CAUT has appointed an ad hoc investigatory committee in response to reports of various issues at the University of Prince Edward Island’s Atlantic Veterinary College.

The committee is headed by Victor M. Catano, professor and chair of the department of psychology at Saint Mary’s University and a former chair of CAUT’s Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. The other members are Dana G. Allen, professor emeritus of the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, and Cathy J. Gartley, assistant professor of theriogenology in the Ontario Veterinary College department of population medicine.

The committee will be investigating allegations of improper procedural practices in investigations of academic staff behaviour; dis­regard of collegial decision-making; irregular hiring procedures; inequities in clinical service workloads; inadequate handling of relations between technicians and academic staff; lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities of tech­nicians and academic staff; and low morale resulting from unresolved tensions between academic staff and administrators.

CAUT executive director James Turk noted while these are only allegations, “the number and seriousness of the problems warrant a thorough examination.”