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KPU president orders inquiry after damning provincial review

SURREY - Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Alan Davis has ordered an inquiry into the conduct of his institution a week after the province released a damning report about the school's financial disclosure practices.

Released last Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance, the report looked at the institution's financial disclosures surrounding the hiring of Davis and former vice president and provost Anne Lavack, who both received $50,000 prior to them joining the university. Awarded under the guise of "pre-employment contracts" the money was deemed "vague on deliverables" by the auditor.In a statement, Davis said he was "troubled" the report's findings."It is clear that, prior to my arrival at KPU, there was an established pattern of issuing pre-employment consulting contracts to people being hired to senior positions," he said. "The recipients, including myself, were unaware that these contracts might be non-compliant in some way with B.C. public sector regulations."Davis said he plans to make the findings of his review public once appropriate.Also mentioned in the report was a plan to award Davis $100,000 as "supplementary compensation" out of the school's Kwantlen Foundation, a fund typically used for student scholarships and bursaries. Part of that conversation involved current Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk, who sat as chair of KPU's Board of Governors at the time. Since the report's release, the BC NDP have been calling on Virk to resign.cpoon@thenownewspaper.com