A file photo of Martha Piper from December 22, 2005. The university’s interim president is taking a global tack, hoping to help more foreign students, particuarly from developing countries, pursue their education at UBC.JOHN LEHMANN/The Globe and Mail
Fresh from her first three days as interim president at the University of British Columbia, Martha Piper is vowing to move the institution forward by pursuing the prior president's strategic goals and adding a timely focus of her own.
"All Canadian universities need to take seriously that we should be doing our part in trying to educate international students and particularly from developing countries. Something I hold dear is that students are global citizens," Dr. Piper said in an interview Thursday.
As a result, she will be looking at how the $11-million in financial aid the university gives to international students can be used to reach more of those who want to come to UBC, but who can't pay annual tuition fees between $26,000 and $30,000.
Her remarks came on a day that Canada was gripped by a national conversation about whether it is failing to help resettle refugees and its global responsibilities. Dr. Piper cautioned that universities must ensure some of the international students who study here return to their home countries and apply their knowledge.
"The dilemma for advanced countries is: What is our commitment to those countries which send students? Are we robbing them or solving their problems?"
This is Dr. Piper's second time in the president's office. She was first president from 1997 to 2006, after several senior positions at the University of Alberta and a PhD in epidemiology and biostatistics from McGill University. She will earn $340,000 for an expected 10-month term and will not live at Norman MacKenzie House, the president's campus residence, or have use of a university car.
UBC is embarking on a new presidential search this fall.
For the past month, the university has been gripped by an unceasing stream of rumours and news following the sudden resignation of Arvind Gupta, who left UBC after only one year in his five-year contract. The search process that led to his appointment cost $350,000.
Dr. Piper is staying above the fray of that controversy. In a wide-ranging conversation, she repeatedly said that the best way for the university to put the negative attention behind is by bringing faculty, donors, students and alumni together during next week's orientation and continuing through the celebrations of its centenary year.
But Dr. Piper also said reports of conflicts between Dr. Gupta and the Board of Governors are not evidence of a need for change in the university's governance structure. Members of the board receive an orientation that addresses the joint governance of the school by the board and the senate, and have steered the school to the top of international rankings.
"We have great confidence in the way issues are debated and discussed and in a variety of opinions working toward a consensus," she said.
No one has raced to express concerns since she began on Sept. 1, she said. While she's had informal conversations, there have been no formal meetings with either donors or alumni.
"I did not expect to see my phone ringing off the hook and it has not. … Excellence in teaching, research and learning, that is what our donors and alumni are most interested in, they want to see students succeed."
Since she stepped down in 2006, she has served on the boards of private corporations, including BMO, TransAlta, the Trilateral Commission and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. Having those positions has reinforced what she had already learned as president about what success means for UBC.
"When you look at competitive advantages and the knowledge that is required for Canada to compete, you see that the private sector and non-profits are both dependent on postsecondary education. Universities have to align with and assist those sectors. Canada will never compete on being the cheapest; we have to be the smartest," she said.
As a result, Dr. Piper said she will continue strengthening research and expanding experiential learning opportunities for students, two key missions that Dr. Gupta had adopted from the university's current strategy, developed during the eight-year presidency of Stephen Toope.
"Nothing I will do will change those priorities. My job is not to change the strategic plan or the vision for the university," she said.