Daily Bulletin

Discipline against prof is overturned

The more recent affair dates from April 1996, when a student -- not publicly identified -- made a complaint about things Westhues allegedly said about slavery, racism and employment equity. She refused "informal resolution", which is encouraged under UW's ethics policy, and a formal hearing was held by a panel of the ethics committee. The panel concluded that Westhues had violated the ethics policy and called for an apology, as well as "counselling" for him.

UW provost Jim Kalbfleisch received the report and rejected its recommendations in March 1997. He wrote:

No one who reads the Report will doubt that [the student] was genuinely concerned by the classroom discussions referred to above. [Westhues], on the other hand, appears in the Report to be callous and insensitive -- more interested in self-justification and self-protection than in dealing with the real concerns of one of his students. The Report does not, however, present a compelling argument that [Westhues] has violated Policy 33. The two statements he is alleged to have made are not, in themselves, beyond the bounds of what must be tolerated in classroom discussions of controversial issues.

The adjudicator says Kalbfleisch was right in throwing out the ethics committee's ruling. He writes: "Expressions of opinion are sometimes offensive, even hurtful, but that is sometimes the price of guaranteeing the free expression of ideas in the University. . . . The test of whether Policy 33 was violated by Professor Westhues is not met simply on the basis that one of the students felt uncomfortable."

However, he goes on, Kalbfleisch had no right to impose the other discipline, especially without hearing Westhues's side of the story first-hand. He cancels the one-month suspension, says the university must pay Westhues's legal costs, and recommends that Westhues be given a six-month paid leave "to disengage from what has been a length series of administrative proceedings", dating back to disciplinary action over other matters in 1994.

Westhues also asked the adjudicator -- Peter Mercer, a vice-president of the University of Western Ontario -- to take some action about the remaining effects of the 1994 case, claiming that the earlier case coloured the way the later one was handled. "No reasonable, person," Westhues writes, "could study these continuities, especially against the background of the unusual restrictions and punishments imposed on me during this period, and see nothing more than routine administration of University policies. . . . The wrongful actions have been multiple, have extended over a period of 42 months, and defamations have been broadcast world-wide for three years."

Mercer says he has no authority to deal with the earlier case. "The only conclusion I choose to draw," he writes, "is that the University of Waterloo and its constituencies are not well served by some of its policies, especially Policy 33." Westhues suggested that there should be "a full, public, external, independent, impartial inquiry" into the events of the past four years. No, says Mercer: "Instead, the University owes it to itself to take a good look at its policies."

Among his concluding remarks: "The Provost, Dr. Kalbfleisch, is in my observation and appraisal, an honest, credible person, trying his best to do an often absurdly difficult job. . . . He bears no malice or ill will to Professor Westhues. . . . Professor Westhues is also, in my observation and appraisal, an honest, credible person. He is also, in some ways, a most difficult sort of faculty member."

Heritage workshop held today

It takes place at the Grand River Conservation Authority offices in Cambridge. Activities include poster displays, morning presentations, the unveiling of Heritage Canada's Heritage Day poster, afternoon working group sessions, a dinner address by Isabel Bassett, Ontario minister of citizenship, culture and recreation, and an evening wrap-up session.

"This celebration of Heritage Day will focus on success stories in the Grand River watershed," says Gordon Nelson, chair of UW's Heritage Resources Centre. "Participants will be able to learn from the experiences of others about heritage planning, management and decision-making processes which helped to bring about successes in their communities or areas."

Says Nelson: "Governments are reducing their financial support for heritage programs. Municipal governments, community groups, non-governmental organizations and individuals are therefore being called upon to undertake more and more heritage work on their own or in co-operation with others. This is occurring at a time when it is not known whether people have the capacity to plan, manage and decide upon heritage initiatives on the basis of the current resources and support available from governments."

The Grand River was proclaimed a Canadian Heritage River about four years ago on the basis of its outstanding cultural/recreational values. The Grand Strategy is a shared approach to planning for these and associated natural values in the Grand River watershed. One of the groups involved in the Grand Strategy -- the Heritage Working Group -- decided that there was a need to assess the abilities and needs of organizations and individuals who are working to get heritage conservation initiatives off the ground. The assessment is being undertaken for the working group by UW's centre, with the workshop being part of the study.

Today's workshop events begin with an introduction by Nelson and welcome from Allan Holmes, chief administrative officer of the GRCA, and Eva Salter, chair of the Heritage Working Group. Panel sessions follow, with presentations from representatives of communities from throughout the watershed. An outside-the-watershed perspective about the Welland canals and a presentation from Heritage Canada will round out the morning program. Working group sessions run through the afternoon. The minister's dinner keynote address and the wrap-up entitled: "Where Do We Go From Here?" conclude the day's events.

Students to get placement figures

The rule will help students "make sound decisions", said the announcement from education minister Dave Johnson. "Postsecondary institutions will be required to provide students with information on graduation rates, placement rates, and loan default rates for their programs. Students may use this information as a guide as they consider in which schools and programs to invest their money. . . . Schools that do not currently collect information about graduation and placement rates must begin to do so by 1999."

Good, said a statement from the Council of Ontario Universities; that may help people recognize that employment rates are significantly higher for university graduates than for other groups in the population.

In an effort to reduce defaults on student loans, "Ontario will have the option of withholding income tax refunds from individuals who have defaulted on their student loans and applying the proceeds against the amount owing."

For the same reason, colleges and universities "whose 1997 loan default rate was 15 percentage points or more above the provincial average of 23.5 per cent will be required to share the cost of defaults for their high-default programs, beginning with loans issued in 1998-99." UW has, at last report, the lowest default rate in the province at 8.1 per cent.

Johnson also announced a change to the way the Ontario Student Assistance Program deals with students whose loans are unusually high. An Ontario Student Opportunity Grant Program, to assist high-need postsecondary students, "will replace the current loan-forgiveness program early next year", he said. "The new system will mean that any student whose loan exceeds $7,000 for the year will receive a grant for the amount above $7,000 after completion of the academic year. The grant will be paid directly to the student's bank to reduce his or her outstanding debt." For single students, the maximum grant will be $2,350 for a typical two-term academic year. For students with children, the grant may be up to $10,000. The government expects to provide $306 million to 92,000 students next year under the new program.

The ministry said Ontario "will invest an estimated $535 million in financial assistance for postsecondary students in 1998-99". It added that in the coming year, parents will be expected to contribute more to the cost of their children's postsecondary education before the children are eligible for a student loan. "This will mean, for example, that a family of four with a total income of $40,000 will be expected to contribute $100 toward their child's postsecondary education, whereas no contribution would be expected from them today."

And OSAP will start charging an application fee of $10 for students filing a paper application for financial assistance. There will be no charge for applications filed through the OSAP website.

To Texas for reading week

Among the travellers is a group of students who are in Texas this week on a course field trip with Larry Lamb, manager of the Environmental Studies Ecology Lab, studying environmental issues in the lower Rio Grande valley and the Texas Gulf coast as part of an Environment and Resource Studies course. Marcia Ruby, a production editor for UW's Alternatives magazine, is accompanying students on the trip, which started even before reading week was under way.

"On Wednesday night," says Jim Robinson, chair of ERS, "I met the group in Austin, where I had been participating in a workshop on Planning and Managing Landscape Water Use. I spent much of Thursday accompanying them, including on a visit to the National Wildflower Research Center. As well as its excellent landscape displays, the Centre has a major demonstration project on rainwater harvesting, and features prominently in its Visitor Centre photos of wildflower gardens in Kitchener created by Larry Lamb."

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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