Thompson Rivers defends dismissal

The president and vice-chancellor of Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia has been fired.
The decision to dismiss Kathleen Scherf came Sept. 16 after an annual evaluation of her leadership. The Board of Governors at TRU said the evaluation identified common issues of concern.
“We feel there was a lack of confidence in [Scherf’s] teaching and leadership abilities,” Ron Olynyk, chair of the board of governors, said.
Scherf released a statement regarding her dismissal, emphasizing the many accomplishments TRU achieved throughout her leadership.
Scherf is now on a one-year paid sabbatical, earning a salary of $263,000. She is expected to return next year as a tenured professor.
“This has been a difficult decision for the Board of Governors but one that is in the long term interest of the University,” Olynyk said in a press release.
— Ricki-Lee Gerbrandt

Map library changes hands

As of last May, the department of geography handed responsibility of the Serge A. Sauer Map Library over to Western Libraries.
The map library is located in the Social Science Centre and houses an extensive map collection.
The main changes since the Western Libraries’ acquisition has been of service delivery. “They are planning for a new service that will combine both map and data resources,” Eeya Munoz, associate university librarian, explained.
The service planning is underway and specific details have yet to be reported.
According to Munoz, the main focus of the discussion with social science has been the optimal use of the current space of the map library.
Plans to increase accessibility and integration of mediums will serve as an valuable resource to students and researchers.

— Paula Meng

Homegrown achievements recognized on new site

Western has launched a new online resource — Scholarship@Western — with open-access to latest research from Western scholars.
The website is divided into three main components: publications by department, student and faculty home pages and online journals.
The online resource is an institutional repository, which assembles all of a university’s research onto one database where it can be preserved and accessed by faculty, students and the general public.
“It’s a way to showcase the institution’s academic achievements and also to enhance the visibility of the institution’s intellectual output,” Adrian Ho, the scholarly communications librarian at Western Libraries, said. “Faculty and students are welcome and encouraged to submit their research.”
Scholarships@Western is an effective way to receive international recognition at a research-intensive university.
“The website will bring researchers together for future collaborations,” Ho added.
—Elana Abramovitch

Goldstone brings Gaza debate to Western

Last Thursday, a prominent and lately controversial legal scholar addressed Western’s faculty of law.
The Honorable Justice Richard Goldstone, an expert on international humanitarian law, delivered a speech titled “Accountability for War Crimes”.
This lecture came two days after the results of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, led by Goldstone, were released to the public.
Debate and dispute on the 600-page report’s findings has consumed much of public interest.
Consequently, Goldstone’s lecture outlined the methodology his team used in coming to the report’s conclusions and stressed impartiality in the mission’s process and conclusions.
According to him, the main recommendation of the report was for the governments of Israel and of Gaza to hold their own open trials for the events, which occurred during the conflict last year.
“It’s an area where, unfortunately, there’s not enough goodies and too many baddies,” Goldstone said.
Goldstone encouraged those interested to look at the report itself on the UN website before coming to conclusions regarding its partiality.
—Allie Fonarev