U of O arbitrary deadline on harassment policy repudiated

And again... Once again all the unions and associations of students and professional workers at the University of Ottawa have judged it necessary to call the university administration on one of its half-baked and ill-motivated plans...

See the letter posted on the Student's Eye View blog: LETTER HERE.

The letter is signed by eight unions and associations representing all the university community members except the executive officers.

It says:

Stop imposing arbitrary deadlines without reason which harm the democratic collegial governance process of the university. Back off and take a deep breath and tell us that you will actually have a fair and open process...

Will the administrative culture of "Canada's university" be perturbed by yet another reasoned request for reason?

U of O equips itself to expel students with perceived mental health problems

The present UofOWatch commentary is sourced in THIS TODAY'S POST at the Student's-Eye View blog of student senator Joseph Hickey.

The University of Ottawa has equipped itself with a legal opinion and "best practice" recommendations for expelling students judged to have mental health problem behaviours.

Given the historical record of psychiatry's contributions to public health policy (LINK, VIDEO), this move can only be considered as a chilling red flag of things to come under the continued Allan Rock administration, undeterred by the recent collapse of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The university makes no mention that it has sought similar legal and professional opinions regarding the uncanny presumed ability of some deans and VPs to make psychological assessments of professors and students on the fly, as documented HERE (all posts).

What is our warring nation marching towards?

Rock's senate: Democratic in name

A university senate is intended to be an instrument of collegial governance that is the highest authority on all academic matters at the institution.

This role of senate is a foundational principle of the modern university in a democratic society and is established by statute (University of Ottawa Act, 1965).

Someone forgot to tell president Allan Rock (and Chair of the senate, University of Ottawa). It seems this item was either absent from the president school curriculum, or Mr. Rock was not paying attention when that came up in class?

Here are three recent reports from senator Joseph Hickey's blog about senate that show a senate treated like a show committee where senators are allowed to misbehave in disregarding student motions not popular with Rock's administration:::

• Memo from President Allan Rock

• U of O: Discrimination Policy to be Pushed Through in June

• Motion to Prevent a Premature Policy on Discrimination