Trent DNA Cluster Project "mismanaged": no business plan
Trent University documents show that DNA Cluster Project has has no formal business plan. The TSCA has characterised this as the project being "mismanaged".
The Trent Central Student Association issued this press release on November 25, 2005. It was issued in response to the first set of documents released by Trent University following a formal request for information under Trent's "Policy on Privacy Protection and Freedom of Information".
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Trent DNA Cluster Project mismanaged, has no formal business plan, university documents show Bonnie Patterson, President of Trent University, acknowledged that her administration did not follow usual university procedure in the development of the DNA Cluster Project. University documents reveal that Patterson did not follow appropriate university process for tendering and for seeking approvals from the University’s Board of Governors on the selection of architects and preliminary design teams. The president’s candid assessment is contained in materials relating to the DNA Cluster Project released by the University in response to a formal request made under Trent’s Policy on Privacy Protection and Freedom of Information by Trent students and alumni Derrick McIntosh, Shantel Ivits, Niiti Simmonds, and David Tough. The released information also indicates that the project, which has now been awarded close to $10 million in public money, has not yet attracted any private sector partners, and has no formal business plan. A letter detailing the contents of the released documents explains that no business plan was released in response to the request because, at the time of the request (22 October, 2004), no formal business plan for the proposed project existed. In spite of the lack of a formal business plan, the University has already committed at least $200,000 of its own contingency funds to keep the project moving forward and the University’s Board of Governors formally approved a site for the new DNA Cluster Partnership Building at its September 2004 meeting. The lack of a private sector partner leaves the financial promise and viability of the project in serious question and raises the possibility that the project may become a significant new drain to Trent’s operating budget, already beleaguered by lower-than-projected student enrolments. The Project is nevertheless being promoted as an economic boon to the City of Peterborough and to Trent. Critics, meanwhile, have contended that it is vague and inconsistent in both its stated aims and planning, which they charge have been secretive and exclusionary. A growing number of citizens and students will continue to press for substantive and meaningful disclosure in order to independently assess the alleged benefits of the project for the Trent and Peterborough communities. For more information, please contact Shantel Ivits of the |
