All Posts Tagged With: "First Nations University"
Why Indigenous Studies shouldn’t be mandatory
It’s redundant, it’s unfair, and coercion causes resentment
Beaudin-Herney from YouTube/BradBasic
A third-year student from First Nations University wants to force all students at the nearby University of Regina—and eventually everywhere—to take mandatory Indigenous Studies courses.
The idea is gaining steam more quickly than Julianne Beaudin-Herney, 20, had imagined.
More than 1,000 people have signed her petition entitled Students Initiative to Change On-Campus Systemic Racism. Administrators have offered support, student union presidents across the country have fallen over themselves to sign. NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton added her name.
The only people who have dared to publicly question the proposal are a few U of R engineering students. They don’t want to lose the single humanities course they get out of 45 classes in 4.5 years. Engineering undergrads are already so busy that only 64 per cent of them finish in six years.
Continue reading Why Indigenous Studies shouldn’t be mandatory
First Nations University student body president stole $30,000
“Accomplishments” kept him out of jail: judge
A former student council president at the First Nations University of Canada in Saskatoon has been convicted of fraud and theft of $30,000.
Blue Pelletier, 31, repeatedly wrote himself cheques from the student union’s bank accounts in 2006 and 2007 and never accounted for the money. Three other members of the council testified that Pelletier had told them he had used the money to buy a car and furniture for himself.
But he won’t go to jail. Instead, he’ll serve an 18-month conditional sentence that includes a curfew and he’ll be required to pay $20,000 back to the student’s council, reports CBC News.
Judge Gerry Allbright said that although Blue Pelletier is guilty, he had accomplished so much in his life that it proved the fraud was “no doubt, in my mind, an aberration.” Had it been more than an aberration, he would have gone to jail, said the judge.
That’s despite the fact that Pelletier accused the other council members of lying and blamed the lack of records for the cheques on a “lackadaisical” style of accounting. He had pleaded not guilty.
First Nations U. official guilty of fraud
Former VP of finance paid himself “coordinator fees” for trip to Scotland
The First Nations University of Canada’s former vice-president of administration and finance has pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal government yesterday in a Regina court, reports CBC News. Wesley Robert Stevenson, 60, received a 12-month non-jail sentence and 75 hours of community service for his crime. Stevenson admitted that he used $15,000 earmarked for an FNUC cultural exchange to Scotland’s Orkney Islands to pay for things that had nothing to do with the trip and that he later paid himself more than $7,000 in “coordinator’s fees” for attending. Stevenson was suspended by the university in 2005 for alleged financial misappropriation. He was then fired, which he contested with an unsuccessful wrongful dismissal suit.
Cases like these have seriously impacted the Regina-based school’s image, but it appears to have turned a corner. After multiple allegations of financial irregularities and warnings to clean up its books, both Ottawa and Saskatchewan cut funding to the Regina-based school in early 2010. But grants were restored months later when a new board or directors agreed to a restructuring process. A new president, business-expert Doyle Anderson, was hired in May. FNUC issued a news releases yesterday which promised to implement policies that will prevent more fraud.
New President for First Nations University
Business expert to rebuild school after years of governance problems
Doyle Anderson, who holds an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan, will be the new president of First Nations University in Regina. The Red Pheasant First Nation member will take over from an interim president who was installed after Charles Pratt was fired for several years of financial irregularities, including unjustifiable travel and vacation expenses. Both Ottawa and Saskatchewan cancelled funding in the spring of 2010, but federal grants were restored in June after the board agreed to a restructuring process. Anderson is currently the director of both the Native American Business Administration Program and the Indigenous Nations Institute at Idaho State University.
CAUT lifts censure againt First Nations U
Only the federal government stands in the way of bringing university back from the brink
Canadian academics are no longer being encouraged to boycott First Nations University, after the Canadian Association of University Teachers lifted its censure Friday Morning. Delegates to a national meeting of CAUT voted unanimously to lift its censure against the institution that was imposed 17 months ago. CAUT initially censured the institution due to a failure to implement governance reforms, and because of ongoing threats to academic freedom.
Over the past two months, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations has made what CAUT says are “enormous changes that have addressed concerns about the university’s governance structure.”
Before the reforms were implemented, both the provincial and federal governments pulled financial support for FNuniv. The province eventually restored its portion of the funding after the university entered into an agreement with the University of Regina, that would see the latter oversee FNuniv’s finances. The federal government has yet to announce it will restore its funding, but has provided FNuniv with $3 million so that students currently registered may complete the academic year in August.
