Mr. Eduardo Cruz and myself are two of an unknown number of UBC Students that have fallen victim to non-academic based discrimination and unfair treatment at UBC. Both of our cases have reached the UBC Senate. However, the Senate, our last avenue of appeal, is a very biased body and has not treated us fairly. Because we, minority students, are not expected to be around for long, they have neglected and dismissed us. In the case of Mr. Cruz, the UBC Senate formally received his appeal but did not bother to reply, forcing him to move to a different province without financial compensation. In my case, the UBC Senate heard my appeal, concluded that there was no fair institutional solution available to formalize my completed PhD thesis, and accepted full responsibility for the academic mistreatment I had endured. Yet, they did not, after all was said and done, grant me the PhD degree that they owed me according to binding academic appeal laws at UBC. Instead, they simply dismissed my academic appeal all together without offering me compensation. They have demonstrated no sense of respect for the student and human rights of Mr. Cruz and myself. The actions of the UBC Senate are simply unacceptable and in open violation of student rights and UBC laws.

According to the academic appeals rules in the UBC Calendar, the UBC Senate has two types of remedies available to them in order to resolve a dispute fairly: a) granting an institutional solution to continue or complete the academic work; or b) granting the academic standing that fits the circumstances of each case.

Mr. Cruz claimed to have been discriminated against based on non-academic factors, first by the Department of Spanish, French, and Italian Studies (UBC), and then by the Faculty of Education. He first appealed to the Dean of the Faculty of Education, who chose not to investigate. Then, Mr. Cruz appealed to the Vice-president of Academics, Dr. Barry McBride, who has the responsibility to investigate complaints related to Scholarly Misconduct, but he too decided not to investigate. Finally, on the advice of Dr. McBride, Mr. Cruz presented a formal written appeal to the UBC Senate through the office of the registrar, Dr. Richard Spencer, but he did not get a reply. The secretary of the UBC Senate, Dr. Spencer, did not reply even after formally receiving a written complaint from Mr. Cruz.

The ‘Fair Remedy’ in Mr. Cruz’s case seems to be for the UBC Senate to ignore his appeal. This is a total violation of UBC appeal rules. Once an appeal is presented, a hearing must proceed, but the UBC Senate did not proceed.

In my own case, I have suffered an ordeal lasting from September 1993 to November 1997 while in the Faculty of Forestry (Sep/93-Nov/96) and while in the care of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (Nov/96-Nov/97). FoGs investigated my complaints against Faculty of Forestry and found that they had failed me, but they did nothing to protect my rights. I appealed to the UBC Senate and documented my claims of having been subjected to a process fueled by potential scholarly misconduct, conflict of duties/interest, bad academic support, and systematic failure of graduate education rules. I also documented and provided independent academic support that proved, despite the ordeal endured, I had completed my second PhD thesis.

After the hearing, the UBC Senate concluded that it would be fair to grant me a PhD. However, since they felt that this was not institutionally possible, they dismissed my appeal without offering monetary compensation or delegating responsibility for the unfair treatment I received at UBC. Not granting me the PhD, even though the Faculty of Forestry and the Faculty of Graduate Studies failed to present any academic argument against that remedy and even after concluding that it was the only fair remedy available to me, was and is in total violation of UBC appeal rules. But dismissing the academic appeal all together after accepting blame is still worse. It is the duty of the UBC registrar, Dr. Richard Spencer, to ensure that the UBC Senate, the faculties involved in the dispute, and the students complaining follow the academic appeal rules completely to ensure the fairness of the appeal process. This was not done.

.

Both Mr. Cruz and myself are members of a minority Spanish-speaking group of UBC students. Both of us were born and raised in developing countries, Mr. Cruz in Chile and myself in El Salvador. Both of us included as part of our complaints unethical treatment based on non-academic matters. Both of us have documented our cases thoroughly. Both of us have exhausted the redress process at UBC. I proved that the UBC Senate owes me a PhD: they accepted it, and then dismissed my appeal. Both of us were seen as students who would not be around for long and thus incapable of fighting back. Both of us were treated unfairly by the UBC Registrar and the Secretary of the UBC Senate, Dr. Richard Spencer. In the case of Mr. Cruz, Dr. Spencer failed to process his academic appeal and in the case of Mr. Munoz, he failed to ensure that the UBC Senate follows and respects its own rules. Both of us have been openly discriminated and subjected to a very biased and unequal redress process at UBC.

If the UBC Senate does not respect UBC laws as in these two cases, is it fair to say that UBC is then a lawless university right now? Or do we need more people to be abused and discriminated against to be able to say that?

GO BACK TO MAIN PAGE

Questions and comments to: Lucio Munoz