UBC Faculty to Question the Board about Presidents Sudden Resignation

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The board of governors of The University of British Columbia are set to be questioned by the faculty association about the sudden resignation of the university president, Arvind Gupta, on Friday. Dr. Gupta began a five-year term in July, 2014, but the university announced late last week that he is stepping down.

According to a statement issued by the president of the faculty association, Mark MacLean, he said that a resignation so soon into a presidential term represents “a failure point in the governance of the university.” He stressed that before looking for a new leader, the board has to explain why Dr. Gupta turned out to be the wrong man for the job. Even though the school already faces years-long slide in international rankings and provincial budget cuts, it will now have to cope with another challenge of having no permanent president until the fall of 2016. In addition to Dr. Gupta, there is one more member of the top ranks who is also going.

The forthcoming interim president and former president between 1997 and 2006, Martha Piper mentioned on Sept. 1 that the university can weather the uncertainty. She stated that “I have every confidence that we have a great team and that we will be able to move a lot of the agendas forward that are in motion. If there are opportunities out there that can be seized upon … research opportunities, we will be there.”