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Worried grad students pepper Laurentian president with questions at Senate meeting

Governing body has elected six representatives to participate in CCAA process 
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Laurentian University president Robert Haché was peppered with questions by worried graduate students during the Feb. 9 meeting of the university’s Senate. (File)

Laurentian University president Robert Haché was peppered with questions by worried graduate students during the Feb. 9 meeting of the university’s Senate.

It’s the first time Haché has appeared before a public meeting since Laurentian announced Feb. 1 that it is insolvent, and has filed for restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Most of the students would not normally have had standing at the Senate meeting, but professors who are members of the body allowed them to speak in their stead, asking questions of Haché after his brief oral report.

He was asked if Laurentian’s tuition fees would be increased (tuition fees are regulated by the province, Haché said), and how students would be able to finish their programs, if the professors were laid off (the university is committed to providing the necessary courses, he added).

A couple of students asked questions focusing on how research activities and the payment of student researchers and graduate teaching assistants will continue, given the university’s insolvency. 

Haché said it’s expected these activities will be able to continue with the $25 million proceeds of the Debtor In Possession (DIP) funding, which is bridging the university’s finances through until April 30 as the insolvency proceedings continue.

(The hearing where the DIP funding will be decided takes place today, Feb. 10).

University officials noted that the FAQ section of the Laurentian website dedicated to the CCAA process has been updated with more information with respect to research activities.

Adam Kirkwood, a PhD student in boreal ecology, then asked how student researchers such as himself will be paid after April 30, and if they will see cuts to their pay.

“I can’t predetermine or presuppose the outcome of the current CCAA process,” Haché said. “It’s a process that we have entered into. It’s a process that we are committed to coming out of. But any commitments of that nature, we’ll need to see how we come through the process.

“Certainly, we as a university have entered into this process, with the most fervent desire of continuing and being strong and healthy. 

“But you know, it’s the first week of the process. We hope to be able to provide you with that answer as soon as we can, but we have to go through the process first.”

Kirkwood said Haché’s answer wasn’t very assuring to grad students. “At this point it doesn’t sound very appealing,” he said.

Earlier in the meeting, Haché and Sharon Hamilton of Ernst & Young, the company that has been appointed by the courts as the monitor of the CCAA process, gave an overview of the proceedings and the Senate’s involvement.

It was revealed during the meeting that Justice Sean Dunphy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, who is an expert in insolvency matters, has now been appointed as the mediator of the CCAA process.

He has been freed up from his current work commitments so he can dedicate himself to this process on a full-time basis.

Hamilton said while Laurentian is expected to receive the $25 million in DIP relief funding to bring it to the end of the semester, it needs to use that time to address its cost structure, and it needs to do it in a very short time period.

Six members of the Laurentian Senate were elected during the meeting as representatives of the body in the CCAA proceedings: faculty members Jennifer Straub, Éric Gauthier, and Amanda Schweinbenz, administrator Brent Roe and students Jay Patel and Malek Abou-Rabia.

Hamilton warned those who wished to be nominated for the role that they could expect a heavy workload due to the short timeframe in which the CCAA process is taking place.

During the meeting, Laurentian nursing professor Robyn Gorham put forward a motion asking that the Senate receive legal counsel in the CCAA proceedings. 

However, since her motion asked that the monitor ensure that this legal counsel be made available, and Hamilton, as the representative of Ernst & Young, said she didn’t have that ability, the motion was declared out of order.

Despite the unusual nature of what has happened, those participating in the Senate meeting remained collegial, something that Haché remarked upon.

“The collegiality of members, and the ability of this Senate to work through some very challenging issues, and to have a very open and frank conversation in a way that leads to positive outcomes, it just reinforces my faith in the community, my faith in the Senate and my faith in the university going forward,” he said.


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