CAUT says it is imperative that the federal government reinstate grants for the university. “We were once one of the loudest voices in the country when it came to demanding changes at the institution — those changes have been made, so we’ve lifted censure, and it is time for the federal government to do its part,” executive director James Turk said.
Ottawa pulls funding for First Nations University
With funding from both levels of government eliminated, future of institution in peril.
The federal government has pulled funding from the First Nations University of Canada over ongoing concerns with finances and governance. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl says his department won’t renew about $7.3 million to the Regina-based institution effective March 31.
For more on this story, please click here.
“For some time now, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has worked with the First Nations University of Canada to help it address long-standing, systemic problems related to governance and financial management of the institution,” Strahl said in a news release Monday. “There have been repeated delays by the institution to take action on these matters. This situation can no longer continue.”
The aboriginal university opened in 2003 with the idea that education would be to the future of young aboriginal people what the buffalo was to past generations. But it has been under a cloud for virtually its entire existence.
There have been allegations of financial mismanagement and political interference by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations which oversees the school. The federation would not comment on Ottawa’s decision.
Problems erupted in 2005 when a federation vice-chief, who was chairman of the board of governors, suspended several senior administrators, seized the university’s central computers and copied the hard drive with all faculty and student records. The federation set up an all-chiefs task force that recommended governance changes, but they were never made.
The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada put the university on probation in 2007. That was lifted in 2008 but later that year the Canadian Association of University Teachers voted to censure the school for “its ongoing failure to resolve the serious problems with the governance of the university.”
A provincially funded operational review said in January 2009 that the school needed a smaller, less politicized board.
A wrongful dismissal suit recently filed by a former financial officer at the university alleges there were questionable travel expenses and paid vacation time. A financial audit has been ordered and is to be completed by March.
Ottawa’s move comes after the Saskatchewan government’s decision last week to cut $5.2 million in funding to the school. That’s about 20 per cent of the university’s budget.
Strahl said he has told Indian Affairs officials to work with their provincial counterparts, the University of Regina — which has an academic partnership with the aboriginal university– and other stakeholders to find solutions that will help students and faculty in the weeks ahead. “I understand that these are difficult times for students and faculty. My primary interest is to ensure that students are able to complete their academic year,” said Strahl.
The Canadian Press
Sask eliminates funding to First Nations University
After years of allegations of fraud, financial irregularities and executive firings, the government has had enough.
The Saskatchewan government has cut funding to the First Nations University of Canada, saying that it has lost confidence in the embattled school.
Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris announced Wednesday that the province will no longer provide $5.2 million in funding starting in April. “For years, there has been uncertainty swirling around this institution. Instead of getting better, frankly most recently we’ve seen the intensification of that trouble,” Norris told reporters after the decision was made at a provincial cabinet meeting.
“This government has lost confidence in First Nations University. This chapter has come to a close.” Norris added that “the cloud that has consumed this institution is actually beginning to tarnish the reputation of post-secondary education in Saskatchewan.”
The First Nations University has been under a cloud of controversy for five years. There have been ongoing issues with the way the school is managed and more recently allegations of financial irregularities. A wrongful dismissal suit filed by Murray Westerlund, a former financial officer at the university, alleges there were questionable travel expenses and paid vacation time. A financial audit has been ordered and is to be completed by March.
But the governance problems have going on much for longer. They erupted back in 2005 when a Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations vice-chief, who was also chairman of the board of governors at the school, suspended several senior administrators, seized the university’s central computers and copied the hard drive with all faculty and student records.
The federation set up an all-chiefs task force that recommended governance changes, but they were never implemented.
The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada put the university on probation in 2007. Probation was lifted in 2008 but later that year, the Canadian Association of University Teachers voted to censure the school for “its ongoing failure to resolve the serious problems with the governance of the university.”
A provincially funded operational review said in January 2009 that the school needed a smaller, less politicized board and called for changes. The problems have led to a drop in enrolment and the dismissal or resignation of more than one-third of academic staff and about half of the administrative, professional and technical employees.
Clarence Bellegarde, chairman of the university’s board of governors, could not be reached Wednesday. Bellegarde has asked for patience while the school works through its problems. He said last Friday that people need to wait for the outcome of the audit and a governance review. The review was due last fall but it was pushed back to the end of January and now won’t be ready until mid-February.
