Professors happy to keep Balsillie’s hand off York
Re: York U Rejects Rim Founder’s $60M Deal, April 3. We should praise York’s University for voting decisively to reject RIM co-founder Jim Balsillie’s bid to broker a $60-million collaboration between the school and his private think-tank. More and more, universities are becoming similar to earlier factory schools, that would train only for work on their production lines. This approach narrows the notion of education to the transfer of knowledge and skills in a few utilitarian fields. Such educated engineers, economists, biologists etc. are quickly hired by their present sponsors, but after 10-15 years of hard work are replaced by younger colleagues with updated narrow knowledge.
If students focus on specialized technological problems, they lose the broad focus that would allow them to adjust to a changing labour market as flexibility/ creativity/potential in abilities of updating their knowledge in the current fields.
Slawomir Poplawski, Montreal. By cancelling its deal with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and Jim Basillie, York University did a service to itself, taxpayers and potential benefactors. The deal would have channelled public and private funding to the university through an external gatekeeper, with unprecedented strings attached. It fell apart because CIGI and York officials rejected reasonable proposals to address the flaws.
For example, the deal obliged York to consider CIGI’S advice and to report quarterly to CIGI on curriculum. CIGI was given a veto over the budget of the academic program, which enabled CIGI to cut all funding under the program. CIGI had alarming rights regarding appointment, renewal and termination of faculty. York’s obligations to give CIGI a role in academic affairs were enforceable in binding arbitration, but CIGI’S commitments to protect academic freedom were not. Proposals to require all relevant agreements to be given to Faculty Council, and precluding secret deals, were rejected.
Private funders must recognize that there are important limits to what they can request in exchange for money. Serious academic institutions will ensure the limits are respected. We are grateful that York and Osgoode have done so. Professors Gus Van Harten and Stepan Wood, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto.
University needs a shakeup
It is astonishing that York University can refuse an offer of $60-million on the grounds that the donor, a well-known Canadian industrialist, might have a veto over the subjects of courses and the professors who teach the courses. The university and its professors are afraid that someone will question the left-wing anti-canadian and anti-israel mush that is often taught at York.
Jonathan Usher, Toronto.