The President of the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association (TRUFA) is renewing a call for two seniors university executives to be put on paid leave.

Tara Lyster says it is concerning that vice-president of finance and administration, Matt Milovick, and associate vice-president of people and culture, Larry Phillips, remain in their positions.

It comes after at least 13 current and former TRU staffers allege discriminatory conduct, discriminatory statements and/or harassment in February, the details of which were made public last week.

“You know this isn’t saying anyone is at fault or wrong. It is to ensure the safety of all people involved during the ongoing process of the investigation,” Lyster told NL News.

“If this were going on with a faculty member, they would immediately be put on paid leave while the investigation was ongoing. And so, we would expect the same for the senior management.”

The allegations against Milovick and Phillips have not yet been proven in court. Still, dozens of TRU students and faculty members staged a rally Monday evening in support of the complainants.

Milovick oversees the university’s budget and administration. In the 2020-21 fiscal year, he was the third-highest-paid executive at TRU behind president and vice-chancellor, Brett Fairbairn, and provost and vice-president, Christine Bovis-Knossen, who resigned at the end of June.

Phillips meanwhile manages human resources and personnel matters at TRU, including hiring decisions for the university’s staff.

“Faculty are concerned that they are not seeing any action to protect our community, the TRU reputation, and to foster a safe work environment,” Lyster said.

“Lack of action speaks as loud as action so we need to find a way and TRUFA is willing to work with the university on this to find a way to ensure people feel safe during the ongoing investigation.”

In a statement last week, TRU board chair, Marilyn McLean, said that an independent sub-committee was created to investigate the allegations. The investigation is expected to be done by March of 2022, but it could go longer, if needed.

Lyster says putting the pair on leave would ensure everyone’s safety while the allegations are investigated.

“Faculty are really concerned about these allegations and they are concerned about the senior managers still working and you know, its concerning because one of those managers is who faculty go to with concerns about harassment and discrimination,” she said

“So it does put everyone in a bit of a difficult or interesting situation.”