Good ridance dr.cozzetto! Maybe the next chair of the board of governors can count and keep these facilities out of public debt. As for gordy setting the stage for competition in the system - keep up the good work - I might vote for you yet. The last thing we need in our educational system is monopolies run by people who can't stay on budget and expect the taxpayer to keep on picking up the tab.Get it straight right now there is a shortage of trades and good health care workers - the rest of the pie in the sky graduates will have to step aside while the government fills the need with people who will work and pay taxes instead of a bunch of artsy freeloaders hell bent on being a burden on the taxpayer.

Yeah let's blame the provost for the funding woes of our education system. The funding formulas designed by the provincial government is what is setting the colleges and universities up for it's demise. Instead of finger pointing to a guy who is resigning from a Board who collectively decides where to spend the money, I suggest taking a closer look at the funding formulas and the Board of Governors as a whole. All of the educational needs are important to our economy not just health and trades. Front line workers require training; marketing for business and trade; managers, food industry training; history; philosophy; social science; physical sciences; all of these play a vital role in our society.
To ignore these educational programs at the expense of trades and health science training would be detrimental.
The government says they are funding but both CNC and UNBC have stated publicly they have deficits!!! How can this be?? We need to put our attention on that.

Oh and for the conspiracy theorists out there, you might like this tidbit: It is part of the "New World Order" to cause chaos in the education system, fear mongering and wars to dupe the public into believing they need to give up certain rights and freedoms and in the end we will be controlled by the hands of a few. This "New World Order" is world domination not by force, but by keeping the public ignorant and in fear.

here is the link re: New World Order
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PpMdTmVMpo

There was a lot of other issues than budgets up at UNBC. Ask anyone who works there and they will be telling you the full story.

The summary I can give of Dr. Cozzetto is he respected no one. To your face, to any policy's, he violated the Universities Act and it has come around to help convince him to leave or be told to leave.

First it was the VP/Provost Dr Poff who resigned from her position in 2004 not waiting for new VP/Provost Dr Howard Brunt to start his job. Then it was Dr Brunt's turn to resign in 2007 and now is Cozzetto's turn in 2008. 3 resignations of top posts in UNBC in 4 years.

Someone should ask the Chair of the Board of Governors for UNBC today why 2 years ago the board decided to hire Cozzetto instead of hiring Dr Max Blaux who applied for the post and had an excellent performance as UNBC VP research and was familiar with the mismanagment/corruption in UNBC? If Max had been hired, UNBC would have been in a much better shape now.

UNBC is in crisis mode now, with two terrible Deans (McGill and Martel) in charge of two colleges in UNBC and no stable VP or president. Everyone is jumping the UNBC ship which is hit by mismanagment of Deans and chairs and the low enrolment (read the Oct 2003 colligiality report for specific cases of abuses by Deans and chairs).

The board and UNBC faculty association are both fully responsible for allowing corruption and mismanagment in UNBC to grow for more than 8 years and by covering it up and silencing or firing the few critics in UNBC contribute to dissatisfaction and lowering the overall performance of the system.

Who knows maybe it is already too late for drastic reforms and UNBC will be closed in 3 years.

northern taxpayer ... dig into some info about the lifestyle of medical doctors, engineers, etc ... you might be surprised of how many play musical instruments and are active in the symphony, local bands, and in amateur theatre.

A person needs to be well-rounded, as does a community.

It would also help a lot if you quit using expressions which denegrate a group of people. I suspect that given your handle, you might actually be more of a freeloader than most artsy people. We don't really know that, do we? And anything you tell us here will will not be verifiable.

Agree with your opinion of education tinyapplecork.

That segment on u-tube is interesting .... hard to tell which group is behind that.

Almost sounds like some of the state militias; ultra right wing; the right to bear arms and overturn the government ... or simply libertarians.

I notice Canada is highest on a list of funders of the education system that flashes. Pushing money into a system does not guarantee quality, although it helps. Other accountability mechanisms have to be put in place.

I do not know what I should think about creating so many universities at the stroke of a pen, for instance. My intuition tells me to watch for the watering down of the value of a degree. Also watch out for the loss of value of a career based diploma and trade certification if those programs at colleges are not only not funded properly but also not promoted properly.

I'm not well rounded. I run my @ss off and stay lean and mean.

I used to have a fellow on staff that got forced out of the CNC. Naturally the river of money that runs through those high end schools has eddies and pools that are very interesting for those that get to swim in them.

Too many stories about UNBC and CNC to not form an opinion. I also know a lady on Mat leave is not going back. Naturally I don't hang out with the converted and giddy, so I probably see a different angle of the UNBC and CNC business than what is published.

I have to agree with Nowicki: UNBC has had a long series of inferior senior administrators from whom Max Blau seems to stand out in both competence and character. It isn't just the current administrators. It is hard to imagine anyone less suitable to be a deanthan Robin Fisher. And on the other hand, Fred Gilbert, the founding dean of Natural Resources, who was very well regarded (and is now President of Lakehead University), reportedly left because he was made to feel so unwelcome.

