Liberal arts a tough sell in the world of “Corporate-U”
When Michael Higgins officially steps down as St. Thomas University president and vice-chancellor in January he will leave his successor with a daunting task: leading a liberal arts institution in a world where the value of post secondary education is measured by jobs and paycheques.
“It’s one hell of a demanding job,” said Sylvia Hale, who’s taught sociology at St. Thomas for more than 30 years. “There’s a big pressure in society for universities to serve corporations. Corporations like Irving for example, donate money to universities and expect universities to train their students to work in those corporations.”
She said the new president will face the challenges of securing funding for STU, and aside from pleasing corporate donors, must sell the government on the particular needs of St. Thomas.
“You’re representing a liberal arts undergraduate university in a place that is basically saying, ‘Can you make money right away? Can you get a job right away? What about math and science?’ You have to believe in it.”
There’s also the internal task of keeping students and faculty happy.
The St. Thomas community remembers all too well the faculty lockout of two years ago that grabbed national media attention.
It was during this time that Higgins became the first university president in Canada to lock out a faculty before a strike vote could be held.
The dispute – driven by issues such as workload, wages and a balance between teaching and research, as well as part time faculty issues – caused classes to be pushed back for the spring semester by almost one month.
Hale doesn’t think the same issues will arise when it comes time to renegotiate the faculty union’s contract, but it goes to show how hard the job of university president can be.
Robin Vose, president of the Faculty Association of the University of Saint Thomas (FAUST), remembers the strike well.
He’s pleased with the way things are running at St. Thomas right now, and sees the new president as a person who can carry on the good-natured work environment the administration and faculty are currently enjoying.
“We don’t want someone who tries to make us fit a corporate model,” he said, “but someone who understands that a university has to work by making its entire faculty feel comfortable.”
Higgins announced his resignation this summer after only three years on the job.
The committee to find an interim president has closed its call for applications for the job and expects to have someone named by the end of the month.
Twenty-four resumes were received for the job of interim president, who will serve until a new president is found.
Jason Humphrey, acting director of communications for St. Thomas, said the school expects to have a new president in place by July 2012.
The interim president will hand out diplomas at graduation.
Duncan Gallant, former Students’ Union president and fifth-year student, believes the role of a university president varies depending on the person.
“(Former president) Dr. O’Brien had an institutional capacity focus,” said Gallant, who is currently the president of the New Brunswick Student Alliance. “He doubled the size of the campus, and oversaw the creation of several new building and faculties.”
Whereas Higgins, Gallant said, is an external president, who is the school’s face in the media.
“He is very much public spokesperson for liberal arts and introduces the public to St. Thomas University,” said Gallant. “He was a commentator in the Telegraph-Journal he did movie reviews on CBC.”
Gallant believes being a university president has more of a political role than it did before, and the job is now loaded with a wider scope of responsibilities.
“They have meet the interests of the students,” he said. “They have to manage their administration, and they have to meet the needs of faculty as well. And there is also a public expectation for what universities do. There’s a lot of interest and expectations that the president will have to assess and try to meet.”
With files from Bailey White.
