A settlement has been reached between Carleton’s Board of Governors (BoG) and Root Gorelick, the president of the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) and former member of the BoG.
In August 2015, the BoG made changes to its Code of Conduct. It stated that members of the Board must “refrain from making disparaging comments of fellow members and staff,” and “support all actions taken by the Board of Governors even when in a minority position on such actions.”
In May 2016—when Gorelick’s seat had expired—he reapplied for the position, but was rejected because he refused to sign and agree to the rules of the new code. Gorelick had previously clashed with other members of the BoG and faculty members for publicly posting and discussing meeting minutes on his blog. After filing a grievance for being unable to retake his seat, his case was subsequently taken up by CUASA.
In an email, Gorelick said, “As I have said on several occasions in public, to members of the Board who were on my appointment committee, and also directly to the president of CUASA, I believe that a modern university should be open and transparent in its governance processes.” He continued, “The Code of Conduct that all Board members were asked to sign was too restrictive and I started to work, first with the Governance Committee of the Board, and then through the Executive Committee and the full Board to revise the Code. ”
Gorelick also said he also began working with the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) regarding this issue.
He said his largest concern was ensuring “openness and transparency,” in the BoG.
“At heart, the critical question is how does an institution make informed decisions in the best interest of the institution AND make sure that the constituents/members of the community are informed and appropriately engaged,” Gorelick said.
After 15 hours of negotiations on Dec.17, the BoG and CUASA came to a conditional settlement. The settlement is largely dependent upon two key factors: changing the Board’s current Code of Conduct to not infringe on academic freedoms and offer $21,500 in compensation for legal fees.
In a statement, Carleton’s interim president Alastair Summerlee said that the grievance has since been settled.
“. . .The Board [of Governors] agreed to changes to the Code of Conduct that clarify the importance of free and open dialogue about any issue at the Board but that members of the Board recognize and respect the collective decision of the Board when a vote is taken,” Summerlee stated.
Gorelick said that his main intention has been always been to maintain free speech at Carleton. According to him, the conditional changes to the Code of Conduct are intended to “restore academic freedom to faculty members and to provide openness and transparency to the BoG.”
“I would like Carleton to negotiate in good faith and honour what they agreed to . . . If the conditions are met, Carleton will not only become a vanguard of free speech and collegial governance, but will also have provided a blueprint for how governance, academic freedom, and free speech can be added to boards of governors in Canada,” Gorelick said in an interview before the settlement was reached.
Summerlee said he has previously spoken out publicly in favour of transparency on the BoG. According to him, making all opinions heard even if the majority does not agree with the outcome of decisions made by the BoG is a challenge.
“This is an ongoing process that, in my opinion, is not only important but needs to have active, respectful participation at all times from as many different perspectives as possible,” he explained.
Summerlee added that clarifying the Code of Conduct is only part of the process to making Carleton’s governing bodies more transparent. He said that a general external review of the university’s governance processes is being discussed by the BoG’s executive committee and will be discussed by the academic governance committee of Carleton’s Senate later in the semester.
Once the settlement was reached, Gorelick said he was “thrilled,” as the changes will allow for “unmuffled and unfettered voices” for members of the BoG, and also for students and faculty.
He said, “This is a major step towards collegial governance, where collegiality refers to equality of individuals at the (board)table. This will make Carleton more of a community, a community with and of scholars.”
— With files from Naomi Librach
Photo by Meagan Casalino
