Student Ral Ojah with a piece he displayed at an April 2025 exhibit. (Image Credit: CFJC Today / File Photo)

By James Peters

TRU

TRU decision to end visual arts programs upheld in BC Supreme Court judgment

Oct 29, 2025 | 3:31 PM

KAMLOOPS — A BC Supreme Court judge has dismissed a suit brought forward by the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association (TRUFA) over last year’s elimination of several of the school’s visual arts programs.

TRU officially ended four visual arts programs — Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts), Bachelor of Arts (Minor in Visual Arts), Visual Arts Diploma and Visual Arts Studio Certificate — in January 2024. In ending the programs, the school said enrolment was not strong enough to justify their continuation.

In April 2023, before the programs were officially discontinued, Provost Gillian Balfour and Dean Rick McCutcheon decided to cut off student enrolment, effectively launching the discontinuation process.

TRUFA argued TRU’s enabling legislation required the decision to cut off enrolment be brought to the school’s board of governors.

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The faculty association went on to argue the board’s 2024 decision to end the programs exceeded its statutory authority because it did not properly seek the advice of the senate.

Madam Justice Maria Morellato rejected the second argument and, because of that, ruled TRUFA’s first argument was moot, even if it was correct.

“I do not accept the faculty association’s argument that the board did not ‘genuinely’ seek the advice from senate,” wrote Morellato in her decision rendered Tuesday (Oct. 28). “Considering the entire record before me, I find the board actively sought the advice of senate, received it and considered it. To be clear, I find the board did not, ultimately, proceed to make a decision without receiving the senate’s advice.”

President Tara Lyster emailed a message to TRUFA members Wednesday, calling the decision a “partial win only,” admitting it does not reverse the discontinuation of the visual arts programs. However, Lyster says the decision offers valuable instruction for TRU to follow the next time it wishes to discontinue a program.

“Going forward, university administration cannot suspend student enrolment into a program — the obvious first step to shutting down a program — unless the board has determined that this should happen and the senate has provided advice on the matter,” said Lyster. “This one aspect of the decision will affect the entire post-secondary sector in the province.”

Lyster went on to call the process around closing the programs “messy,” saying it “caused a lot of angst in the TRU community.”

TRU President Airini sent a letter to the TRU community Wednesday, acknowledging the decision will not change the closures but apologizing for hurt feelings that arose from the process.

“As president and vice-chancellor, I am sorry for any hurt experienced or frustration caused by this case. I believe all colleagues should feel respected, even in the midst of difficult discussions about change,” she said.

Airini’s letter, distributed via internal channels, commits to efforts to “be respectful” and expresses confidence that school administration is striving to “operate consistently with legislation and policy.”

Read Madam Justice Morellato’s full decision here.