Three articles:
- University corporate funding, Aug 30 (Carleton University experience related to U of Saskatchewan)
- But the University of Saskatchewan is opaque, lack of access to information
- Not correct, U of S is subject to access to information law
Listed in reverse order:
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3. Not correct, U of S is subject to access to information law
Information and Privacy Commissioner (Sask) letter to editor:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Records+accessible/7263773/story.html
Re: No accountability (SP, Sept. 6). Contrary to this letter commenting on universities and academic freedom, Saskatchewan’s universities and colleges are subject to The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
This has been the case since Sept. 1, 1994. This means that citizens have the right to make requests for access to records in the possession or under the control of a university or college, just as they can for any other public sector body.
Universities in Saskatchewan have a designated FOIP co-ordinator to deal with such requests. If citizens are dissatisfied with the response of the institution, they have the right to ask our independent Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to review the decision of the institution.
R. Gary Dickson Information and Privacy Commissioner
No accountability
I was pleased to read the editorial, Tale of caution on universities (SP, Aug. 30). It raises the situation of Carleton University’s Riddell Program as an important warning of what can happen to academic freedom at our public institutions when cash-strapped universities turn to corporate donors to fill funding shortfalls.
What the editorial doesn’t mention is the reason this agreement finally became public after a year of stonewalling by Carleton’s administration. Unlike in Saskatchewan, Ontario’s universities are subject to freedom of information legislation requiring them to disclose requested information.
The University of Saskatchewan currently is under no obligation to divulge corporate sponsorship agreements to the public. The lack of accountability required of Saskatchewan’s public post-secondary institutions is concerning.
When receiving corporate sponsorship for starting a nuclear research centre, negotiating an exclusive contract for a beverage provider, or renaming the business college on campus, the public should have the right to know the details of what our university is agreeing to when deciding to accept these funds.
In 2007, a report submitted to the Saskatchewan government by the Canadian Federation of Students noted that, relative to other Canadian universities, the U of S has the most secretive and non-transparent board of governors in Canada. In fact, the U of S is one of few whose board of governors meetings, agendas, minutes or comprehensive financial information aren’t available for public scrutiny.
It is time to include our universities in provincial freedom of information legislation as a bare minimum for transparency and accountability to the taxpayers who fund them.
Chris Gallaway Saskatoon
Tale of caution on universities
As cash-strapped universities across Canada look to private donors to add to their array of facilities and expand programs at a time of increasing government restraint, the controversy brewing over a sponsorship deal at Carleton University offers a cautionary tale.
The Canadian Press reports that the university has now rewritten a donor agreement it had made with Calgary businessman Clayton Riddell to make it clear that his donation of $15 million to create a namesake school of political management doesn’t give the patron the final say on faculty hiring or program curriculum.
Administrators at the university had stonewalled disclosing terms of the deal for nearly a year, CP reports. When those details finally were revealed this summer, Carleton faculty members and the Canadian University of University Teachers complained that the control wielded by the program’s five-member steering committee, dominated by Mr. Riddell’s appointees, on key hiring and curriculum decisions was a major infringement on academic freedom.
University president Roseann O’Reilly Runt this week released a revisions to the deal to make it clear that the committee’s role will be to provide “timely and strategic advice” instead of approving hiring and curriculum decisions, and also made it an explicit requirement that the committee operate in accordance with Carleton’s policies, procedures and practices.
Even though this might at first blush appear to be little more than an academic tiff, the issues identified go much further and are particularly relevant in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan where university operations play such a large role.
By necessity, given this province’s size and economic structure, academic institutions seeking support that goes beyond government and Crown corporations have but a few private sector donors to whom they can turn.
The Carleton case, which shows that faculty members are justified in expressing concern that any real or perceived corporate control over an academic program would damage the university’s reputation, its ability to compete for students and financial resources and invite censure, underlines the need for great caution by university administrators in signing agreements with donors, however generous the contributions.
Whether it’s in establishing centres for nuclear or other energy research, or a specialized masters program such as Carleton’s Riddell School of political Management that takes a cross-partisan approach to training political staff for government-related work, a university’s credibility and reputation are at stake if it’s perceived to have compromised academic independence in granting concessions to donors.
CP reports that in the United States, numerous problematic deals have been found that involve universities and major energy companies. Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of University Teachers is currently examining as many as 18 research deals between post-secondary institutions and third parties, and expects to release its findings this fall.
At a time of government restraint, of course universities should be seeking help from the public sector to enhance the quality and array of programs they can provide to enhance the knowledge and skills of young Canadians. However, in entering agreements, administrators should keep uppermost in mind what their institutions represent and what’s at stake in the long run.
The editorials that appear in this space represent the opinion of The StarPhoenix. They are unsigned because they do not necessarily represent the personal views of the writers. The positions taken in the editorials are arrived at through discussion among the members of the newspaper’s editorial board, which operates independently from the news departments of the paper.