James Moore Pays Visit to UNBC
Prince George, B.C. – Embattled UNBC chancellor James Moore paid a visit to UNBC on Friday, the first since he was appointed to his new position last November.
He met with five students, including the president of the school’s graduate and undergraduate societies.
“It was at his and our request we were able to receive him in our Student Union Building and talk about some of the latest news regarding his appointment and see when he would be able to meet with students,” says Duncan Malkinson, president of the Northern Undergraduate Student Society (NUGSS).
During the course of the one hour meeting, scheduled during UNBC’s mid-semester break, he says concerns were raised regarding Moore’s appointment.
“This wasn’t new to him, he had heard about the outcome of our poll (which revealed 70% of undergrads are opposed to his appointment. A poll of graduate students showed opposition to Moore as well). We did voice some of the concerns about the circumstances of his appointment and his appointment generally,” says Malkinson.
As for worries Moore’s conservative values don’t mesh with those at UNBC, he says he got the impression during the meeting that “He (Moore) was sort of separating himself from his past political involvement and trying to move on.”
Was the meeting held in secret?
“I think there was a balance that was trying to be maintained. There was no efforts to explicitly conceal the fact that there was a meeting going on but at the same time because of how heated the debate around his appointment has been, it wasn’t something that folks had tried to draw unnecessary attention to as well.”
Malkinson also says he did not get the impression Moore would be stepping down from his appointment and that perhaps it’s even time to move on and look forward.
“It’s important to note we still are opposed to Mr. Moore’s appointment but the position of the board right now is that we want to affect the change that we can,” he says.
“We want to work to improve that process so that people aren’t so frustrated in the future, this is a change we feel we can affect. The Board of Governors has voted what, six or seven times on Moore’s appointment and each time it’s been in favour so I don’t expect any radical changes.
“So let’s move on, what positives can come out of this? How can we start working with everyone? That’s what we’re focused on.”
As for that future meeting with students, Malkinson says Moore promised “to arrange with his staff to find a suitable time in his schedule. A time of course that’s not during reading week.”
Comments
This is, I gather, supposed to be a very important part of the UNBC.
The selection and the process appears to have been shrouded in controversy and secrecy.
This man comes to UNBC and instead of addressing the University, he chats with 5 students? and no staff…..
Something really stinks here……..
Did he even know Prince George existed before this appointment? other than it is on a map and somewhere beyond Hope….
He’s a 2001 graduate of UNBC. So yes, I think he kind of knows Prince George existed.
Thank you, I stand corrected, you are right, I missed that part when I did a quick read on Wikipedia
The whole uproar over Mr. Moores appointment is but a tempest in a teapot.
Mr. Moore met with students, oh my.
I would not doubt that he is hoping to distance himself from his former political life, to concentrate on his next chapter.
Waiting with bated breath for the next crisis………..
metalman.
Can’t have been too secret, the university student newspaper, Over The Edge, had a reporter at the meeting, and posted an article reporting about it on their website on the weekend.
Just sayin…
Isn’t the main reason of going to university is to study and get a job? Being concerned who is in charge of the “red tape society” should be a far importance.
My guess is that the students and faculty at UNBC have far to much time on their hands. Time to get back to work, and burn up some more tax dollars.
I suppose this issue could be construed as a form of entertainment for them.
Of course Moore would like to distance himself from his former political life. Just look at the way current Conservatives distance themselves from Stephen Harper. ;-D
It’s time to make a real northerner Chancellor once again. I’ve had enough of these carpetbaggers who spent a couple of years up here only to head back down south.
We are too far removed from the original 16,000 donors who wanted to build UNBC over 25 years ago. UNBC was built by the people of the north, people with a huge vision and a huge work ethic. Instead, UNBC has been hijacked by small-minded southern hacks.
Instead, UNBC has been hijacked by small-minded southern hacks?
I don’t think that the faculty will appreciate you referring to them in that manner!
If it was just to get a job, one can be much more effective by going to a Community College to get a Diploma or Certificate. The knowledge, skills and attitudes developed there by good students will get one a job much more quickly at higher initial pay. It can take a university grad a decade and more to catch up to the total dollars earned by a tech graduate.
Good students are much more focused in Community College programs.
Universities, on the other hand, provide a superior environment to understand how to gain access to and critique information.
It is easy to use Wikipedia to find all you want to know, but it is the critical analysis of the data/literature that is most important. Before the proliferation of computers it was all about access to and storage of information. Now, it is much more about analysis. Universities do this well by teaching critical thinking.
I think Universities also do a better job of building self-confidence, independence and responsibility than 2 or 3 year College programs do.
Having an advanced education does not guarantee job entry except in a few professions and highly technical vocations. What guarantees job entry is a high demand for workers in particular fields. Workers who have the right attitudes and aptitudes can enter a job when workers are scarce. Companies will select and train workers on the job when push comes to shove.
goph2015, you state that you think Universities also do a better job of building self-confidence, independence and responsibility than 2 or 3 year College programs do.
I’m not so sure that I agree with you. My experience with College students is that they seem more willing to accept the cost of their education and recognize it as a means to a better future. University educated students, in my experience, seem to have the attitude that the world owes them a living, starting with a free education.
University students also seem more inclined to be indoctrinated into a “Liberal” frame of mind, less independent and less responsible. College students on the on the other hand seem to be more self-confident, more independent and more willing to accept responsibility for their place in society, rather than demanding or expecting to be placed on the lofty pedestal that University students expect to be.
That’s just my experience!
That was supposed to be a response to DPJ …. Oh well.
With a controversy like this–Moore should just say Thanks BUT No Thanks
And back down to a bunch of bullies? Nah….
With a controversy like this–Moore should just say Thanks BUT No Thanks. ….. He could never do that . This is about Christy and gang controlling our schools through appointments of political and industrial hacks . This has nothing to do with education . It is completely about political ideology , neocon ideology . Morality , honesty , fairness , openness , and integrity has been so twisted by Christy that they are well beyond recognition.
Ataloss, how exactly was Premier Clark involved in the appointment of James Moore as Chancellor?
I guess you did not research the other appointee . Hint , Wolsey was direct from suncor . The other appointment just before the vote was directly from the Christy government apparatchik.
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