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chiefs were holding their winter assembly in Saskatoon on Wednesday and were not immediately available to comment on the funding cut. A Regina-based spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada said the federal government — which provides the aboriginal university with about $7.2 million annually — is still assessing the impact of the province’s funding cut. Ottawa is also holding back $1.2 million from the funding because it’s waiting for the governance review.
Students, who met with Norris at the Saskatchewan legislature last week, say they don’t want to lose their school. Norris wouldn’t speculate on the survival of the school, which was once touted as being able to provide education for the future that would revive what the buffalo meant to past generations. Renewal at this stage may not be enough because “the challenges associated with institution are so deep and structural,” he suggested.
The minister said the students will finish their school year and a support team is being created to help address their concerns and questions going forward.
“We think the students have already been negatively affected, frankly they deserve better than they’ve been receiving, and our goal today is to ensure that the students actually have a much brighter future and clearer future,” said Norris.
The First Nations University is partnered with the University of Regina and Norris said contingency plans are in the works. The University of Regina has planned a news conference for Thursday.
The Canadian Press
Related: Which university is the worst run in Canada?
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First Nations University funding under threat
Financial irregularities, governance problems continue to plague the embattled institution
The Saskatchewan government’s warning that it could cut off funding to the First Nations University of Canada within days has put the future of the embattled school in question and left students hoping that it will survive.
“We love our institution and we don’t want to lose it,” said Cadmus Delorme, with the First Nations University of Canada Student Association. “We’d like to see it stay within First Nations/Indian education, but if that’s not working today, then we want assurance that it’s going to be there tomorrow. If it has to have other institutions come in and take it over for a while, then let it be.”
Delorme was among six students who met Thursday evening with Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris. It was Norris who said earlier in the day that he expects a decision soon about whether to continue supporting the aboriginal university in light of ongoing governance problems and allegations of financial irregularities. “It would be accurate to say that there is significant jeopardy regarding public funding for First Nations University,” said Norris.
The province has been patient, Norris said, but it is concerned that a report on how to fix governance at the school is late. It was supposed to be submitted by the end of January, but now won’t be ready until mid-February.
“Quite simply, that’s not acceptable for us,” Norris said. “We know what needs to be done. We know that the board needs to be reconstituted. We know it needs to be a smaller board and there are opportunities for the creation of something like a senate … This was to be a blueprint of how to get there.” Norris suggested the fact the report isn’t ready “reinforces to me (that) the prospects for governance change continue to drag on.”
There are also worries about new allegations of financial irregularities, the minister said. A wrongful dismissal suit filed by Murray Westerlund, a former financial officer of the aboriginal university, alleges there were questionable travel expenses and paid vacation time. An internal audit has been ordered and is to be completed by March.
Norris said $675,000 in conditional funding won’t flow to the school until the allegations are resolved. But the big debate is around funding for the next school year — the province provides about $4 million to $5 million in annual support.
The federal government provides the aboriginal school with about $7.2 million annually. However, there are conditions on a portion of that funding and Ottawa is still holding back $1.2 million.
“The $1.2 million is dependent on two reports that FNUC still has to submit to us. The first one is a report on governance and the second is a comprehensive action plan,” said Rod Desnomie, a Regina-based spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. “We have not received those yet.”
The governance report was due Nov. 30 and the action plan was due Jan. 1. Desnomie says the money won’t flow until the reports are submitted, reviewed and accepted by Indian and Northern Affairs.
There have been longstanding concerns with how the Regina-based university is run and questions about academic freedom and political interference from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The federation was not immediately available for comment Thursday.
Former FNUC exec will go to trial
Wesley Stevenson charged with fraud of more than $5,000
Wesley Stevenson, accused of defrauding First Nations University of Canada of more than $5,000, will get his day in court, after a three-day preliminary hearing held this week, the Regina Leader Post reports. The university’s governance problems stretch back several years, prompting several audits and independent reviews. Troubles continue to this day.
In 2005, Stevenson, a former financial executive, and two other senior officials at the university were suspended and the university’s board of governors ordered a forensic audit of the school’s finances. He and another official were eventually fired, while the third returned to work. In the months that followed, several high-ranking officials were fired or suspended and others resigned. Stevenson was officially charged by the RCMP in June of last year.
Senior staff, including Stevenson, alleged political interference in the operation of the university by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and its vice-chief, Morley Watson.
The concerns over academic freedom and political interference in the autonomous governance of the university prompted the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) to conduct an independent review of the university in 2007 and to place the institution’s membership in AUCC on probationary status. The university’s full member status has since been reinstated.
