Dive Brief:

• The University of Saskatchewan's board of governors fired the school’s president, Ilene Busch-Vishniac, on Wednesday following a week of controversy over the university’s demotion of a professor/dean who criticized its cost-cutting plan.
• To recap: The tenured professor and dean, Robert Buckingham, was fired after airing his criticisms, but rehired — sans his dean position — the next day. Then Provost Brett Fairbairn resigned, taking responsibility for mishandling the Buckingham situation.
• Gordon Barnhart, a long-time academic and former lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, was appointed interim president, CBC News reported.

Dive Insight:

Buckingham never got his dean position back despite Busch-Vishniac calling his firing a “blunder,” and the board issuing a statement recognizing the widespread criticism of the firing. The board said it was deeply troubled by the situation and that it is committed to the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression. Also, the focus of the criticism that got Buckingham in trouble to begin with, the TransformUS restructuring and budget-cutting plan, still has the board's support. As for Busch-Vishniac, If she chooses to accept an offer, she'll stay with the university's engineering program in a teaching capacity.