Canadian Labour Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER projects that are expected to save the university $25.3 million in annual expenses. These savings will be reached through job cuts at the senior administration level and through the elimina- tion or consolidation of programs and services. Specifically, the action plan proposes the re- duction and restructuring of senior leadership, the reorganization and simplification of cross- college programming, the reconfiguration of campus libraries and the reorganization of health science administration structures. It was this last aspect of the action plan that forced Buckingham to break ranks. Buckingham — then the executive direc- tor at the university's School of Public Health — feared the amalgamation of his school with the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology in the College of Medicine could threaten its recent accreditation. Any substan- tive change to the program requires written notification to the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) and Buck- ingham believed the proposed changes would lead to the loss of accreditation. He said he was told to keep his concerns to himself. "We were given orders, by the president, that if by chance we spoke publicly against the pro- cess or the findings of TransformUS we would have short tenure," Buckingham said. It was an order he couldn't follow. Bucking- ham wrote a letter detailing his concerns, titled "Silence of the Deans," and sent it to both the provincial government and opposition. "I believe deans have the right to speak out," he said of his decision. "Are we yes-men and yes- women for senior administration or do we say 'I'm concerned that this might affect the future of my school, and therefore I disagree'? Even if we're just a dissenting voice within the decisions made by upward administration, I think deans have a right to speak out. Most importantly, I think, is that even if we lose the battle, our dis- senting voice is on the record for being there." Within 24 hours of the letter's May 13 publi- cation, he was fired and stripped of tenure. Buckingham was told he had damaged the reputation of the university, the president and the school. His termination letter cited egre- gious conduct and insubordination. "There were problems before I spoke up," Buckingham said, calling his letter the straw that broke the camel's back. "It was the issue that brought the people to their feet." On May 15, senior leaders at the university announced they had reconsidered and reversed part of their decision and offered Buckingham a tenured faculty position. "Academic freedom and tenure are sacro- sanct at the University of Saskatchewan," said the university's then-president Ilene Busch- Vishniac in a statement. "This case, however, is not about academic freedom. Dr. Buckingham was removed from his executive director posi- tion for acting contrary to the expectations of his leadership role." She added Buckingham's reinstatement did not mean he would be returning to his leadership position within the School of Pub- lic Health. "The University of Saskatchewan has been on the receiving end of inaccurate and unde- served criticisms launched from across the country," Busch-Vishniac said. "We have set in place numerous mechanisms for people to ex- press themselves on matters related to Trans- formUS and they have worked well. The ini- tiative has been debated, criticized, amended, changed and disparaged… Our university has been, is and always will be, committed to pro- viding a positive and safe campus while main- taining our academic values of open, unencum- bered discussion." Public pressure on the university continued despite Buckingham's reinstatement. Students, staff and members of the public demanded Buckingham be fully returned to his role as ex- ecutive director of the School of Public Health as well as demanding the resignation of many members of the senior administration. The University of Saskatchewan Faculty As- sociation (USFA) also spoke out against the university's handling of the situation, with se- nior professional officer Jim Cheesman calling Buckingham's firing "the greatest fundamental error I've seen in my life." "The idea behind tenure in a university is completely linked to the notion of academic freedom," Cheesman said. "Within the universi- ty environment one must be able to debate and consider and discuss anything, and they must be able to do that with the knowledge that they will not be penalized for voicing their views… Anybody can lose their job for cause. It's just that one of the causes in the university environ- ment cannot be for criticizing the employer." Cheesman said Buckingham's case was the most blatant violation of academic free- dom he had ever encountered. The USFA hopes these recent events will shine a light on the university's ongoing issues surrounding tenure, and hopes Buckingham's story will embolden other faculty members to speak out against the systemic erosion of academic freedom in the future. In the immediate fallout, it appears several key players have gone down with the ship. The school's provost Brett Fairbairn — who also acted as the university's vice president and signed Buckingham's termination let- ter — resigned on May 19. On May 21, the university's board of governors announced that Busch-Vishniac was terminated without cause, effective immediately. Former lieutenant governor Gordon Barn- hart was named as the acting president, and the board announced Busch-Vishniac will be offered a faculty post in the university's Col- lege of Engineering. In a statement, the board said the univer- sity "is committed to the principles of aca- demic freedom and freedom of expression… The board feels strongly that the university's ongoing operations and its reputational re- building efforts will be more effective with new leadership." Buckingham agreed a new commanding of- ficer is crucial to the university's future. "I certainly do believe the school has been wounded, and the wounds are fresh right now," he said. "Hopefully, with change, these wounds will heal. I think we need substantial change and with change — the proper change — the great- ness of this university will continue to flourish." News Photo: University of Saskatchewan University provost Brett Fairbairn resigned following Buckingham's reinstatement and president Ilene Busch-Vishniac was fired without cause days later. The university's board said it "feels strongly that the university's... reputational rebuilding efforts will be more effective with new leadership." University committed to academic freedom: Board < from pg. 1

• Cover