In late 2008 the Canadian Association of University Teachers voted to censure FNUC over the university’s governance problems. Censure means that most university teachers will be told to refuse appointments at the university, decline invitations to speak or participate in academic conferences hosted by the university, and turn down any distinctions it offers.
And earlier this year both the Saskatchewan and federal governments suspended funding to the school. The province made the move to freeze $200,000 after an internal report raised concerns about how the Regina-based university is run. An audit committee was established to address the governance issues in a serious way
The $2.4-million that is being held back by Ottawa represents one-third of all Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) funding to the university. INAC has said that university officials must meet various deadlines in the coming months and submit a final “action plan” by Jan. 1, 2010 to trigger a release of the funds. This is the first time the federal department has placed these kinds of conditions on an institution.
The university’s governance problems have persisted. Cheif Financial Officer Murray Westerlund was fired just last week. While the school is claiming that Westerlund’s departure was a mutual agreement, advanced education minister Rob Norris is not buying it and says while the government continues to work with the FNUC to complete the internal audit, it is not sure what action will be taken next.
With files from the Canadian Press and Karen Pinchin
First Nations University says it’s being “picked on”
Both province and feds are withholding funding from beleaguered university
Officials from the First Nations University of Canada are accusing the federal and provincial governments of being uncooperative and unnecessarily negative in their attempts to address alleged governance problems at the Saskatoon school, according to The StarPhoenix.
“The government should just get off its pot and start doing something more positive,” said faculty member Sharon Acoose in a speech to a gathered crowd of about 100 at Thursday’s open house. “Work with us. We have a beautiful university. Open your eyes and see that.”
In 2005, Morley Watson, chair of the university’s board of governors, suspended several senior administrators and allegedly seized the university’s central computers, copied the hard drive with all faculty and student records, and ordered administrative staff out of their offices.
Since that time, two different studies by both the provincial government and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations have recommended changes to the university’s board structure in an effort to improve transparency and good governance. Enrolment at the school has plunged, and many of the faculty and administrative staff have left.
In November 2008, the Canadian Association of University teachers imposed censure on the university, which meant that most of the Canada’s university teachers have been told to refuse appointments at the university, decline invitations to speak or participate in academic conferences hosted by the university, and turn down any distinctions.
Last March, the province suspended $200,000 of funding to the school, saying that “fundamental changes” needed to be made, and the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is withholding more than $2 million for the same reason.
Those reactions are not sitting well with many of Thursday’s speakers, reports The StarPhoenix.
According to Acoose, the university is being “picked on.” She praised the work of university president Charles Pratt and vice-president of finance Al Ducharme. “Let us do our jobs. Quit holding the purse strings above our heads. We are not puppets.”
The university’s vice-president of academics Herman Michell said he agrees with Acoose.
“Sharon Acoose mentioned the struggles our university has gone through in the past four or five years. She’s right. As far as I’m concerned, we should have 50 of these First Nations universities across Canada. A lot of institutions across Canada are facing the same challenges we are,” he said.
“I call on the federal and provincial government to step up to the plate and help us do our work.”
A spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada says his department is “not going to address the comments made at the open house.” He said the funding conditions will remain, along with their late-November deadline.
Gov’t withholds funds from First Nations University
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada imposes deadlines, demands “action plan”
According to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, the federal government will be withholding more than $2 million from the First Nations University of Canada until the school agrees to make fundamental governance changes.
In 2005, Morley Watson, chair of the university’s board of governors, suspended several senior administrators and allegedly seized the university’s central computers, copied the hard drive with all faculty and student records, and ordered administrative staff out of their offices.
Since that time, two different studies by both the provincial government and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations have recommended changes to the university’s board structure in an effort to improve transparency and good governance. Enrolment at the school has plunged, and many of the faculty and administrative staff have left.
In November 2008, the Canadian Association of University teachers imposed censure on the university, which meant that most of the Canada’s university teachers have been told to refuse appointments at the university, decline invitations to speak or participate in academic conferences hosted by the university, and turn down any distinctions.
Last March, the province suspended $200,000 of funding to the school, saying that “fundamental changes” needed to be made.
According to The StarPhoenix, the $2.4-million that is being held back represents one-third of all Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) funding to the university.
An INAC spokesperson says university officials must meet various deadlines in the coming months and submit a final “action plan” by Jan. 1, 2010 to trigger a release of the funds. This is the first time the federal department has placed these kinds of conditions on an institution.
