Friday, July 13, 2012

Don't Know What ...

...to make of this:

Carleton University renegotiating $15M donor deal as teachers’ group slams ‘unprecedented’ terms

But I suspect there are some university professors who see the writing on the wall. They will no longer be able to use their positions to indoctrinate young minds and are crying foul.
"Carleton University says the $15-million donor agreement for its showcase school of political management, fronted by Preston Manning, does not reflect the university’s academic policies and will be renegotiated.

The concession comes as the Canadian Association of University Teachers, or CAUT, prepares a broadside at what it calls “unprecedented and unacceptable” provisions in Carleton’s secret deal with Calgary businessman Clayton Riddell.

The latest incident highlights what James Turk, CAUT’s executive director, called a worrisome trend in which some cash-strapped Canadian universities have given up their academic independence to the highest bidder.

A heavily redacted version of the donor agreement was eventually released following mediation; the case was going to arbitration when the university released the full document on the eve of a summer holiday weekend

“The integrity of what universities are is at stake,” Turk said in an interview."
"The integrity of what universities are is at stake." You say that, as if it's a bad thing!
"“As soon as you allow people to buy positions in the university through their donations — to influence who’s hired, what the curriculum’s going to be, what kind of research questions are asked, what kind of answers are come up with — then really the public would lose, and should lose, its confidence in what the university is and the university would lose its distinctiveness.”"
That's already happened, darling, on the faculty's watch.
""Private donor agreements within publicly funded universities have been making news of late over issues of academic freedom, corporate control and public policy manipulation.

This spring, the Canadian Association of University Teachers threatened to boycott Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo if they did not “amend the governance structure for the Balsillie School of International Affairs so that academic integrity is ensured.”"
[---]
"And given that the Manning Centre is proudly partisan, Turk said the decision to hand over control of the steering committee to Manning and Riddell’s proxies is perplexing.

“So the fact that the university then would agree to the governance of this program being in part given over to the donor just makes the whole program suspect. But in a more worrisome way it just makes the whole university suspect.”

While Carleton had argued its concern in releasing the document was over Riddell’s financial privacy, the redacted sections suggest otherwise.

Provisions blacked out by the university simply reveal the timetable for Riddell’s publicly announced $15-million donation, along with a provision that his foundation can assess the school’s performance after five years and withhold the final $10 million if it is not satisfied."
I do have a little concern about this, but, on the other hand, it's high time the left leaning curriculum and indoctrination generating machines were forced to concede some ground, and I'm hoping that what we're seeing here is just that. There's lots more to do, though. The faculty has far too much power when it comes to determining course content and offerings. And the public has been poorly served, as a result.

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