Finally,
after 10 months of being here, our Principal presented her strategies to the
Senate on October 15. Many expected her to do this right at the start, but
instead, she waited until critical voices prompted her into this crucial part
of her duties. The Senate coolly
received her four-page report, “Vision,
Achievements, Goals”. Instead
of any ovation there were just sceptical questions about her plans of uniformly “setting standards, priorities … in the
administrative implementation of standards and operational plans toward
measurable, suitable goals [ …].“ Her answers were greeted unenthusiastically.
This report, which began with the word “Vision”, failed to move the most
knowledgeable academics inside this institution, and will surely be ignored by
the public, politicians and potential Nobel Prize winners. We need the last group more than anything
else to apply as new professors or students to McGill. This University needs something really
catchy! Neither money nor influence can
guarantee its long-term existence.
It
is typical for people with a bureaucratic mentality to use language like, “enhance government relations and communications
capacity in order to promote fair and effective support”.
For the top salaries, so far we have seen only hard-working personnel
diligently cleaning the shelves.
Instead, really visionary architects should be publicizing McGill in
order to attract the best brains, which McGill needs more than networks and
money. At present, we have dangerous bureaucrats who prefer confrontation (like
now with the support personnel) to constructive dialogue. Ideally we need visionaries who can
anticipate problems. People like that are discreet, quiet, they maybe sitting
next to us, and they do not crave money and stardom. The problem is that this
globalizing world is still quite successful in promoting its very weird system
of “values”. Yet McGill has a great opportunity to reverse these trends.
Slawomir Poplawski (Senate’s
watcher)
P.S. The readers can compare the same issue as covered
by very politically correct McGill Reporter in the latest issue (http://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/04/senate/). Let’s try to learn more how to read between
the lines in the puppet McGill’s media.