UBC Faculty Association calls handling of Gupta's resignation a 'governance failure'

The UBC Faculty Association is calling for an external review of the university's board of governors, after new unredacted documents shed light on some members' actions leading up to former university president Arvind Gupta's resignation last summer.

"It was very concerning for us that there was this behind-the-scenes secret process ... managed by what appears to be a handful of the board members," said Mark Mac Lean, president of the UBC Faculty Association.

He calls the affair a "governance failure."

"We're thinking an external review of the board structure at the university and operations needs to engage the entire university community."

• Former UBC president Arvind Gupta says he regrets resigning
• UBC's mistaken release reveals friction between board and former president

The faculty association was not part of the conversation in pushing Gupta out, according to Mac Lean.

"We were never asked at all what we thought, nor did we know that anything was going on."

Mac Lean says he has been asking for meetings with the board since December, but with few results.

"The board seems to not want to talk to me."

Public accountability

Gupta told CBC yesterday he regretted his decision to resign as university president last summer and that he wished he had pushed back harder against complaints about his performance.

• Arvind Gupta resigns as President of UBC after a year in office

Mac Lean agrees, telling CBC he would like to have seen Gupta "fight back" more in order to push the conversation into the public domain.

For a university that receives hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds every year, transparent governance is a matter of public accountability, said Mac Lean.

UBC receives about $600 million in taxpayers dollars and $200 million in tuition money from B.C. families every year, he said.

To listen to the full audio, click the link labelled: UBC Faculty Association calls for review of Board.