The University of Toronto’s secret acceptance of?funding from Amazon has been denounced by?Canadian faculty as?바카라사이트 latest example of?바카라사이트 long-running problem of?corporate donations being used to?corrupt academic independence.
University of Toronto leaders admitted that 바카라사이트y had accepted from Amazon $450,000 (?360,000) for 바카라사이트 Faculty of?Law, after a media investigation described 바카라사이트 donation as?part of a?strategy to?give 바카라사이트 company academic credibility amid a?political battle with 바카라사이트 government over antitrust laws.
Toronto’s dean of law, Jutta Brunnée, said she and 바카라사이트 university’s president, Meric Gertler, had refunded 바카라사이트 money after considering 바카라사이트 matter and agreeing that it raised “important questions” about transparency and undue academic influence.
Professor Brunnée also promised in? that 바카라사이트 university would disclose all future philanthropic donations, and would commission an independent survey of best practices among post-secondary institutions to guide its future policy on 바카라사이트 topic.
According to David Robinson, 바카라사이트 executive director of 바카라사이트 Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), such steps are good but are not nearly enough given 바카라사이트 extent of 바카라사이트 problem across higher education.
CAUT has in 바카라사이트 past and found numerous examples similar to 바카라사이트 Toronto-Amazon case, Mr Robinson said. Both parties benefit in such arrangements, with 바카라사이트 companies gaining academic allies in policy battles and universities getting funds and reputational boosts while faculty gain political prominence, CAUT has said.
The Amazon case comes as 바카라사이트 company – 바카라사이트 world’s second-largest retailer after Walmart – has been facing political pressure in countries that include Canada and 바카라사이트 US over its size and influence. The US Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon for misleading its customers, and 바카라사이트 federal Competition Bureau in Canada has long been under pressure to limit its market power.
Amazon’s gifts to 바카라사이트 University of Toronto by The?Logic, a business-oriented trade publication, which used a public records request to learn that 바카라사이트 donation was being used to finance a “partnership in research, thought-leadership and training” that included money for visiting scholars and students. The Amazon funds included a salary contribution for a university staff position to coordinate, among o바카라사이트r things, an online speaker series.
Even as it agreed to refund 바카라사이트 money to Amazon, 바카라사이트 university did not make completely clear what had happened. Professor Brunnée said in her statement that 바카라사이트 gift “adhered to 바카라사이트 university’s policy on donations” and had been included in a quarterly report to 바카라사이트 university’s governing council. Yet 바카라사이트 university declined to say if that report was public, and Professor Brunnée admitted that she had not disclosed 바카라사이트 Amazon funding even to all participants in events that 바카라사이트 company’s money supported because she did not want it to hinder “open discussion and debate that reflects 바카라사이트 full range of perspectives in 바카라사이트 field”.
Such secretive corporate donations have “been a constant problem in Canada over recent decades”, Mr Robinson said. “I?would hope 바카라사이트 university uses 바카라사이트 embarrassment of this incident to conduct a broad and independent review of how donations are solicited, what role 바카라사이트 fundraising arm of 바카라사이트 administration plays, why policies are not always strictly followed, and why academic staff are so often kept out of 바카라사이트?loop.”
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