Trent president Bonnie Patterson received more than $326K combined salary and taxable benefits in 2007, an increase of more than $17,000 or 5.5%, over 2006. Patterson has been president for 9.5 years, having arrived at Trent in July 1998, and will complete her final term in June 2009. Trent administrators recently announced a $10.5 million deficit. Continue reading

Trent president Bonnie Patterson received more than $309K combined salary and taxable benefits in 2006, an increase of more than $51,000, or 20%, over 2005. Taken separately the 2006 base salary increased by $43,181 (18%) while taxable benefits increased by $8,364 (37.2%). Trent's presidential remuneration has grown by roughly 76% over what it was in 1999. Trent's Maclean's ranking in the category of primarily undergraduate university has fallen to 10th place from 3rd place since 1998. Continue reading

In the fall of 2004 Bonnie Patterson told the board of governors that millions of dollars in public grant money would be lost if the DNA cluster buildings were not up and running by December 2005. Just yesterday Trent announced the beginning of construction, with opening scheduled for May or June of 2006. Was there a public statement by Trent of deadline extensions from CFI and other granting bodies? Was the public informed of the reasons for delays and what was being done to rectify these? Was any grant money lost? Is this another example of secrecy and lack of transparency that has, according to some, come to characterize governance and management of Trent? Continue reading

Trent University is mired in a legal battle over its new $20-million science facility, which was beset by construction delays and is millions of dollars over budget. Trent now faces contractor's liens in excess of $9 million. Documents obtained by The Peterborough Examiner show 13 companies have not been paid $3,008,597 by general contractor Vanbots Construction Corp. Vanbots, the company that oversaw construction of the Chemical Sciences Building, says the university still owes it $6,213,008 for its work on the $19,617,381 project. Continue reading

Summary: Personal harassment and bullying has been rampant in the Security office for several years, according to a recent ombudsperson's report joint-commissioned by the university and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 365. A Security Officer appeared in court after being charged last month with public mischief after issuing a false complaint to the police. External report accuses Trent management of "insufficient action" and lack of intervention. Continue reading

In this instance the Trent University Human Resources department, under David Mahy, failed to act to stop harassment of several female employees. This is not the only instance of Human Resources failing to stop harassment of other employees. However, in this situation there was an investigation conducted by an outside Ombudsperson in the fall of 2003. Continue reading