Created 2 March 2011 10:03

VANCOUVER – The organization representing professors and other academic staff at BC’s doctoral universities today congratulated Premier-designate Christy Clark on her election as BC Liberal leader and expressed their hope for an early meeting with her to discuss the role of the universities in her “Family First” agenda.

“Universities play a key role in the aspirations of many young people and their families,” said Dr. David Mirhady, President of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA BC). “We at the universities are likewise strongly committed to the success of our students through higher education and would like to share some of our ideas with Premier-designate Clark on how to make British Columbia a leader in doing so.”

Since 2001, more than 20,000 student spaces have been added at the province’s doctoral universities (UBC, SFU, UVic, UNBC and Royal Roads).

“We’ve done very well in British Columbia over the past decade in creating more student spaces,” Dr. Mirhady continued. “Premier-designate Clark has the opportunity now to distinguish British Columbia nationally and internationally by improving the quality of the higher education we provide our students.”

“The amount the provincial government contributes to the universities on a per student basis has not kept pace with inflation, and quality has suffered as a result,” Dr. Mirhady noted. “We look forward to working with Premier-designate Clark towards ensuring that all British Columbians with the interest and ability can obtain a high-quality post-secondary education.”

CUFA BC represents 4,600 university professors, instructors, academic librarians and other academic staff at SFU (Burnaby, Vancouver and Surrey campuses), UBC (Vancouver and Kelowna campuses), UNBC (Prince George, Terrace, Fort St. John and Quesnel campuses), UVic and Royal Roads University.