Who Do Elected Board Members Represent? Not You.

On CBC Early Edition this morning ^[1], (starts around 2:19) Acting UBC President Angela Redish was interviewed about the controversy over Arvind Gupta’s “resignation” and John Montalbano’s alleged behaviour as a petty, insecure bully. In response to a question from host Rick Cluff about why Gupta resigned, she gave a meandering non-answer, ending with this statement:

“The Board of Governors is 20 people, 8 of whom are elected, either elected faculty representatives, student representatives, or staff representatives. So it is a Board decision to accept that resignation, and the board does have representation from all those groups.”

With all due respect to Dr. Redish, that statement is completely false. The elected members of the Board represent the university, and no one else. The Code of Conduct for Members of the Board of Governors ^[2] is unambiguous on this point.

3.2
A Governor elected or appointed due to position or familiarity with related or stakeholder interests and concerns is not a delegate or democratic representative of any interest or group. While such a Governor may express and take into account those interests and concerns, nothing in this Code, or in the circumstances of a Governor’s election or appointment, relieves any Governor from the duty to act in the best interests of the University and with a view to advancing its welfare.

The idea that faculty, students, and staff have representation on the Board of Governors is a myth. Don’t believe it.