{"id":10710,"date":"2016-02-12T23:51:42","date_gmt":"2016-02-13T07:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/?p=10710"},"modified":"2016-02-15T19:08:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-16T03:08:29","slug":"ubc-deans-in-hot-seat-for-mere-assertion-of-excellence-ubcclean-ubc100-ubcnews-bced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/2016\/02\/ubc-deans-in-hot-seat-for-mere-assertion-of-excellence-ubcclean-ubc100-ubcnews-bced\/","title":{"rendered":"#UBC deans in hot-seat for mere assertion of excellence #ubcclean #ubc100 #ubcnews #bced"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an era not too long ago, deans were able to assert their authority on most matters of governance, finance, management, and planning. Now, with credibility and legitimacy eroding, with shadow systems opening to scrutiny, can\u00a0mere assertion of authority and excellence continue to\u00a0pass for reality or truth at UBC<\/a>?<\/p>\n

So what part of the\u00a0“Deans support UBC leadership” Op-Ed<\/a> is believable or persuasive? Can the Deans support their\u00a0\u201cstrongest\u201d assertion?<\/p>\n

We want to make clear in the strongest possible terms that we are absolutely committed to the pursuit of academic excellence and have consistently supported initiatives to promote such excellence.<\/a><\/p>\n

Let’s test this\u00a0assertion of commitment “to the pursuit of academic excellence” with a\u00a0graduate program on campus:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A\u00a0graduate diploma mill, which in 13.5 years graduated 680 masters students but did not hire a single FT faculty member. Yes, 680 masters students and 0 FT faculty hired in 13.5 years.<\/li>\n
  2. Instead is an\u00a0exploitation Sessional labour\u201485% of all the courses\u2014to teach at a piecemeal per student wage\u00a0while their benefits start and stop at the term\u2019s beginning and end. Staff members are hired to teach, who then double-up on their M&P jobs and displace the Sessionals from additional course assignments. The Sessionals are denied office space or worse:\n
      \n
    1. “Per the policy and requirements of space usage in [the academic building]\u00a0for Sessional instructors<\/a>, the [123]\u00a0temporary office space, must be cleared of all personal belongings, borrowed library items and additional furniture installed.<\/li>\n
    2. If, by Dec 1, 2015, the space is not restored to its original condition, items will be disposed of, and you shall be invoiced for the cost of clearing and removal.<\/li>\n
    3. As requested, I attach the photos of the room in its original condition, taken prior to it being temporarily assigned to you in February 2015.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    4. It took 8 years of agitation across two Faculties to complete a single Self-Study and Program Review. There are\u00a07 administrators overseeing this Program but not a one could initiate a Review. Effectively, when it finally did happen, well, let\u2019s just say that an expectation of arm\u2019s length Reviewers was mocked.<\/li>\n
    5. Did I mention that this was a revenue generating program and maybe there is something to shield from scrutiny? When in April 2015 the Associate-Provost reviewed the Office (yes, Office) that runs and manages the Program, he reported:\n
        \n
      1. “Shadow systems are used more than University systems which is concerning because the data in the shadow systems are not verifiable, and because of the opportunity for misuse of funds.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      2. In the last four years, this program generated about $5.4m in total revenue but we cannot account for expenses or overhead \u201cbecause the data in the shadow systems are not verifiable.\u201d<\/li>\n
      3. Where does the money go then?<\/li>\n
      4. Is it\u00a0just thrown at the deficit that’s run up elsewhere year after year?<\/li>\n
      5. But still, where does the money go? Is it just paying for\u00a0administrative bloat<\/a>?<\/li>\n
      6. Did I mention 680 masters student graduates and 0 FT faculty in 13.5 years?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        If this is “academic excellence” we’d hate to see academic mediocrity or compromise…<\/p>\n

        We want to make clear in the strongest possible terms that we are absolutely committed to the pursuit of academic excellence and have consistently supported initiatives to promote such excellence.<\/a><\/p>\n

        Lowering the bar of excellence? No, just inflating the envelope\u00a0of greatness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        In an era not too long ago, deans were able to assert their authority on most matters of governance, finance, management, and planning. Now, with credibility and legitimacy eroding, with shadow systems opening to scrutiny, can\u00a0mere assertion of authority and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1527,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[554,2249,287,406501,2251,2257,2258,2259,1223,4864,2270,2273,2275,2276],"tags":[1288925,1288923,1288941,1288948,1288949,1288936,1288961,1288963,2674,1288964],"class_list":["post-10710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-freedom","category-accountability","category-administration","category-bc-education","category-budgets-funding","category-employment-rights","category-equity","category-ethics","category-governance","category-scandals","category-solidarity","category-students","category-unions","category-working-conditions","tag-academic-freedom","tag-administration","tag-budgets-funding","tag-equity","tag-ethics","tag-governance","tag-students","tag-unions","tag-university-presidents","tag-working-conditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1527"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10710"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10721,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10710\/revisions\/10721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/workplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}