The Auditor General’s office released a report this morning about spending at Memorial University. Among many issues mentioned in the report, financial irresponsibility, overspending, extremely high executive and administrative pay, and lack of oversight and rigid procedures were the key highlights.
Former President spends excessively
The report highlighted Former President Vianne Timmons’ overspending through a long list of examples. Key highlights being:
- $2,700 spent on a table and chair at President Timmons’ residence.
- $9,880 was spent on a 24-day province-wide tour of Memorial’s facilities by Timmons.
- $1,792 spent on custom-made chocolates as Christmas gifts.
Many more issues to be addressed
Among other examples of misspending was $1.1 million spent by the university on third-party recruiters for the hiring of executive and administrative staff. Five of the 15 staff hired no longer work at the university.
Another issue identified was a lack of accountability, particularly concerning a member of the Harlow Campus board who was also hired to be a consultant despite there being a clear conflict of interest.
The university held a media availability this afternoon where important announcements were made.
President Bose and other leaders talk about change
Chair of the Board of Regents Glenn Barnes stated that he has full confidence in Dr. Bose and his team will continue the “careful and thoughtful stewardship” in bringing about necessary change and continuous improvement for the university.
President Bose claimed that the university is constantly listening to students and staff, while also mentioning that several changes have been brought about after he took over office.
Changes mentioned included the establishment of the president’s executive council, and renewing and stabilizing the leadership team through aggressive recruiting of vice presidents and deans, while not using executive search firms. The search for the VP of the Marine Institute was said to be starting immediately.
Dr. Bose claims that autonomy is a very important aspect of being a democratic university, and states that autonomy in thought, and research must be maintained.
Dr. Bose also announced a tuition attribution model, where tuition collected from a specific academic unit would stay within that unit.
Dr. Bose did not commit to merging duplicate administrative positions in different departments.