Now that President Amit Chakma has returned the extra stipend paid to him in 2014, let’s move on and speak out against personal vilification as a means of dealing with the very difficult funding scenario in the public university system.
It is too easy to find individuals amongst ourselves to blame for the outcomes of shrinking public sector spending on education felt throughout the developed world. We could decide to blame our chairs, deans, provost, president or even premier.
We do face real day-to-day challenges in the current budgetary scenario, and I am supportive of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) and other university members to point these out. However, these issues do not generally originate from the President’s Office.
I expect the president is here to lead with a vision for Western. Indeed, Dr. Chakma has spoken eloquently on the need for Western to find solutions that lead to less reliance on the shrinking public purse. Achieving high rankings in some targeted research areas, partnerships with like-minded and comparable universities in other countries and reaching out to compete for top international undergraduate students are key goals that he has promoted in order for Western to get to the next level and thrive as a successful institution. I also truly appreciate his personal commitment to experiential and international learning experiences by our Western students.
This is a good time to show our support for Dr. Chakma’s vision for Western, and to work together to face our common challenges.
Shantanu Basu
Physics and Astronomy
Professor and Chair