Nowicki is right! UNBC has been recently terribly mismanaged. Think of names of the ego-ragers who abused their colleagues and took advantage of their situations: Martel, Fisher, Blouw, the current deans of the two UNBC colleges, and now Cozzetto. These folks would be case stuides in ego-driven management.

The ministry needs to step in an take control. Public money is being consistently misspent and a public institution consistently mismanaged. The minister needs to step in and take control. It is time for an investigation of the management of UNBC. Enough public money washed down the drain.

Oh, and, Cozzetto was fired. Come on! Who is kidding who? Also, "no severance package". Ok, maybe they called it something else but let me reassure you that he got a sweet deal on the way out.

The media needs to take their job more seriously and ask some important questions. Stop just posting UNBC media releases as "news". Talk to the staff and the profs there. Interview Board members and the Board Chair, and the Chancellor.

Dr Deborah Poff before resigning from her post as VP/provost in 2004 (and running as NDP candidate) chaired a committee that drafted a comprehensive report on the mismanagment in UNBC. This 23Oct 2004 report is publicly available and touches on the tip of the iceberg of mismanangment that has hit the UNBC. Pages 24-26 can be a basis for starting a public inquiry.
The report is available at:
http://www.unbcfa.ca/pdf/Report-of-the-Task-Force-on-Collegial-Governance.pdf

Why the print media (such as PG citizen)and local politicians have failed to act on this report for 5 years? Why the MPs and MLAs in Prince George area(like Dick Harris and Shirley Bond) have not acted on the findings of this report and let the terrible misamangment in UNBC turn into a much bigger problem and a chronic problem in UNBC in Prince George?

If Shirley Bond in BC government thinks that by ignoring these problems in UNBC, she is serving Prince George citizens and is helping UNBC, she is wrong. Let us see what she will do in the coming weeks to restore the trust in UNBC and bring some of those corrupt administrators into justice. The opposition and media need to urge her and colleagues in BC gov to take immediate action.

Here are some of the findings of the report [the ones in brackets are my comments]:

Page 24: "What is not working well" [in UNBC]

[UNBC's] "Faculty who responded to our request for feedback identified four main problem areas within the University’s governance."

"The first involves the perception that the processes by which decisions are made and then implemented are unfair, capricious and subject to hidden agendas."

"A key feature of the perceived dysfunction at this University is the belief that decision-making
bodies are dominated by senior administrators or by special interest groups." (p.24)

[!!! ROOT of DYSFUNCTION in UNBC]

"Some [UNBC] faculty reported that they felt intimidated by some senior administrators and that the bodies chaired by these individuals were weakened."

[!!! Wherever in this report, it says senior administrator, you can assume it refers to Dr McGill and those chairs supporting him 100%]

"Others noted a tendency for senior administrators to ‘bulldoze’ over opposition dismissed as ‘complainers’ or to be vindictive with those who oppose their views."
"This was reported at all levels of governance – people felt penalized by their chair at annual report time, by their Dean at tenure and promotion and by the President in Senate or at Public Forum." (p24)

[!!! the president in this report refers to Dr Jago]

"Other faculty, however, were aggrieved by the attention that some special interest groups within the University community seemed to receive." (p24)

[!!! Who are these interest groups? Can we call them UNBC mafia or UNBC gangs?]

"Some faculty believed that struggling programs receive an unfair proportion of University resources, while successful programs are ‘PUNISHED’ by received relatively less support." (p24)

[!!! PUNISHING GOOD PERFORMANCE AND REWARDING BAD PERFPRMANCE is the principle cause of mismanagment in UNBC]

"More common though, was the frustration voiced by Faculty with those who go around approved structures and processes. People believed that some of their colleagues received special favors from dministrators because they were ‘squeaky wheels.’"

[principle of mismanagment in UNBC: reward
royality and punish performance].

"A number of faculty described their surprise when policy changes were implemented that they had no recollection of ever deciding upon."

[!!! No comment]

"Others were shocked when courses were assigned without their knowledge or consent. Many of our respondents felt decidedly ‘out of the loop.’"

"Not only did they feel like they had insufficient access to information but more than that, some felt afraid to raise questions."

[!!! GOVERNANCE by FEAR]

"Apropos the perceived vindictiveness of some administrators, some faculty members said that they felt silenced and dis-empowered." (p25)

[!!! silencing critics]

"Others believed consultative processes were empty whereby faculty were asked for their ideas and then ignored."

"Not feeling heard, believing themselves to be denied important information about their own programs,faculty reported that they withdrew from University governance."

[!!! Demoralizing the faculty]

"As their access to information diminished, they stopped believing in the
processes and the individuals who govern this University."

