Eddy Campbell, acting president at Memorial University, is taking up the president’s job at University of New Brunswick.
UNB likes his unique blend of academic and administrative accomplishments.
Meanwhile, Memorial University is reportedly another three months away from starting its search for a new president.
No word on who will be replacing acting president Campbell as the acting acting president of Memorial University.
-srbp-
9 comments:
Campbell may very well be taking up the UNB position, but he is using extremely careful language. Notice that at no point does he say that he has actually accepted UNB's offer.
It is unusual for a university president, even an acting one, to issue a press release saying that he is considering other opportunities. Normally, an administrator in such a position would issue a good-bye statement after accepting an offer from another university.
Campbell goes only this far: "I am excited by this new opportunity and eager to explore it further. I will keep you informed as matters progress."
This is odd but, then again, everything about Prezgate had been weird.
I have no reason to doubt the many nice things that people have said about Campbell; however, from the outset, he has mounted an unusually agressive media campaign for someone in an acting position, both on MUN's own web site and in media outlets like the Tely.
It's still possible, though unlikely, that Campbell is deliberately keeping the door open at MUN. If not, his exit will be as odd as his entry onto the stage of provincial politics.
As I understand it, Winston, Campbell didn't issue a news release.
He circulated a letter to the university community based on the understanding that UNB would be issuing a news release confirming that he was the nominee.
It seems a pretty straightforward way of alerting his own community about something that would be happening rather than find it out from somewhere else.
I think the MUN door is firmly closed and it would be an absolutely unprecedented flip-flop for the current administration to sudden accept a guy they so explicitly rejected before.
The letter and document may not have been a formally issued press release, but it worked pretty well the same way, with Campbell doing a follow-up interview with VODW.
In the audio clip, Campbell says that the "[MUN] controversy played some role" in his decision to entertain UNB's offer, which VODW's paraphrase mangles as "Campbell says there's no doubt that coupled with his qualifications and experience, the controversy at Memorial led UNB to his door."
I agree that the door at MUN is closed, but the way this is being done does not strike me as straightforward.
Some gems are worth sharing!
This was Min Burke's comment on
CBC.ca
Education Minister Joan Burke denied Tuesday that there was any crisis....she said. "And you know, it's certainly a lot of people employed there at the university, and the leadership, I think, certainly see us through."
Anthony Roy
Here's the full comment:
"I certainly think that we have a very well established university, and we certainly have some very high-calibre people over there," she said. "And you know, it's certainly a lot of people employed there at the university, and the leadership, I think, certainly see us through."
Burke's problem in this case is verb tense. We had a well-established university with an international reputation for competence and quality.
The mess she has been a part of creating has seriously damaged that reputation, if not destroyed it.
Ed:
Although I cannot afford to donate as much as I would like to my alma mater, I have tried over the years to contribute something to Memorial University.
I stopped completely after Williams and Burke interceded in the university's automonmy and got on with that foolishness over Grenfell. I suspect other people have stopped donating to MUN as well.
What Williams and Burke did to MUN is a real shame and was completely unnecessary.
I don't know why Williams has such a hate on for Eddy Campbell. Someone suggested to me one time it is rooted in something that happened years ago. Apparently they are both Gonzaga boys, and the theory was that Campbell must have checked Williams too hard in a hockey game or beat some arcane record of his and His Smallness never forgave him. I don't know if that's true, but given Williams' behaviour, it certainly seems plausible.
Whatever the real story is, it remains to MUN's, and Newwfoundland's, detriment. Williams and Burke have tarnished the reputation of a great institution, one that has helped pull Newfoundland out of ignorance and poverty, and one that was named in memory or our fallen soldiers. It is disgraceful from any angle.
Craig Westcott
@ Craig:
As it stands right now both Memorial and Grenfell College are run by actings. This is an unacceptable situation in any event.
The presidential selection has dragged on way too long and there has simply been no good explanation for why.
You've got your theory. I've got mine, which is that it is symptomatic of tight central control without clear direction. The serial government can only handle so many things at once whereas properly functioning, it can do many things simultaneously.
That really doesn't matter. The consequences matter and right now Memorial is in trouble.
Incidentally, the whole Grenfell autonomy thing is another kettle of fish altogether. There we have a case of a decision being taken contrary to evidence and now that the reality (cost and otherwise) is hitting them, people are having a hard time carrying forward with it, as promised.
Ah sher would like to meet that Joan Burke, she seems swell. Mah kahnd of gal. Ah jus' wunder if she kin field-dress a moose? Ah here you folks down in New Finland have a lot of moose there. Ah sher would like to go huntin' with Joanie, if she's up fer it. Also.
As it stands right now both Memorial and Grenfell College are run by actings.
As is, in effect, the entire apparatus of the provincial government from the Tarkaan on down.
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