New battle rocks Trent: PTW 010720



University faculty cries foul as college master

replaced


Peter Lapp walked into his new office at Peter

Robinson College last week and inadvertently set off

a maelstrom.



Freshly appointed as interim college master by Trent

University president Bonnie Patterson, Dr. Lapp takes

over a job his predecessor Dr. George Nader hoped to

return to -- with full faculty support.



Several professors refuse to recognize Dr. Lapp's

authority and demand that Dr. Nader, an outspoken

opponent of Ms Patterson's plans, continue to run the

Trent college. In a meeting of college fellows

Tuesday, 21 professors and librarians agreed to set

up a college executive committee as an alternative

government to Trent's administration.



In Dr. Lapp's first week on the job, he started hiring

residence dons and planning Introductory Week events

for new students.



He will have at least 90 students in on-campus

residences and 650 off campus.



"I like to work with students and that was my

motivation to do this," Dr. Lapp says.



He takes over Peter Robinson College just as its

properties go up for sale as Trent prepares to shut

down its two downtown campuses. That move has pitted

faculty against administration for the past 19 months.



Dr. Nader says he didn't initially plan to return as

college master after his term ended June 30. When he

learned few people applied, he gave into pressure

from his colleagues and let his name stand.



Dr. Nader published two reports last year critiquing

university administrators' claims that selling off

the downtown colleges would save Trent hundreds of

thousands of dollars. He says the move will leave

Trent with more debt.



He also runs the trust fund for a duo of professors

who filed a court challenge to the college closures.

After an appeal, that case is awaiting a written

decision by summer's end.



"I'm paying the price for what I did and that annoys me," 

Dr. Nader says.



President Patterson told the nine-member committee who

suggested appointing Dr. Nader back in May that

administration would not accept that recommendation,

says Graham Taylor, the university vice-president of

academics. Nonetheless, the committee returned with

that nomination in June.



At that point, Ms Patterson and Prof. Taylor called Dr. Nader

in to tell him they would not re-appoint him.



Prof. Taylor says his job performance "concerned" them and his 

criticisms had nothing to do with their decisions.



That's not the message Dr. Nader heard.



He understood his role as legal fund trustee and his anti-closure 

stance cost him the job. He contends a clause in the Trent 

University Faculty Association (TUFA)'s contract gives him the 

right to speak freely about his views, if they match administrators'

or not. He will file a grievance with TUFA over this
situation.



Since he worked last year as one-third of his time as a prof and 

two-thirds as a college master, he says administrators dispute whether

that clause applied. Yet, he says his job as master includes defending the

college even against more senior administrators.



Prof. Taylor says the master-hunting committee's membership kept changing 

as faculty and student members left town or missed meetings, leading to an

inconsistent approach.



A new search committee will begin in September to find a permanent college 

master, Prof. Taylor says. Dr. Nader will go back to teaching geography 

statistics full-time.



He describes Dr. Lapp -- his replacement --as a "nice guy" who will do a 

good job. He just doesn't believe he's the best candidate available.



"If there was a true vacuum, Peter Lapp would be as good a person as 

they can get," he says.



Prof. Taylor describes 47-year-old Dr. Lapp as an "ideal candidate" on such 

short notice.



The Trent graduate has worked on campus for 10 years as an instructor and 

residence don.



He has run Trent's Academic Skills Centre and now works as assistant to the 

Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences (Continuing Education).



His boss admits Dr. Lapp faces a tough year.



"It's difficult," Prof. Taylor says.

"I'm hoping students will recognize he's there to work with them."



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