EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to improve clarity on discussions held between officials with the university and officials with the provincial government.
Athabasca University’s board of directors has fired its former president Peter Scott without notice, and replaced him with now-president Alex Clark.
Clark was announced as the new president in a news release on Wednesday afternoon, where he described his vision for the university and priorities for the rest of the academic year.
As the dean of the health disciplines faculty at Athabasca University, Clark said he wants to strengthen the school’s academic goals while engaging with the local community as an institution known for its online courses.
“We need to move beyond a zero-sum mindset and recognize that we can have an active presence that benefits the local community while also profoundly contributing provincially, nationally, and internationally,” Clark said in a statement.
“In this post-pandemic era, AU’s unique role in open and flexible education has never been as precious or as needed.”
Scott’s firing comes after a long dispute between university officials and the provincial government, which intensified in August last year after Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides threatened to cut the university’s funding if it did not require more staff to live in Athabasca.
The government previously demanded 500 staff members relocate to the town north of Edmonton to spur economic development in northern Alberta.
Last October, Nicolaides announced via an order in council that four public members from the board were removed.
Scott said at the time he did not understand why Nicolaides was demanding the school be the town’s key economic driver.
He also questioned spending money to uproot and accommodate hundreds of staff while not advancing the school’s core mission of quality online education.
Byron Nelson, chair of Athabasca University’s board of directors, told Global News Scott wasn’t fired because of the conflict with the provincial government.
In fact, Nelson said Scott was part of finding the solution.
“We had resolved it by the end of November 2022, as required by the minister, so that didn’t play a part in this,” Nelson said.
“We had a number of challenges that we did solve, such as the investment management agreement, which is the funding mechanism with the province.”
When the Alberta government struck a deal with the university, Nicolaides said at the time the agreement “stipulates that four of the university’s nine executive members must be based in the town of Athabasca within the next three years and that the university must grow the number of local employees from 252 to 277 within three years.”
Nelson did not expand on why Scott was fired.
“Under his contract, we have terminated him without notice and wish him the best. He’s been an important part of the history of Athabasca University,” Nelson said.
“I think Clark is aware of where the board of directors will go and continue to improve… From my conversations with him and the hiring process, it seems like we’re all for that.”
The Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) condemned the board’s decision and called it “callous.”
AUFA president Rhiannon Rutherford accused the board of disregarding the search process and university governance.
AUFA constituency representative Davina Bhandar accused the board of directors of trying to gain political favour from the Alberta government.
“The board is not working in the best interests of the university but instead, trying to further political gain for the government party,” she said in Friday’s release.
Global News reached out to Scott on Wednesday afternoon with a request for comment.
Scott said he was only made aware of the news via the same press release sent to the media and through a brief phone call Wednesday afternoon. He said he was waiting for more information from the university before commenting fully.
— With files from Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press