Hundreds of pages of freedom-of-information documents relating to the resignation of former University of British Columbia president Arvind Gupta became public this week, but the heavily redacted pages offered little explanation as to why he stepped down last August just one year into a five-year term.
But correspondence and notes included as electronic attachments within the 861-page FOI PDF file show the friction that existed between Gupta and UBC’s Board of Governors.
It’s not known if these attachments were released on purpose or in error, but the FOI document was removed from UBC’s website Wednesday morning after they were made public Tuesday night on Reddit.
Clik here to view.
Former UBC board chair John Montalbano. PNG File photo
The most revealing attachment is a May 24 letter to Gupta from then board chair John Montalbano.
The letter was a review of a May 18 meeting between Gupta and the Executive Committee of UBC’s Board of Governors.
Montalbano said the executive identified key aspects of Gupta’s leadership style and management skills that required a “course correction” in order for him to lead the University effectively. Montalbano says the board noted Gupta’s first year as leader was an “unsettled” one.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
Gupta was provided with series of discussion points to help correct his course as leader.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
Montalbano urged Gupta to create an environment of collegiality and collaboration, undertake a review of the president’s office, and improve communications between his office and the board’s executive.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
The board was also critical of Gupta’s implementation of his vision for the school — that included making UBC a “top 10 school” instead of a top 25 one. Montalbano said they supported Gupta’s “getting back to the basics” approach to the operation of the university but they expected a more tangible plan on how the president’s vision would be implemented.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
Montalbano penned another letter to Gupta on June 4 as a follow-up to a June 2 meeting the two had with UBC chancellor Lindsay Gordon that contained suggestions to strengthen relations with the board. They included support of Gupta’s plan for one-on-one meetings with UBC’s executive but also urgings to improve engagement with the school’s deans and develop a greater appreciation for UBC’s Board of Governors.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
Montalbano expressed hope that Gupta would consider his suggestions when communicating with the Executive Committee of the Board.
“We have provided you with these suggestions to support you in your discussions with the Board. We appreciate that you may not agree with some of them and therefore leave it to your judgement as to how or if you edit your original letter,” Montalbano wrote.
Montalbano also suggested Gupta, when addressing the board, admit to making mistakes during his first year as president.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
In his June 8 letter to the executive, Gupta pushed for a stronger relationship between the president’s office and the board.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
In his letter to the executive, however, Gupta didn’t accept blame for the fractious relationship that may have developed between the board, the deans and himself during his first year as president. Instead, Gupta wrote that tensions were a byproduct of his efforts to build a “solid foundation” at the school.
Clik here to view.
Source: UBC
Gupta resigned from his post on Aug. 7, 13 months after accepting the president’s position.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
In October, he accepted a year-long post as distinguished visiting professor in the University of Toronto’s computer science department.
Under terms of his resignation, UBC continued to pay Gupta his president’s salary ($446,750 per year) for the six months following his resignation, and he is also entitled to a one year leave of absence beginning Feb. 1, 2016, and ending Jan. 31, 2017 during which time the University will him his salary of $446,750.
UBC is also providing Gupta with a $130,000 research grant during his leave.
Gupta continues to hold his position as a professor in the Department of Computer Science in the Faculty of Science of the University.
As part of his resignation agreement, Gupta’s salary as professor will be “the greater of the highest paid professor in the Faculty of Science of the University and 50 per cent of Professor Gupta’s annual Salary as President.”
According to the Vancouver Sun’s Public Sector Database, Gupta’s UBC professor salary in 2012/13 was $228,733.
Clik here to view.
Some of the terms of Gupta’s resignation. Section 7 and 8 have been redacted. SOURCE: UBC
Montalbano resigned as chair of UBC’s Board of Governors in October after a former judge found the institution failed to protect a professor’s academic freedom.
______________________________________________________
GUPTA DOCUMENTS
Here are three confidential letters — two by former UBC chair John Montalbano to former UBC president Arvind Gupta; and one from Gupta to the UBC Board of Directors — that were attached to the freedom-of-information documents concerning Gupta’s resignation.
Filed under: Now, STAFF Tagged: Arvind Gupta, Committee of the Board, Gupta, John Montalbano, Reddit.com, UBC Board of Directors, University of British Columbia Arvind Gupta, University of Toronto, Vancouver Sun Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
