EXAMINING ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
CASES:
Read about various cases by going to the links on the links page. Or check out the links below that feature a few of the current stories.
December 5, 2008
A student government member has had disciplinary charges brought against her. Her crime? She emailed the professors at Michigan State University to express her concerns about the impact that a shortening of the Fall 2009 semester would have on students. One professor filed a complaint. The MSU President took action against the student, in spite of recommendations from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education against such action. Read the story at CNET News.
November 19, 2008
Read the Globe and Mail report on the policing of student conversation at Queen’s.
November 19, 2008
If you are a student at an Alberta university, beware. You are considered to be an employee of the Government of Alberta and you therefore cannot sue the university if you are injured on campus. No other province designates students as employees in this way.
October 15, 2008
It has been over two weeks since the Auditor General released his review of public institutions in the province of Alberta. The Research and Finance offices of the University of Lethbridge received significant criticism. Having not seen any attempt by the administration, the Board, or the Faculty Association to bring these matters to the attention of the university community, the onebananashort site provides a link to the report and raises some matters of concern.
McGill University.1
September 17, 2008
Degrading McGill
A new website by McGill professor Jeremy Cooperstock. The initial issue was plagiarism, but the story is featured on my site because of how the McGill administration has handled the matter…and because I like Cooperstock’s twist on the McGill shield and his catchy banner. A little humour needs to be injected into the world of academia from time to time.
September 5, 2007
(first posted, with later materials added in the months that followed)
Professor Tom Robinson created a new website, called onebananashort.org. On this site, Robinson posted his account of his journey into the bizarre land of administrative processes at the University of Lethbridge, where each door led into a room as strange as any encountered by Alice as she ventured through Wonderland. Robinson notes that the reaction of the university administration to the onebananashort.org website illustrates how public institutions can sink into a “banana republic” kind of environment.
The University of Lethbridge.2
September 5, 2007
An analysis of the disciplinary process
The Administration and Board of the University of Lethbridge tried to shut down Robinson’s website. The Dean of Arts and Science ordered Robinson to take down the site and charged him with gross professional misconduct when he explained why he would not. Lawyers for senior administration and the Board tried to force the web host to remove material from Robinson’s website.
The Administration and Board of the University of Lethbridge tried to shut down Robinson’s website. The Dean of Arts and Science ordered Robinson to take down the site and charged him with gross professional misconduct when he explained why he would not. Lawyers for senior administration and the Board tried to force the web host to remove material from Robinson’s website.
