All Posts Tagged With: "FNUC"
Arctic U: A, cautiously, good idea
Administrators should study the pitfalls of their predecessors to ensure mistakes aren’t repeated
Calls for a new university serving Canada’s north are growing. Approximately 50 academics gathered in Yellowknife this week and came away with renewed hope that such an institution could be established, and in the near future.
But we’ve heard these arguments before.
“As Northern peoples of Canada, we envision in our homelands a renowned institution centred on the teachings of the land, led by the wisdom of Indigenous peoples, fostering innovation, dialogue and inspired communities,” reads a statement from the group issued on Nov. 4.
Compare that with:
“First Nations University of Canada will acquire and expand its base of knowledge and understanding in the best interests of First Nations and for the benefit of society by providing opportunities of quality bi-lingual and bi-cultural education under the mandate of the First Nations of Saskatchewan,” reads the mission statement of the First Nations University of Canada.
Pretty similar, isn’t it?
But First Nations University of Canada demonstrated that special interest groups running a school with public money is fraught with problems. As recently as February, FNUC had its funding cut by the federal and provincial governments because of “long-standing, systemic problems related to governance and financial management.”
While the move sparked widespread criticism, inconsistent spending, sketchy expense accounts, that included trips to Vegas, and a desperate need to reform the board of governors, as demanded by both the province and the feds.
The funding cuts were just the icing on a cake that included staff dismissals, resignations in protest and accusations of infringement of academic freedom.
A university in Canada’s north is long overdue. Aside from Canada’s steady push for sovereignty in the north, which is greatly assisted by the presence of a well-educated local population, Canada’s north is an oft-neglected element of the Canadian landscape, and one that would be greatly assisted by the formation of a new school.
But given the recent precedent set by the formation of a similar special interest school, there are serious lessons to be learned. And administrators of this new institution should study the pitfalls of their predecessors carefully, lest they be doomed to repeat the same mistakes. A university in the Arctic should be about serving the needs of the region, with students as its number one priority. Independence will also be key. If it stays on this path, the university should succeed, and it will be a great thing for Canada’s north.
First Nations University closer to surviving
Feds to restore another $4m to keep university open for another year
First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) can afford to keep its doors open for at least another year, after the federal government announced today that it would give the embattled school $4 million in transitional funding.
The future of the university had been uncertain, after both Ottawa and the Saskatchewan government removed funding earlier this year over ongoing governance problems. The institution had been plagued for years by allegations of misused funds, fraud, and political interference from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
However, in March the Saskatchewan government restored funding to FNUC after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed that would see the institution’s finances controlled by the University of Regina. The U of R was already responsible for granting degrees to FNUC graduates. The five-year deal will see $5 million in provincial funds flow to a national accounting firm during the first year of the agreement. During the remaining four years, the money will go to the U of R, who will then distribute it to FNUC.
The arrangement with the U of R was key for the restoration of federal money, as was the appointment of an independent board of governors, and a “sustainable” fiscal plan. Distributed through the Indian Studies Support Program, federal funding will carry the school through March 31 2011. Previously, $3million was restored so that students could finish the school year, which ends in August.
FNUC to sell Saskatoon campus
Officials work to pay off mounting debt after government cutbacks
The First Nations University announced Monday it will be putting its original Saskatoon campus up for sale immediately as part of major financial cutbacks to keep the university afloat.
The announcement was made by university president Shauneen Pete to a packed classroom on the campus and broadcast to students and faculty at the Prince Albert and Regina campuses, the Regina Leader-Post reported.
Pete also announced cutbacks in staff and faculty at all three of the school’s campuses. The Leader-Post said Pete, in a brief interview, would not confirm how many people were being let go. “It had grown too big, at this point. What we need to focus back to our purpose and our mission, which is the quality programming for first nations peoples,” the Globe and Mail reported.
Students attending the Saskatoon campus will be allowed to complete their classes up to August 31, but Pete said the school will be sold as soon as a buyer is found, so students won’t be returning this fall. The cutbacks and closures come after the federal and provincial governments announced in February they would be pulling more than $12 million in funding, citing governance issues and growing debt.
Officials have been working to rectify the situation in order to keep the campuses afloat. Since their original decision, the provincial government has reinstated their $5.2 million funding portion, but the federal government has only restored $3 million thus far with no promises of future funding. The Saskatoon campus was originally built in 1976, first named the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. The main campus is now situated in Regina, with Saskatchewan and Prince Albert acting as the satellite campuses.
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.
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“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.
Report on First Nations U’s problems “won’t be ignored”
Sask. post-secondary minister says he’s pleased with provincial review
The minister responsible for post-secondary education in Saskatchewan insists a new report calling for changes at an aboriginal university “is not going to be ignored.”Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris says he’s pleased with the report on governance issues at the First Nations University of Canada. The provincially funded operational review looked at the school’s finances, administration and programming.
A copy leaked to a teachers group suggests the struggling school needs a smaller, less politicized board of governors and says changes should be implemented next month.
Norris declined to comment further, saying he’s still reviewing the report and a response from the board.
The comments come after the association of university teachers raised concerns Tuesday about what will happen to the school and funding if the review is ignored.
- 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.
