A University of Victoria computer science professor has been relieved from teaching a course this fall after he told students he was unqualified to teach it.
The move came Friday as a dispute between the professor and administration — brewing for almost a year — boiled over, leading to a confrontation involving Oak Bay police.
On the first day of class on Sept. 7, professor Jianping Pan told students in his introduction to numerical analysis class that he had little experience with the subject material and another professor in the computer science department was better qualified to teach it.
He then wrote the email address of the chair of the department on the board for concerned students, the Martlet student newspaper reported.
“I cannot lie to students when being asked,” he told the Times Colonist.
Pan said he was assigned to teach the class last fall, but does not feel he is fully qualified and that there are better people in the department to teach it. He said he had been trying to work with the department on alternatives, but all were rejected by the department chair.
UVic spokesman Paul Marck said Pan is involved in a dispute over teaching duties and “may have inappropriately placed students in a difficult position by involving them in the dispute.”
The department received some complaints from students, Marck said. Everyone in the class was told another instructor would teach the course starting Sept. 9, he said.
“Dr. Pan suggested he was unsuitable to teach the course, so the university put a new professor in his place,” he said.
“Faculty members are often asked to teach foundational courses that are not directly in their areas of research as a service to the department and to students,” Marck said.
“This is a normal part of a faculty member’s job and does not mean they are not competent to deliver the course.”
Marck said Pan was informed Sept. 8 that he had been “relieved” of having to teach the course.
But Pan said he showed up to the Sept. 9 class prepared to teach because no one told him about the new instructor or when the replacement would start.
“So I went to the class, sitting together with students, just to make sure students were properly handed over, but the associate dean announced the class was cancelled on Sept. 9 and would resume [the following] week,” Pan said in an email.
He said he told students he welcomed the change, but was disappointed about cancellation of the class, as he had prepared materials for it. He decided to hold the class anyway.
UVic said the professor was approached by a staff member and informed that the class would be delivered by another instructor.
Pan said he was surrounded by campus security, with police standing by, and escorted from the classroom and campus after the lecture.
Marck said “it is standard operating procedure to involve security personnel and notify police” when there is a potential for conflict.
Oak Bay Police Chief Andy Brinton said the department received a call from campus security to “stand by and keep the peace.” When they arrived, officers were told the matter had been resolved and no action was needed.
UVic said it regrets that students were affected by the “awkward” situation.
The university said Pan continues to teach — just not the class in question. Marck said the professor’s conduct is being investigated, but that the details are a personnel matter and confidential.
