Summary

University of Alberta administration is irreparably corrupt.
I call on the government to replace all University officers with management professionals. All University officers named herein should be terminated with prejudice — if they flagrantly engage in administrative misconduct, they will likely engage in academic misconduct.

Rik Tykwinski (Department Chair), Steven Dew (VP Academic), and other University of Alberta administrators egregiously abused their authority, resulting in irreparable harm and psychological trauma to me and thousands of students.

  • Tykwinski‘s hiring practices breached University policy. His hiring was unfair, biased, and blatant patronage. There was no job posting, no call for applications, and no interviews. Tykwinski literally gave critical teaching positions to the former students and sexual partners of research faculty. All of whom had zero experience teaching large lecture classes. Textbook patronage that harmed thousands of students.
  • Tykwinski failed to investigate a complaint. He failed to inform me of the complaint and get my response. He acted unilaterally as if the complaint were valid, and terminated my employment.
  • Tykwinski sent a defamatory email to hundreds of people, striving to justify the termination and cover-up his misconduct. The University also blacklisted me at other academic institutions.
  • UAlberta breached their own policies by failing to appoint an independent investigator into my complaints about Tykwinski. Textbook bias and corruption.
  • UAlberta was complicit in Tykwinski’s misconduct by knowing Tykwinski failed to follow policy and process, and doing nothing to correct it.
  • UAlberta participated in Tykwinski‘s cover-up by helping draft the email sent to the department, by proactively blacklisting me with other academic institutions, by lying to the AASUA, by not properly investigating Tykwinski, by withholding records for years, etc.
  • UAlberta Administration has repeatedly threatened legal action against me for disclosing the information on this website. Textbook reprisal.
  • The current UAlberta Administration continues to cover-up the misconduct, collusion, cover-ups, and general abuse of power by previous University administrators.
  • UAlberta publicly committed to openness, fairness, and transparency with complaints against administrators, yet has done exactly the opposite to suppress and oppress those herein. Textbook hypocrisy.

The Montemagno debacle pertains only to improper hiring, and the University promised to be open, fair, and transparent when investigating future complaints. The Tykwinski debacle involves improper hiring, failed and improper investigations, improper termination, defamation, and the failed instruction of thousands of students. The Tykwinski debacle is magnitudes worse than the Montemagno debacle. Instead of being open, fair, and transparent when investigating my complaint against Tykwinski, UAlberta administrators aggressively defended and covered-up Tykwinski‘s wrongdoing with denials, dismissals, biased investigations, and threats of legal action. Textbook corruption. Textbook hypocrisy.

Tykwinski breached the Collective Agreement, University policies, provincial and federal statutes, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. UAlberta Administration is complicit by enabling, assisting, and aggressively covering-up Tykwinski‘s wrongdoing.

Other University of Alberta administrators

Throughout this website, I name Rik Tykwinski (Department Chair) and Steven Dew (VP Academic) because they oversaw and gave direction to the other administrators. Other administrators participated in the misconduct and cover-up. Persons in authority cannot blindly follow orders. They are obligated to speak up when their superior’s actions and requests constitute wrongdoing. These administrators include

  • Tammy Hopper
  • Kerrie Johnston
  • Jeremy Wilhelm
  • Alex Brown

Since June 2024, I have tried to communicated with the current University of Alberta administration. Dr. Verna Yiu (VP Academic) initially and repeatedly threatened me with a defamation lawsuit if I didn’t take down the website. The University repeatedly ignored my question asking which aspect of the website was defamatory, with a promise to fix it or remove it. The University eventually stopped threatening me.

In 2024, I FOIP’d the University for the supposed student complaints. In early 2025, the University responded that there were no student complaints.

There were no student complaints! (Honestly, I wasn’t surprised.)

This FOIP response confirms that Tykwinski’s and the University’s character assassination was based on lies. The University’s cover-up is to cover-up lies.

Tykwinski and the University are the ones engaged in defamation — defamation that has cost me my career, character, relationships, mental health, and a myriad of other factors.

Corruption pervades University of Alberta administration. It was corrupt under Dew, and continues to be corrupt under Yiu.

To fix corruption, you must start at the top.

Research integrity

Does administrative integrity correlate with research integrity? Yes.

Research faculty are given extreme freedom to conduct independent research. With that freedom comes the expectation of honesty and integrity. A researcher who fabricates or falsifies data does immense harm to the academic community and society. Dishonest researchers are the reason some in society do not trust scientists and academics.

Tykwinski, Dew, and Yiu have repeatedly shown that they lack honesty and integrity. Hopper has also shown complete disregard for policy and process, and fabricated a grossly biased report. Given how readily and willingly these faculty engaged in administrative misconduct, they cannot be trusted to conduct independent research. They are a disgrace to the academic community.

Tykwinski, Dew, Yiu, and Hopper have done immense harm to the University of Alberta with their misconduct, collusion, cover-ups, and general abuse of power. If the current University administration continues to protect them and others, it shows that corruption remains rampant within University administration. I valiantly tried to address these issues privately, and was repeatedly threatened. I hope this disclosure facilitates real change to restore honesty and integrity to the University of Alberta.

  • I encourage students to reference this website if faced with academic misconduct: “If senior university faculty and administrators can break the rules with impunity, why can’t I?”, and, “I am following the example set by senior university faculty and administrators.”
  • I encourage other institutions and organizations to denounce the University of Alberta.
  • I encourage funding agencies to seriously question and reconsider their funding of University of Alberta researchers.
  • I encourage people and organizations donating money to the University of Alberta to reconsider their decision. Absolutely donate bursaries, scholarships, etc., but give them to institutions that value teaching.
  • I encourage the Alberta government to take over the administration of the University of Alberta.

The University of Alberta motto is “Quaecumque vera” or “Whatsoever things are true”.
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Unfortunately, Tykwinski, Dew, Hopper, Yiu, and other UAlberta administrators follow “Quaecumque opportunus” or “Whatsoever things are convenient”.