Newsletter

September 2014

University of Saskatchewan board fires President Ilene Busch-Vishniac

Gordon Barnhart, former lieutenant-governor, appointed interim president

Ilene
Busch-Vishniac has been terminated without cause as president of the University
of Saskatchewan.

The board of
governors said Busch-Vishniacwill continue in a teaching capacity at the
university.

Saskatchewan
Premier Brad Wall used his Twitter account to congratulate Gordon Barnhart, who
had been appointed interim president. Barnhart, a long-time academic, is the
former lieutenant-governor of Saskatchewan.

The move to
letBusch-Vishniacgo comes after a flurry of criticism surrounding a decision
to dismissand end the tenure of a professor who openly criticized the
university’s leadership. That professor, Robert Buckingham, was returned to his
teaching duties after Busch-Vishniac conceded the move was a “blunder”.

Although his
tenure was restored, Buckingham was not continued in his administrative job as
dean of the School of Public Health.

Just days
later, prior to an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors of the
university, a senior official, Provost Brett Fairbairn, tendered his resignation
saying he accepted responsibility for the botched dismissal of Buckingham.

“The board
feels strongly that the university’s ongoing operations and its reputational
rebuilding efforts will be more effective with new leadership,” the board said
in a statement Wednesday night.

Busch-Vishniac’s dismissal was described as taking effect “immediately”.

The board noted
the controversy surrounding Buckingham’s dismissal had been troubling.

“It was a
painful week for the University of Saskatchewan,” the statement said. “Many
students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the U of S, and the people of the
province generally, were dismayed by news emerging from the campus over the last
seven days. The board was deeply troubled by this situation and committed itself
to repairing the university’s reputation.”

At the centre
of the controversy is TransformUS, an initiative underway at the university to
restructure programs with a goal to reduce costs. Buckingham’s criticism of the
initiative set off the chain of events that led to the board’s move.

While the board
was unhappy with the moves against Buckingham’s tenure, the body continued to
support the TransformUS initiative.

“The University
of Saskatchewan is committed to the principles of academic freedom and freedom
of expression. It would also like to stress that it believes that tenure is a
sacrosanct principle within this university,” the board said. “Finally, the
Board of Governors at the University of Saskatchewan continues to be strongly
committed to the goal of financial sustainability and renewal.”

Busch-Vishniac
was just approaching the two-year mark of her five-year term as president.

Before her 2012
appointment to the U of S, she was provost atMcMaster University in Hamilton
for five years.

The board said
her teaching duties, if she takes them, would be in the university’s college of
engineering.

CBC News, May 22, 2014.