More controversy for beleaguered university

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Things have gone from bad to worse for the First Nations University of Canada (FNUC).

A dark cloud of controversy has hung over the institution since Feb. 17 when three senior staff members-administrative vice-president Dr. Wes Stevenson, finance director Kim Sinclair and director of international programming Dr. Leonzo Barrenno-were escorted from the university and suspended from their duties. At the same time the university brought in a team of investigators to conduct a forensic audit of the university's finances. Now it appears the university is in dire financial straits.

In a confidential memo leaked to Windspeaker, the university's senior financial officer, Lorne Dennis, predicts that the university will run a deficit between $2.3 and $3 million in its current fiscal year.

"The university's expenses have exceeded revenues for a number of months," Dennis writes to FNUC board of governors chairman Morley Watson in a May 25 memo.

"Without additional funding, in less than two months the core operational grants from INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) and the province (of Saskatchewan) will cease to be sufficient to pay the university's debts as they fall due."

At a June 5 press conference in Saskatoon, Watson, who is also a vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), told reporters that the situation isn't as grave as others have made it out to be.

"I don't think that there's any need to panic," said Watson, whose areas of responsibilities within the FSIN include education. "I have already met with the stakeholders, including the province of Saskatchewan, including the federal government."

Despite Watson's statements, workers at the university are preparing for the worst. The university has been told by its board of governors to cut $1.2 million from its academic budget and about $800,000 from its non-academic budget. The university's administration has talked with the heads of various faculties about impending budget cuts, said FNUC English professor Randy Lundy.

"Our vice-president of academics, Denise Henning, has told us that they will be following the collective agreement between staff and the university," he said. "This means that the university will consider every other option... They're telling us that cutting faculty positions will be the last option. That's the hope."

Last year, the university had a $750,000 deficit in its $22 million budget. That deficit was paid through one-time grants from the federal and provincial governments.

Dennis called for contingency plans in case non-core programs and personnel have to be cut, though he doesn't mention specific programs. And he said tuition fees may have to increase.

Currently, FNUC's tuition policy links the costs to students to the cost of tuition at Saskatchewan's other two universities, the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) and the University of Regina (U of R.) This year, the provincial government announced in its budget that it would provide funding to the two universities in order to freeze tuition. FNUC received no such consideration in the budget from the provincial department of Learning.

"If FNUC retains its tuition fee linkage to U of R and U of S, the result is a net loss. Some form of tuition maintenance assistance is therefore required," Dennis wrote.

The university official also predicts that the number of tuition-paying students will decrease by about six per cent during the next academic year beginning in September. The university will also have to pay an extra $800,000 in higher wages, thanks to new contracts that have been negotiated with the university staff.

Dennis said in his memo that negotiations will have to begin with both governments in order to alleviate this year's deficit. But Lundy said the events of Feb. 17 have cost the university millions of dollars.

"The university had been in discussions with the federal and provincial governments for $4- to $6million, and once Feb. 17 happened, all those potential agreements were put on hold," Lundy said.

Unlike Saskatchewan's other two universities, FNUC receives little core funding from the provincial government. Much of the income for the university's $21 million budget comes from one-time or short-term grants from both levels of government, as well as from the private sector.

On top of its financial woes, the university is now without a president.

Dr. Eber Hampton, who has served as the university's president since 1991, has announced he is stepping down from the position. Hampton had planned to leave the position as of July 17, but in an e-mail sent to university faculty on June 13, Hampton announced he would be going on annual leave for the remainder of his term.

"It has been an honor to serve you as your president for the past 14 years," Hampton said. He also announced that Charles Pratt, the head of FNUC's school of business and public administration, would be acting president of the university, an appointment made "in consultation with the board (of governors') legal counsel."

Hampton outlined his concerns about the ongoing problems at the university in a nine-page document he'd planned to present to the board of governors during its May 12 meeting, but it's not known whether any or all of the 31 members of the board of governors actually saw Hampton's report. The meeting was held in-camera, so neither Hampton nor his executive assistant, Maureen Lerat-Stettner, the person responsible for taking minutes at board of governors' meetings, were permitted to attend.

In the confidential document, which was leaked to media, Hampton said there was a power struggle between himself and Watson over control of the university's operations and questioned the legality of Watson's suspension of Stevenson, Sinclair and Barrenno.

Hampton accused Watson of breaking his word on commitments to arbitration, attempting to remove him from the president's job, and mileading the board of governors regarding his job action.

Hampton also wrote that, in his opinion, the three people appointed by Watson to replace the three suspended staff members-Al Ducharme as vice-president of administration, Florence Watson, the vice-chief's sister-in law, as finance director and Dannette Starblanket as director of international programming-are not competent in their roles.

"The appointees of Vice-chief Watson are not serving any useful role at the university. On the contrary, their continued presence is damaging to the morale amongst staff and faculty, and even more damaging to the reputation of the university in the wider education community and with its funding agencies," the document states.

In the document, Hampton demanded that Florence Watson be fired and replaced with Sinclair, who the auditors are not accusing of any wrongdoing. "She is urgently needed, in view of the demands on the finance department and the unsuitability of Florence Watson for the duties of the position," he wrote.

Hampton said in the document that he agrees with the firing of Stevenson. "Barring further information that would somehow clear or explain the apparent misconduct on the part of Mr. Stevenson, my impression ... is that (he) should be dismissed for cause," he said in the report. He did not share his opinion on Barrenno.