Universities are sacrificing their academic integrity in their zeal to enter research and program collaborations with industry and donor foundations, warns a major report released by CAUT on Nov. 20.
The report, called
Open for Business, examines a dozen research and program collaboration agreements between universities, corporations, donors and governments to determine if universities have protected academic freedom and fundamental academic principles that are the defining characteristics of universities.
“The report’s findings should raise alarm bells on campuses across the country,” said CAUT executive director James Turk. “In the majority of the agreements, universities have given their stamp of approval to terms that violate basic academic values.”
According to Turk, seven of the 12 agreements don’t provide any specific protection for academic freedom, and only one requires the disclosure of conflicts of interest. Only five give academic staff the unrestricted right to publish their research findings and only half protect universities’ control over academic matters affecting staff and students.
“Universities have allowed donors and private partners to take on roles that should be played by academic staff,” Turk said. “They have signed agreements that side-step traditional university decision-making processes and undermine academic freedom.”
The report concludes by recommending a set of guiding principles for university collaborations to better protect academic integrity and the public interest.
“Collaborations can be beneficial to faculty, students, institutions and the public, but only if they are set up properly,” said Turk. “Universities owe it to the academic community and to the public to do more to safeguard the independence and integrity of teaching and research.”
The research and program collaborations examined in the report were: Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In-Situ Energy (uCalgary, the Alberta Government and five energy corporations), Centre for Oil Sands Innovation (uAlberta, Imperial Oil and Alberta Innovates), Consortium for Heavy Oil Research by University Scientists (uCalgary and four energy corporations), Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (13 Quebec universities, nine research institutes and 52 corporations), Enbridge Centre for Corporate Sustainability (uCalgary and Enbridge), Mineral Deposit Research Unit (UBC and the mining industry), Vancouver Prostate Centre (UBC, Pfizer and the BC Cancer Agency), Balsillie School of International Affairs (uWaterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, and CIGI), Munk School of Global Affairs (uToronto, Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation and the Government of Ontario), Partnership: University of Ontario Institute of Technology/Durham College/Ontario Power Generation, Partnership: University of Toronto/Pierre Lassonde/Goldcorp Inc., and Partnership: Western University/Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP.
Turk said it took almost three years to complete the report because most of the agreements establishing the collaborations were secret documents that had to be obtained through access to information legislation. He said there were additional agreements not included in the report as CAUT had yet to receive copies of the governing documents, but there were enough to do a second report in the coming months.
“Our objective is to ensure that all university collaborations are negotiated in an open and transparent manner and specifically protect those things on which a university’s reputation and public credibility are based — academic freedom, unrestricted right to publish research findings, awarding of funds through peer review, clear conflict of interest provisions, and academic control of all academic decisions,” he added.