14 March 2016
Dear Colleagues:
We write this note to bring you up to date on recent developments pertaining to the Presidential Search Committee.
Dr. Jennifer Berdahl, one of the two UBC Vancouver faculty representatives elected to the Presidential Search Committee, has resigned. Her full resignation communication is at jberdahl.blogspot.ca and outlines her key reasons.
The Faculty Association Executive is concerned by this development. Dr. Berdahl's resignation reduces important representative faculty presence on the Presidential Search Committee.
As posted on our website and communicated recently, the Faculty Association survey of the membership on the search committee resulted in a total of 885 responses out of a total of 3508 members surveyed. Of these, 642 responded no confidence in the search committee; 243 responded that they had confidence. By way of comparison, the faculty representatives on the search committee were elected with turnout of 589 voters out of a total of 2832 eligible voters.
We urge the Board of Governors to address the critical question of how the Board will ensure that the process of picking our next president proceeds so as to command wide confidence from the faculty.
Sincerely,
Mark Mac Lean, President
On behalf of the UBC Faculty Association Executive Committee
