The Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) is disappointed over the recently-announced composition of the search committee charged with recommending a new permanent President for Mount Allison.
“The norm in Canada is that university academic staff make up about one-third of the members of a Search Committee for a President,” says MAFA President Prof. Paul Berry. “The newly-announced search committee here falls well short of that.”
The Board of Regents recently established a search committee of nine members, including only two elected members of the academic staff. The committee also includes four appointed Regents, one appointee of the Alumni Association, one student, and one non-teaching Mount Allison employee.
Both the university Faculty Council and Senate voted overwhelmingly that a nine-member search committee should have two elected academic staff members and one appointed by the faculty association.
“A university president is like the captain of a team. He or she leads, but to be successful must have the support of the players, which means the campus community,” Berry says.
Berry says faculty are also concerned that there is only one student and one representative of the non-teaching employees. “We think that the campus community should be a strong majority of the search committee, and there should be greater representation from on-campus groups,” he says.
Mount Allison is a tax-supported institution and the Board needs to be more accountable, Berry says.
Mount Allison currently has a President, Dr. Ken Ozmon, whose term ends on June 30th, 2006. The opening arises from Wayne MacKay’s decision in December 2003 not to continue as President.
Professor Berry also expressed concern that the committee is overly dominated by Regents. “The selection of a President is very important to the campus community, and this process does not look promising for reaching a decision that reflects our aspirations,” he says.
For more information, contact Prof. Paul Berry
Commerce Dept., Mount Allison University
144 Main St, Sackville, NB, E4A 1A7
tel. (506) 364-2330, fax. 364-2625