"In effect, faculty believed that there was little in the way of ‘responsible government’ at this university both at the decanal and at the chairs level."

[!!!! No RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT at Dean/chairs levels. Any hope of a responsible government at province level to correct this?]

"As one faculty member put it: “Most
university senior administrators such as presidents do not pretend to be involved in day-to-day matters at their institutions, and are not; at UNBC they may pretend not to be involved but in fact
are…” Decision-making processes were found too often to wind up in the Presidential suite and, given the busy schedules of many senior administrators, to languish there."(p25)

[Dr COZZETTO had problem with this].

"Finally, some faculty commented on their feelings of isolation both within the University and from their colleagues outside the institution."

--------------

Does anyone know what was done with the report? What was the follow up? Where is the report which identifies the changes which were made? Where is the report that identifies the follow ups there will be ot those changes?

It is 4 years later (don't know why the footer says 2007 when this is a 2004 report that is headed October 2003). Within that time frame there should be agreed to changes (by the fall of 2005) with changes having happend by the fall or 2006 and the first measure of the effect those changes by the fall of 2007 and the second by the fall of 2008, with a tweaking of the changes to respond to those two evaluations by the fall of 2009.

So where is UNBC with that?

It is interesting that the UNBC has received a good report card from McLeans throughout those years. It appears that the students, and other measures that the magazine used, came up with a rating that provides the UNBC with a completely different image.

I guess the question I would have to pose is" "how does this compare with self-evaluations at other universities?" It would not surprise me all that much, if universities in general are quite autocratic. After all, they are institutions mired in hundreds of years of tradition, and that tradition is not one of democracy. Teaching about democracatic processes does not mean that the fruits of those thoughts are applied to their own house.

I apologize if I offended your artsy freeloading life style "OWL" but will do every thing in my power to insure you are returned to society without the stigma of a welfare bum.As for how much do i pay in taxes it is many thousands each month with absolutly no proportionate return, yes my tax money goes to pay for many of you artsy types with your well rounded posteriers, and this is coming to an end for you and others who are bleeding the tax coffers.

This report was drafted by UNBC VP Poff and committee because of the terrible mismanagment by the Dean of CSAM Dr McGill 2 years after McGill was hired. The short story is that McGill in his first term in UNBC got into a conflict with some of the departments that he was controlling and the matter went to external arbiteration.

Unfortunately, UNBC's president Jago undermined VP Poff's authority after the arbiteration and after this report and continued fully supporting Dr McGill's abuse. This contributed to Dr Poff leaving her VP post earlier before the new VP Brunt was even hired in 2004.

What VP Howard Brunt did with the
report? I would say nothing because of
another unfortunate decision by UNBC's board to extend the term of Jago to stay a bit longer than was agreed.

So until 2006 Jago supressed any action and he was the UNBC president when the renewal contract of McGill came in 2005. The new VP Howard Brunt was a bit of coward in deciding to go along with Jago's support for McGill. I say coward, because more than 20 professor/faculty in CSAM college in UNBC put their carrier on the line and wrote letters of not supporting Dr McGill's contract. Brunt renewed McGill's contract and in a public letter praised the contrubations of McGill as the soil scientist in UNBC. But it rained afterwards and soil became too muddy in UNBC.

You know the rest of story, Brunt got into the mud himself after covering up McGill's discrimination in hiring in UNBC Physics dept in 2005-2006. There were tens of complaints filed against McGill during the
2004-2005 because of McGill's support for abuse of faculty by the program chairs in CSAM. The things got so muddy that the
UNBC faculty association (FA) Keener resigned from his position; FA suspended the grievience process in UNBC for some months and .... these events resulted in a kind of watergate scandal in UNBC for VP Brunt and Brunt decided to resign after accusations of racism in renewing contracts in UNBC and serious breaches of faculty agreement.

It is interesting that Cozzetto fired managment and staff, but let the bad apple Dr McGill continue his rule in UNBC. Perhaps McGill or one of his close allies/friends were Cozzetto's advisor. BTW Cozzetto decided to promote Martel, the FA officer into CASHS acting dean position in UNBC. Martel was the guy in FA who went as far as using "fuck" insults in public to cover up the racism scandal by McGill/Brunt in UNBC. Interestingly, Martel, like Jago belongs to the historian lobby in UNBC ....

Enough of the negative tone in this, Cozzetto is gone, his wife no longer runs the show and now people can get back to business. Dr. Randall has a busy time ahead but has a good head on his shoulders with great staff supporting him. It will be tough times ahead (but not as tough as it was with Cozzetto and his wife at the helm). Best thing was to allow Cozzetto to part ways (took way too long) and hopefully the faculty and staff can collect the pieces and make UNBC a great place to work and learn. If UNBC was not in PG, think how much the housing market would crash in the light of the lumber problems. Support UNBC now more than ever as it is a major player in the economy!