MUN asked for help, Williams says of presidency debate
There was another twist in the search for a new president for Memorial University on Tuesday when Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams announced the school had asked the province for input.
"The board of regents, I think with the approval of the search committee, actually came to government and asked government to meet with these candidates for a couple of reasons," Williams said at a press gathering Tuesday. "Obviously to have an opportunity to sit down and have a discussion with the candidates, and also to promote the province."
The province was criticized on a national stage in July when Education Minister Joan Burke admitted she had personally interviewed two candidates for the position and rejected them.
It was a move the Canadian academic community called "unprecedented."
Williams, who has been silent on the issue for weeks, said Gil Dalton, the chair of the board of regents, the university's governing body, gave the names of the candidates to Burke.
Williams said he was asked to personally meet with candidates, but instead passed the request to Burke.
Ross Klein, the incoming president of Memorial's Faculty Association, told CBC News Tuesday that he is not accepting the explanation given by Williams.
"Perhaps the only way to salvage this is for the government to make a very clear pledge they won't be involved, and perhaps even a stronger statement would be to change the Memorial University Act," Klein said.
The act is provincial legislation that outlines how the university will be managed. Under the act, the president of the university is to be appointed by the board of regents in consultation with the university's senate and with the approval of the lieutenant-governor.
Province under fire for getting involved
Academics and politicians criticized Burke and the provincial government for becoming involved in the hiring process at the university.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers, which represents faculty associations across the country, has been paying close attention to the controversy.
CAUT spokesperson Vic Catano said Memorial's independence and autonomy is in question, and he believes the school's reputation has already been damaged.
"On the face of it, there appears to be substantial evidence of interference just based on the minister of education's remarks," he said in an interview in July.
Eddy Campbell, the acting president and vice-chancellor of Memorial, has withdrawn his name as a candidate for the position.
In a prepared statement to the media Aug. 1, Campbell said he "will not comment on what others have said about the search process or on my experiences with the process over the past year."