Dear Dr. Chakma,
Thank you for your public apology for accepting payment in lieu of administrative leave, and also for the repayment to Western. We know you have done this with the best interests of the university in mind. That said, your negotiated contract is not the real problem, but a symptom of the real problems – an out-of-touch senior leadership and a misguided financial model.
You said you are open to all ideas. The Executive Committee of the University of Western Ontario Staff Association (UWOSA), on behalf of its members, appreciates this opportunity to address some of the points you made in your recent address to Senate.
You said the issues are not only about your pay, but also about the way Western has been run under your leadership.
The issue is not isolated to you alone. It is the current model, based on a business, rather than a publically tax-funded higher education institution. Over the past several years, faculties and service units across campus have been forced to tighten budgets by 3 per cent. Department heads are forced to decrease staff through retirement incentives, leave staff positions vacant, redistribute workload to remaining staff and lay off. Contract staff and faculty outside of bargaining agreements are hired to fill the gaps. Education programs are compelled to increase student enrolment.
The costs of a quality education and the ‘best student experience’ have taken a toll on the staff, faculty and students – all to increase profits. The Board of Governors, and the absent chancellor, were put in place to check the finances, but their misallocation of public monies has thrown this entire university out of balance.
You have said the issues raised in regards to your contract have “brought into stark reality that the Board, Senate and our broader campus community do not have a shared understanding of the most constructive ways to conduct the business of the academy.”
You are right. We agree there is not a shared understanding.
The broader campus community largely has an opposing view of how to operate a publically funded institution of higher education. Run this publically funded university as a publically funded university, not like a privately funded university or, worse, as a private corporation.
You said we must identify the real problems that keep the Board and Senate in silos and “we must find real solutions for breaking down those walls, while preserving the unique role each plays in guiding our institution.”
The Senate is transparent; the Board is opaque. Perhaps the Board could learn from Senate and its proceedings be transparent. The Board’s indifference to your contract forces us to ask, Why? Did Board members misunderstand the wording of your negotiated contract? Why was it approved as written?
You have said the spotlight on your salary and administrative leave “has also started a critical conversation about how universities attract and retain leadership talent, and the broader fiscal realities facing higher education in our province,” which is why you have endorsed the independent and impartial review of your contract.
Our issue is not about recruitment and retention of senior leadership.
Our issue is about a broken operational model, based on a business model. Our issue is the treatment of people (staff and faculty) as overhead, rather than the intellectual resources that support the university’s overall mission. Our issue is the treatment of students as easy revenue streams, instead of future provincial and national leaders. Our issue is wasting more money to conduct an independent review of a contract that was legally bound as written.
Perhaps it would be more beneficial to conduct an independent and impartial review of the university’s current operational budget and current allocations?
You have expressed how difficult the last two weeks have been for you and your family.
As staff, we can appreciate how hard the criticism must have been and are genuinely sorry to hear about the personal attacks. In light of this, we ask you and the Board to appreciate the current difficulties of our staff members and their families who were recently laid off due to budget reductions. We ask you to appreciate the increased stress of staff, who are anxious their current positions will be eliminated. We ask you to understand how difficult it is for staff to produce quality service to faculty and students with increased workloads due to staff reductions.
We appreciate you are pledging to dedicate your attention to internal matters. We appreciate you are going to consult with the broader campus community. We look forward to seeing a concrete version of this plan, as well as a report on your findings.
The non-confidence vote of UWOSA members demonstrates we are deeply concerned about Western’s senior leadership and how it is managing this university. We are dedicated to changing Western for the better. We support the university’s mission and ask that you, the Board and senior leadership team, demonstrate the same support by investing in students, teaching, research and scholarship and staff and faculty.
You have promised to hear us. We look forward to that conversation.
Thank you again for your apology. We hope to hear a Board of Governors apology soon.
UWOSA Executive Committee