UNB profs object to way new president is being hired

Some professors at the University of New Brunswick don't like the way the institution has gone about finding a replacement for retiring president Eddy Campbell.

"It doesn't show due diligence and it doesn't really speak to real consultation," said Greg Marquis, a history professor at the UNB Saint John campus and a member of the senate on the Saint John campus.

Someone has just been chosen by members of the board of governors and senates, but the name has to go to the premier as well and hasn't been made public.

Marquis and some of his colleagues are not pleased there was no chance for the broad university community to meet with proposed candidates in a town hall type of setting, where they would have had a chance to hear a presentation and ask questions.

"It seemed to be a very narrow consultation process and somewhat secretive," he said. "It's like there's a hidden world operating within the university to select these candidates and I don't think that's right."

Marquis also doesn't like the decision to keep the names of candidates under wraps.

"I can't even talk to the chair of my department about who the candidate is, why they were selected, and what the selection process was," said Marquis.

"So that's very frustrating and strange for us to be working in that type of environment."

UNB board of governors chair Larry Hachey acknowledged the school has a tradition of having two or more candidates appear before the university community to talk about what they'd like to do as president but said it's not required under the UNB Act and no longer practical.

"That's something from at least 20 years ago and what's happened is the landscape has changed."

"For example, let's say a potential candidate is a female and that female may have a husband who's working," Hachey said. "Then it gets known in the public she may be transferring, which may affect his employment. Or vice versa.

"If we have two or three top candidates and two of the three decide I'm not going to let my name stand if you're going to release it … that's something we have to take into consideration."

Put UNB community first, profs say

That's not a good enough reason, according to the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers.

It issued a statement last week after members expressed concerns about the search process.

"Privacy concerns of any candidate … should not outweigh the interests of the UNB community," the association said on its website.

"Any candidate recommended by the [joint nominating committee] should make a public presentation prior to the joint meeting of senates and the board.

"Sufficient time should be allowed after the presentation for senators to consult with their colleagues."

Hachey said that town hall process could be brought back in the future, depending on the privacy needs of the candidates.

But he is confident the person proposed by the joint nominating committee was properly vetted, and he is comfortable with the amount of consultation that took place.

"UNB has the most onerous hiring process in the country," he said

"With most universities the actual [hiring] committee is tasked with hiring the president itself … at UNB we add on an extra layer of bringing in our senates and boards to vote on the recommendation of the committee."

Senate, board endorse name

That happened Tuesday night, said Hachey, and it resulted in a strong endorsement.

He said a nominee has now been submitted to the premier and cabinet and he hopes to get final approval from the lieutenant-governor soon, possibly this week.

That last part of the process doesn't sit well with Marquis either.

"It seems like kind of a weird thing to have in a modern society," he said.