National voice for academics calls Burke's interference 'unprecedented'
The national lobby group for more than 65,000 academic staff is requesting a meeting with the Newfoundland and Labrador education minister over the Memorial University presidency debacle.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers has written to the minister, Joan Burke, to ask for a meeting about involvement in the selection process for a new president for Memorial. The association sent a copy of the letter to Premier Danny Williams.
In the letter, the association's president, Penni Stewart, and executive director, James L.Turk, said the association is deeply disturbed by Burke's interventions.
"Universities, if they are to fulfil their roles, must be free of political influences and outside pressures. This is a widely recognized and respected value the world over. We are deeply disturbed by reports that you interviewed and rejected two candidates that had been forwarded by a properly constituted selection committee. This is an unprecedented action," the letter stated.
The letter requests a meeting with Burke no later than early September to discuss the situation.
Burke surprised university faculty and others with her admission Tuesday that she personally interviewed two candidates for the top job at Memorial but didn't think they were up to the task, and rejected them.
Burke is insisting, among other things, that the new president back the province's controversial plan to grant autonomy to Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, while operating under MUN's financial umbrella.
The minister then came under fire from academics and opposition politicians for her insistence on approving the next president, despite the presence of a qualified selection committee at the university.
NDP Leader Lorraine Michael said she was appalled, and questioned Burke's credentials for making such a decision on her own.
"She just kept insisting that she did it and she's made the decision. That really bothers me, I mean, that speaks of an arrogance that I think is problematic," she said.
The selection committee is scheduled to meet Friday amid speculation that some committee members may resign because of the controversy.