273 Days After Having Initially Filed her Appeal Student TingTing Wang Will Receive U of O’s Final Decision

TingTing Wang’s case made news in November following a public letter written by SFUO president Dean Haldendy to University of Ottawa President Allan Rock, denouncing the injustice of TingTing’s situation.

TingTing’s appeal was also featured in the 2008 SAC Annual Report and was covered by the CBC evening news on November 14, 2008.

TingTing Wang’s academic advisor mistakenly registered her in a course for which she did not have the pre-requisite in August 2007. It is only after having failed the course that TingTing’s professor noticed that she did not have the prerequisites. She has since expressed two clear requests to the University of Ottawa: to have the failure removed from her transcript and to be reimbursed the $1782.58 she spent on the course.

TingTing obtained a letter of support from her professor and appealed her case to Manon Lalande (Administrator of Undergraduate Programs for the Faculty of Social Sciences), Cécile Coderre (Vice-Dean Academic), François Houle (Dean), Robert Major (Vice-President Academic) and the Senate Appeals Committee.

In July 2008 The Faculty of Social Sciences first refused to recognize its mistake by ruling that TingTing should have dropped the course even though she was passing the course on the final drop day. At the level of the Senate Appeals, the Faculty changed its position by claiming that it had made a special exception for the benefit of TingTing’s work schedule, a statement that has no basis in fact.

Interestingly, TingTing’s work with Marco Polo Media Communications and with the local Seven Days Newspaper involves networking with potential international students who are interested in studying at the University of Ottawa. Should she lose her appeal, TingTing says it will be important to warn potential students of her case with the University of Ottawa.

The Senate Appeals Committee will make a final and binding decision for TingTing’s appeal on Friday March 13, 2009.

Three Graduate Students File a Lawsuit against the University of Ottawa and Deliver Their Claim to President Allan Rock

On Tuesday February 24, 2009 physics graduate students Sean Kelly, Joseph Hickey and postdoctoral fellow Meizhen Dang filed a lawsuit against the University of Ottawa.

A press conference was held in Tabaret Hall to announce the lawsuit. Following the press conference students attempted to deliver the claim to President Allan Rock but the glass doors to the central administration offices had been locked. A few minutes later Allan Rock stepped out of his office, smiled and waved to the crowd of students as he made his way out of Tabaret Hall using another exit.

Students quickly caught up to Allan Rock and informed him that they had an important document to deliver. President Rock did not respond to the students and made his way down Laurier Street. Refusing to give up, students followed Allan Rock, explaining the nature of the lawsuit and the grounds of their complaint against the University of Ottawa. President Rock did not respond.

After approximately ten minutes, President Rock finally accepted to take the claim and walked away with yet another wave and a smile.


Press Release Announcing the Conference:

On December 10, 2008, the University of Ottawa summarily, without notice consultation or due process, closed the laboratory of Professor Denis Rancourt, locking out its researchers, seizing equipment and derailing years of award winning scholarship in nanoparticle physics. As a result of this ill-conceived plan, post Doctoral researcher Meizhen Dang's employment was terminated after twelve years of dedicated research assistance. Master's student Sean Kelly lost nearly six years of specialized research in the area of ferromagnetism and Master's student Joseph Hickey has been bullied by the administration to abandon his fully funded NSERC research project under Professor Rancourt.

"Academic excellence and freedom at the University of Ottawa are under a profound attack when the administration takes a personal dislike to a certain professor" according to Joseph Hickey. "I came to attend the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at this University on a fully funded scholarship to work with a leading world expert in physics, not to be coerced and treated with such disdain."

"Every day that we are locked out of our research jobs, the value of our scholarships diminish and the likelihood of regaining our research momentum decreases rendering the prospects for our scientific careers more doubtful," explained Sean Kelly.

For Meizhen Dang, she is concerned about the lack of consideration and disrespect shown to longstanding researchers at the University of Ottawa. "Had I known that after a decade of work I would end up by being unceremoniously locked out of my lab and having my research seized despite producing internationally recognized and award winning scientific results, I would have left this environment years ago. What have I done to deserve this?"

After their requests to return to their academic supervisor and laboratory research group fell on deaf ears, the postdoctoral researcher and graduate students have filed a joint claim against the University and the Dean of Graduate Studies, Gary Slater for monetary damages relating to breach of contract and misfeasance in public office.

(Press Release by Yavar Hameed)

SAC Annual Report Based on 388 Students’ Lived Experience Claimed to be ‘Unsubstantiated, Inconclusive and Inflammatory’ by the University of Ottawa

“I know from my days in politics that the easiest way to respond to an unfavourable poll is to brush it off as a misleading snap-shot or to attack the pollster’s methodology” (Allan Rock, “Rock Talk” University of Ottawa. November 19th, 2008).

On November 25th 2008, the University of Ottawa responded to the SAC’s 2008 report titled Unfair Practices, Mistreatment of Students and Systemic Racism at the University of Ottawa. The response was a 19 page evaluation penned by Professor Joanne St. Lewis, Director of the University of Ottawa’s Human Rights and Research and Education Centre.

Professor’s St. Lewis’ response states that the Vice-President Academic, Robert Major, (her superior) asked her to complete an “independent” evaluation of the SAC 2008 report. Professor St. Lewis arrives at the conclusion that, “in many places the content [of the SAC report] can only be described as unsubstantiated, inconclusive and inflammatory.”

Furthermore, the University’s response and Professor St. Lewis’ evaluation examines the SAC report’s methodology, and concludes that the SAC’s data is too limited to enable any analysis supporting the Centre’s claims.

Nonetheless, Professor St. Lewis concludes her report with ten (10) recommendations that echo the SAC report’s recommendation and demands, including strict adherence by the Senate Appeals Committee to reasonable deadlines and the establishment of a university policy protecting undergraduate students from discrimination and non-sexual harassment.

The University of Ottawa issued a press release and emailed members of the university community (all students and staff) informing them of Professor Joanne St. Lewis’ evaluation. The University provided a link to her evaluation, but chose not to link to the SAC’s report. President Allan Rock also wrote about the evaluation and Professor St. Lewis’ analysis on his blog, while again choosing not to link to the Student Appeal Centre report.

The Student Appeal Centre denounces the University of Ottawa’s tactics as an attempt to discredited student voices. Professor St. Lewis’ accusation of the SAC report as “methodologically flawed” not only detracts from the issues of racism and injustice on campus, but also silences the valuable student perspective on matters of appeals and the broader student/university relationship.

The Student Appeal Centre continues to be a witness to racism and contempt for students. The SAC report is a testimonial, based on 388 official cases over the past academic year and over 400 informal consultations.

The University of Ottawa has not yet taken any action to implement Professor Joanne St. Lewis’ and the Student Appeal Centre recommendations.