Saskatchewan suspends funds to First Nations University
Province freezes $200,000 until “fundamental changes” are made
The Saskatchewan government has suspended funding to First Nations University Of Canada, saying it wants to see steps taken to restore the institution’s accountability.
The province made the move to freeze $200,000 after an internal report raised concerns about how the Regina-based university is run. Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris said the government needs to see an interim board or subcommittee established to address the governance issues in a serious way.
However, university board chair Clarence Bellegarde says he doesn’t agree with the internal report.
He says the report wasn’t written by experts on how universities are run, and he wants to hire a professional consultant to review the school’s operations.
Bellegarde warned that without provincial funding, the university may have to cut back some services.
Just five months ago, the Wall government announced hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to the university to help pay for construction, staff and supplies.
Since then, the Canadian Association Of University Teachers censured the school over what they call political interference.
A vice-president was fired, and students held a rally to voice their own concerns.
- The Canadian Press
First Nations University of Canada off probation: AUCC
One year after the university was suspected of being interfered with by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, AUCC lifts probation
The First Nations University of Canada in Regina had their probation status lifted Wednesday, after a year of working to establish the university’s independence from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) restored FNUC’s status and announced that it is satisfied that the university resolved governance issues.
FNUC was placed on probation April 2007 for alleged political interference by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). AUCC cited concerns about the university’s independence, institutional autonomy, and academic freedom in relation to the decision.
AUCC is an advocacy group that represents 91 universities in Canada. Because Canada does not have a formal accreditation process, membership in the organization serves as de facto accreditation, giving institutions that right to grant degrees. One requirement of membership is that the school is governed by an independent board of governors.
A central issue that concerned AUCC was Lyle Whitefish serving as chair of the FNUC board of governors. Whitefish also held the position of vice-chief of FSIN and managed their education portfolio. Christine Tausig Ford, AUCC director of communications, said at the time, “Having the vice-chief who is responsible for education and training be the board chair would be like having the minister of education in a province be the chair of a university board.”
In August 2007 Whitefish resigned as chair of the board, saying that he hoped his resignation would help the university gain autonomy.
AUCC now believes that the university has moved towards a better governance structure. “The AUCC Board believes it is possible for First Nations University of Canada to protect its uniqueness while, at the same time, sharing the attributes and values fundamental to Canadian universities,” AUCC wrote in a statement. “We are confident that the changes to the governance structures and processes recently formalized by FSIN provide for institutional autonomy, which is fundamental to the functioning of a university in a democratic society, and is a value all AUCC members believe to be fundamental.”
FNUC’s autonomy has long been a point of conflict and came to a head in 2005. In February of that year, former chair of the board Morley Watson, who was also vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, confiscated computers and suspended three administrators over allegations of financial improprieties.
At that time, staff and professors also accused the university of violations of academic freedom and nepotism in the appointment of university officers. Over the following two years, former president Eber Hampton resigned and was accompanied by leading academics that he recruited. Many top professors cited a loss of academic freedom as their reason for leaving.
Last April’s report stated that 14 individuals, including some key faculty members, left amid allegations. The faculty association has received 35 grievances and there have been a number of wrongful dismissal lawsuits.
FNUC president Charles Pratt denied at the time that so many faculty members had resigned over academic freedom issues, insisting that only one, maybe two, staff members left.
But Pratt was all smiles this week when the AUCC board voted to reinstate the FNUC. “We sought from the very beginning the middle ground with the AUCC and I have to say we feel such a sense of achievement and accomplishment. We addressed all their concerns specifically over the issues of governance and institutional autonomy,” Pratt told the Regina Leader Post.
Not everyone is happy with teh AUCC’s decision. The Canadian Association of University Teachers called the decision a “disservice to Aboriginal post-secondary education.” After the 2005 incident, a task force was assigned to look into improving governance at the university. But CAUT says that few of those recommendations have been implemented.
“It is a great disappointment that the FSIN failed to implement the recommendations of its own task force to restore proper university governance,” said CAUT executive director James L. Turk. “We are saddened that AUCC did not feel the First Nations University was worthy to be held to the same standard as Canada’s other universities.”
CAUT says that it tried to meet with FNUC’s president and board chair to discuss academic freedom and the implementation of a collective agreement but never received a response to meeting requests. At their May meeting, the CAUT council will consider censuring FNUC.
