Gouvernance Special Issue

Since last autumn, FQPPU and its member associations have been actively protesting against the ineffective approach taken by the Charest government and the Minister of Education towards the crucial problems of misfunding and managerial administration currently affecting Quebec universities, and which endanger their ability to carry out their mission of teaching, research and service to the community.

In late March, FQPPU launched a petition online, urging the university sector and all interested persons to show their opposition to the proposed legislation and their support for an Estates General on Québec universities. If you have not already done so, we invite you to add your signature to those which have been received.

Study days were held over the winter in several universities and information was sent to the media and political representatives to raise public awareness about the importance of inviting all those concerned for the future of Quebec universities to public debates about this fundamental institution and all aspects of its governance.

During its Conseil fédéral held on April 30, FQPPU invited all its member associations and representatives from the Table des partenaires universitaires, to a roundtable discussion on university governance with two invited speakers, Professor Alain Dupuis (Téluq-Uqam) and Professor Hélène Machinal (Université de Bretagne occidentale - Brest).

The recommendation of the IGOPP Report, the impetus behind the first Courchesne bill tabled in the fall of 2008, which stated that a board of governors with a majority of external and “independent” members drawn from outside the university would guarantee better university management, is not supported anywhere in the specialist literature on university governance. This fact was emphasized in a presentation by Alain Dupuis, a management professor at Téluq-Uqam, co-director of Cergo (Centre de recherche conjoint Enap-Téluq sur la gouvernance des entreprises publiques), and author of Managérialisme ou collégialisme dans la gouvernance des universités ? Le cas des projets immobiliers de l’UQAM.

On the contrary, studies such as those by British researcher Michael Shattock, have shown that the most severe problems of governance arise in “managerial” universities and not in collegial universities. This is understandable, as external board members, lacking in-depth knowledge of university culture and affairs, are dependent on the rector’s views for their decision-making and likely to follow his lead, particularly when the rector shares their entrepreneurial vision. By contrast, the internal representatives of the academic sector are the most critical. The example of UQAM clearly shows that it was the professors on the board who raised the alarm and tried in vain to modify the decisions which led to the real estate debacle.

In an organization with a multi-faceted and intangible mission and with significant « human capital », decision-making power and control should be spread among those who make up the « human capital », those who carry out the mission, argues Alain Dupuis. Better university governance depends on increased institutional democracy, not less, he concluded.

 “Maître de conférences” at the Université de Brest, Hélène Machinal presented an overview at the last FQPPU Conseil fédéral.