Academic freedom breached at Thompson Rivers University, investigation finds

A Canadian Association of University Teachers investigation (CAUT) into the alleged improper suspension of a B.C. professor has found Thompson Rivers University administration's actions breached academic freedom.

In an emailed statement Tuesday, the investigation committee said it found the Kamloops university appears to suffer a broad institutional weakness when it comes to understanding academic freedom.

Economics professor Derek Pyne was suspended in July 2018, by the administration following a study he published with a peer-reviewed journal, in which Pyne alleged many of his colleagues at the Kamloops university were using what he called "predatory journals" — academic publications with little-to-no peer review processes that publish almost anything for a fee.

TRU failed to understand academic freedom: report

In its investigative report, the committee cites the right of academics to criticize their administration and their institution as a widely recognized feature of academic freedom. It found the school failed to understand academic freedom beyond a narrow scope of supporting faculty members' freedom to pursue research and publish their findings.

The committee makes several recommendations, including removing the constraints placed on Pyne's speech as a condition of his continuing employment as a faculty member.

Pyne published an article in April 2017 titled The Rewards of Predatory Publications at a Small Business School. He did not name any professors or the university on which he based his research in the peer-reviewed Journal of Scholarly Publishing.

The article said 16 of 27 professors with research responsibilities paid so-called predatory journals that don't require research to be peer reviewed to publish their work up to the end of 2015 and that they landed promotions.

Response from TRU

In a statement to CBC News, TRU President Brett Fairbairn says the institution did not participate in the CAUT process and would not comment on the content of the report.

He went on to say that CAUT is a third party with no jurisdiction. 

"Because of this, [it] does not have access to information or evidence that TRU and its unions have — much of it considered private information under provincial legislation. We cannot share such private information with CAUT, and therefore, its report and findings would be based on limited information," Fairbairn said. 

He said that TRU has "thorough processes in place" for academic freedom and that "all of us as academics agree that academic freedom is foundational to the existence of a university."

Pyne, who returned to the school in January, declined a request for comment.