Issues

Faculty have a critical role to play in governance and that it’s time we started to act on these principles.  The pandemic (2020-22) has shown that more attention to faculty voices is required of university administrations. Senate and Board of Governors are the top governance institutions at UBC.  Faculty need to ensure we are present and heard in these places.

In the face of growing government pressure to turn all aspects of our work, research and teaching lives at UBC into commodities we need to organize to take strong, positive steps to preserve the role of liberal education.

In the face of growing economic disparities in our society we need to ensure that education remains available for all people in our community.

We need to ensure that the systems of promotion, tenure, and review are fair and just and consistent.  Too often I hear from colleagues who are involved in extensive community outreach that they face difficulties through the tenure and promotion process in which their community engagement is not recognized.

Ultimately it is insufficient to treat UBC as though it is simply a business. We are more than that. The narrow business minded focus limits our capacity to fulfill our academic mission.  We are a place for learning, research, and teaching.  Before all else, our academic mission must be the priority.

A list of top commentaries from my 2017-2020 BoG term.

These are not all the posts I published during my last term, but they are the ones that were widely distributed and also reflect key moments during the term.

• "It wasn't our intent to shut down dissent," June 14, 2017.
• Ten Months on the Job, Nov. 16, 2017.
• A Board Resignation. April 25, 2018.
• Is there any good reason for tuition fees? Dec. 1, 2018.
• Making the case: Indigenous hiring. March 16, 2019.
• Universities, Growth, and Social Responsibility. Sept. 26, 2019.
• Final board remarks, 2017-2020 term. February 14, 2020.