Only one school in N.B. allows province to intervene in search process
New Brunswick’s provincial government can only intervene in the presidential selection process of one university, and it has never taken advantage of that right, according to a story in the Daily Gleaner.
The oldest school in the province, the University of New Brunswick, is also the only one that allows the lieutenant governor to appoint a president.
The UNB Act, which sets out the terms of the school’s presidential search, states that “if the Lieutenant-Governor in Council does not approve the first or any subsequent nomination submitted … the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make an appointment to the Office of President.”
But UNB’s secretary and a government spokesman both distanced themselves from the clause.
“Could a candidate be refused? I guess so, but there have been no cases of that happening,” ministry spokesman Andrew Holland told the Gleaner.
UNB secretary Steve Strople’s remarks to the paper struck a similar chord.
“The UNB Act does provide for the provincial government to appoint a president unilaterally in exceptional circumstances where the university is unable to submit an acceptable recommendation, but in our experience there has never been an instance where (that has happened),” he said.