion of non-confidence in the board chair over how he has handled James Moore’s appointment as chancellor.
After more than an hour of debate the body said it was no longer confident in Ryan Matheson’s leadership.
The breakdown of the silent ballot vote was not made public. Senator Michael Murphy acknowledged the motion doesn’t have the ability to force change, but said it is symbolic nonetheless.
“It’s about sending a message: change is needed at the highest levels of this institution,” said Murphy. “What this motion is meant to signify is we lack confidence in the chair leadership and we feel very strongly about both the chancellor but i think the broader principle at stake here is university governance.”
Matheson said the appointment was not his “sole decision” and one made by the board.
“For me it’s unfortunate that this is the way this body feels about my work in regards to the chancellor process and nomination,” Matheson said. “I’m okay with some people being against the decision for the chancellor appointment and they continue to express their opposition in any way they can.
“We can’t continue to revisit the item week after week. There are many people that do want to support the decision and move forward.”
The former Conservative cabinet minister was appointed in November, a move that was immediately contested through an online petition and through faculty complaints. In December the senate said it had not been properly consulted when appointing Moore, a requirement laid out in the University Act.
By mid-January the Board of Governors reaffirmed that choice and said officially it would not be reconsidering that appointment, with Matheson defending Moore as as strong candidate as a UNBC alumnus. Documents released in February showed the initial board vote to appoint the former federal cabinet minister were divided, and passed by one vote. Moore will become the university's sixth chancellor, and first alumnus to hold the three-year term, in May.
“This really stems from the chancellor selection, right from the very beginning of the process what we saw was a divided vote by the board of governors,” said Murphy, calling Moore a “profound mismatch” with the institution.
“Right at the very beginning Mr. Matheson, had he shown leadership, would have been aware of that, and would have already taken some serious measures to reconsider,” he said. “There was never any genuine attempt or willingness on the part of the bog or bog chair to change their mind on this. We were never going to have that opportunity. Meaningful really consultation means sitting down together and making that decision collaboratively.”
Back to the process
Murphy is particularly troubled by what he said is a failure to follow process as laid out in the task force’s terms of reference. Moore’s name came into consideration in after he announced in June he would no longer run for office. The posted deadline for chancellor nominations was January 2015.
“That’s set in stone,” said Murphy, and if names came in after the deadline “then that is a clear violation on the terms of reference. Matheson said there wasn’t “an internal hard deadline” and that Moore’s name was ultimately put forward at the end of August.
“The (January) deadline was an open call for nominees for chancellor and conversation continued to move forward as the alumni association had their task force,” he said. “It’s not as simple as here’s a few names. There’s lots of discussions that move forward throughout that time before Mr. Moore’s name came forward,” Matheson said. “There was a lot of process that had to go on in between.”
Murphy said it goes back to good governance, comparing it to why Canadian government should follow parliamentary procedure.
“If governments can simply make up the rules as they go along, rules that govern their activities, then nothing they do is illegitimate,” Murphy said, to clarify why some faculty feel this detail is so important.
Murphy has also submitted a list of questions to Heather Sanford, UNBC’s Manager of Access, Privacy and Records, to delve into the process more. In a Feb. 23 email to Murphy, Sanford said UNBC will release documents about the chancellor search by March 3 in response to an Access to Information request, but the Chancellor Advisory Task Force meetings occurred in camera and it did not keep formal minutes through the search and nomination.
“If the process in selecting the chancellor was not followed then that's a violation of open and transparent and legitimate governance,” Murphy said.
Matheson, however, said the process was appropriately followed.
“We’ve looked into (the rules), our university secretary has looked into it and we are comfortable that we’ve satisfied all the criteria that we need to satisfy as laid out by the University Act,” he said. “We can always look at the process and how it’s laid out and improve it and get better. The process was followed and we have done our duty in order to make sure we’ve gone through a process and got a candidate and brought a name forward.”
An unfortunate situation
Both said Murphy and Matheson described the situation as unfortunate but remained firm in their respective stances.
“I think it’s really unfortunate it had to come to this,” Murphy said. "I don’t think any member of senate signed up to this body to be perpetually engaged in combat with the administration and Board of Governors but if our voices are going to be disrespectfully, our voices going to be disregarded and if procedures are going to be set aside then we have a duty to raise those concerns and press those concerns.”
Meanwhile Matheson said, “for the institution and governance of the institution we have to be able to move on and we may not all agree on everything but we need to make sure we move on to other things,” he said, like the upcoming budget.
“For me it’s unfortunate there’s the continued dissension and divisiveness that comes up from the vocal side that disagrees.”
Two university associations - the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia - have called on Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson to investigation the board's approach to Moore's appointment.
Both its graduate and undergraduate student societies have also officially opposed the appointment.
