The spring chiefs assembly of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations has rejected the advice of its own task force on depoliticizing the governance of First Nations University of Canada, which has its main campus in Regina.

The chiefs voted to reduce the size of the university’s board of governors from the previous 31 members to 19, with an additional 10 people serving on a non-voting advisory board. The governing board will consist of 14 tribal council and independent band representatives, three student representatives, one faculty member and one FSIN executive member, who will act as board chair.

The FSIN-commissioned task force on the future of the university had said that its “most important focus” was “institutional governance” — calling for a smaller board of 13 people appointed “primarily on the basis of the competencies they will bring to the board rather than as representatives of a nominating body.”

“The task force emphasized the importance of FNUC, like any other university, being reasonably autonomous from its politically constituting authority,” said CAUT executive director James Turk. “But the chiefs repudiated this advice and created an even more political board with only four non-political members.”

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada had given FNUC until June 14 to demonstrate it was attempting to implement the task force recommendations on improving university governance. At its June meeting, the AUCC said its board will consider establishing a committee to assess the situation at FNUC in relation to the institution’s adherence to the criteria for institutional membership in the association.

Prior to the chiefs assembly, FSIN asked Professor Shauneen Pete of the University of Regina’s faculty of education to prepare a report on the implications of membership in AUCC.

Pete was highly critical of AUCC. She said her search of the association’s web site and a media search failed to show AUCC having “any concern for First Nations or aboriginal/indigenous higher education.” She suggested FNUC “may want to examine some of the other developing options in regard to accreditation.”

AUCC took umbrage with Pete’s report and its characterization of the association as uninvolved in aboriginal higher education issues, calling Pete’s claim in a May press release “categorically false” and documenting its record of advocacy work on issues of aboriginal education.

The press release included a statement that AUCC is a voluntary membership organization. “When universities apply to become members of the association, it is because they wish to be recognized as a university that has certain characteristics and standards. These are important for faculty, students and for academic recognition nationally and internationally.”