A University of Ottawa professor has been suspended and banned from campus after years of locking horns with the administration. The tenured physics instructor could also lose his job: his dean recommends that the Board of Governors fire him.
The university’s argument with Denis G. Rancourt began in 2005. Rancourt took over a first-year course and, instead of sticking precisely to the senate-approved course outline, used experimental teaching methods like self-directed learning and cancelling grades. While response from students was largely positive, the university was livid and issued a stern reprimand. An arbiter agreed with the university’s reprimand, but added that “[Rancourt’s] pedagogical initiatives were legitimately within the purview of […] academic freedom.”
Friction between Rancourt and the administration increased the following year, when he taught a newly introduced course on science and society. The class generated a great deal of media coverage with its high-profile guest speakers, but also triggered a slew of lawsuits against the university over a TA shortage and registration errors. The Science Faculty Council declined to renew the course for the following academic year. Supporters of Rancourt, however, attended all council meetings and tabled motions to “challenge the chair,” ultimately forcing the meetings to be cancelled.
The situation reached critical mass in November 2008 when the university denied Rancourt’s request to make his fourth-year physics course pass/fail. Rancourt promptly gave everyone in the class an A+. In response, U of O suspended Rancourt, locking his lab and redistributing his grad students. Campus police escorted him off campus.
A number of professors at U of O have spoken against the man they call a rogue professor, alleging that Rancourt’s actions have crossed well beyond the bounds of academic freedom. When asked about the sanctions against Rancourt, Alain St-Amant, a chemistry professor, said, “The events of the past few years are justified. You can’t trust him to teach anymore.”
Many of Rancourt’s former students have been very vocal in their support, while others have allegedly filed complaints against him.
Rancourt’s supporters retort that the professor’s actions are well within the realm of academic freedom, and that the university’s actions are politically motivated. “I believe the real reason they are being this vicious is […] my stated and well known positions and activism on Palestine and the Israel lobby,” Rancourt said. He added that he plans to do everything he can to fight the sanctions.
