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                   A State Within the State:
                         How UBC Works


The University of British Columbia, like its brother institutions
throughout  America  and  Europe, is a legacy of the middle ages,
dated, perhaps, by the charter in 1200 which formally  recognized
the  University of Paris. The charter ensured that the University
should have a tax-free existence and a legal  and  political  in-
dependence.   These   two   guarantees   have  been  the  western
university's by right until the present:  they  support  the  in-
dependence  of thought and integrity of research ("academic free-
dom") which western men of learning have felt to be basic  to  an
institution of advanced education.

The university still enjoys these economic and political freedoms
even  though  its goals and its management practises have changed
drastically.  Now, much  more  a  business  corporation  than  an
academic  institution,  the  university  still  defends "academic
freedom"  against  all  critics,  even  those  who  question  its
privileged business status.

The University of B.C. is a model of corporate design. Under pro-
visions  of  the  B.C. Universities Act, it has tax-free lands to
dispose of as it wishes, and it has full  profit  from  all  real
estate sales within the lands.  It has an internal police system,
a protective legal structure, and a  hierarchical  administrative
organization.

In short, U.B.C. is a state within the larger  state  of  British
Columbia,  and it is ruled by corporation president David Strang-
way. With the sanctions of business and  government,  U.B.C.  has
moved  rapidly  away  from  gentlemanly  agreements  between  the
President and the Deans of Faculty, toward a dictatorial  organi-
zation, powerful, privileged, but not benign.



Nancy Horsman
Formerly Assistant Director
Office for Women Students
U.B.C.