Trent President Bonnie Patterson received this Grade Report review of her performance. The report was prepared and published by TrentAction in January of 2003, prior to the review by the "official" Advisory Committee to Review the Presidency.

The report was sent to members of the Trent community in individually addressed envelopes which were dropped at each college mail room. Not many people actually received it because, rumour has it, when senior administrators got word of its distribution they ordered staff to remove all envelopes from the college mail system and destroy them. We publish it here for the record.

Trent University

Office of the Registrar
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7B98

Grade Report for Bonnie Patterson - January 2003

Part One: Adherence to Presidential Mandate
(Originally set by Board of Governors, 1998)

1. Tuition fees have increased for students.
   Since Patterson has come to Trent, full time tuition fees have increased almost 20%. When Patterson first came to Trent, she raised tuition fees by 9.1%. Fortunately for students, the government enacted a 2% cap on tuition increases, and despite student demands for a tuition freeze each year, Patterson has consistently increased tuition fees to the maximum cap.
   
2. The college system is being dismantled.
   Bonnie Patterson has actively sought to convert Trent’s unique college system into simple residences under centralized control. Not only was Peter Robinson College sold (the residences are privately owned, and PR students no longer have a dinning hall, library, student space or academic advisors) but all colleges are under attack. College libraries have been eliminated, student space within each college has been reduced and college bars (which used to be a lively scene for students on campus) are barely functioning and hardly open. Three masters’ lodges which used to house college heads were eliminated. The donning system has been converted from a support network by academic peers, to a student surveillance operation by administrators who work not in the colleges, but in the office of student affairs.
   
3. Student space has been reduced.
   Slowly disappearing from the institutional memory of Trent, is the amount of student space that existed previously on campus. Not only are most student groups without space on campus, the Tim Horton’s in front of the library used to be non-corporate student space; Traill college lost its library; Champlain lost at least two TV rooms; two potentially wheelchair-accessible apartments in LEC were converted to offices; and prior to Patterson’s arrival the LEC pit was not used for classes.
   
4. Trent’s financial problems have worsened.
   Due to the President’s poorly planned decision to close the downtown colleges and build a new residence, Trent has gone further into debt by more than $12 million. Though a report by statistician George Nader predicted that this would occur if the downtown colleges were sold, the President and board ignored it.
   
5. Corporate influence has increased on campus.
   Patterson’s administration brought in the much despised (and financially disastrous) Zoom Media contract. The university bookstore was also turned over to Follets (a U.S. company) and the contract with Aramark was extended further limiting student food choices and increasing profits for an anti-union company.
   
6. The President uses force to suppress dissent.
   The President uses excessive force to silence those who disagree with her. This was most evident in March 2000 when the president sent 25 cops in riot gear to remove 8 students who were peacefully occupying the vice-president’s office. (Ironically, the students were protesting the Trent administration’s draconian decision-making habits.)
   
7. Freedom of expression has been quashed (ie. No Chalking Policy)
   Responding to longstanding tradition at Trent of writing announcements and voicing opinions in chalk on the Trent Bridges, the president banned chalking on campus. Repeated protests by students (in the form of “chalk ins”) have made this policy impossible to enforce. Patterson also banned two Trent alumni from campus who were making a film about Trent.
   
8. Student, faculty and staff voices have been ignored.
   Despite a petition with more than 1000 signatures, a large protest with over 600 students, letters from the Founders of Trent, a student declaration, a Compromise proposal signed by more than 100 faculty and approved by faculty council plus an overwhelming collection of letters from students, faculty, staff and alumni - the president ignored the wishes of the majority at Trent and closed the downtown colleges.
   
9. Due process has not been followed.
   Despite a senate resolution which opposed the closure of the downtown colleges, on Nov 11, 1999 President Patterson and the Board of Governors violated the Trent Act and approved university centralization. Since then, Patterson has repeatedly neglected to follow proper procedures for selecting college heads, establishing advisory committees, and “consulting” with various members of the Trent Community.
   
10. Due to financial constraints, reason number ten has been “relocated.”
    To find out the number ten reason why Bonnie should find a new job, come to the....

TEACH-IN on the Recent Political History of Trent
Friday January 31 at 11:15am. Meet at the LEC Pit.
For more info contact: trentaction@yahoo.ca