EDMONTON - Six months into his second term, Doug Goss said he made a “personal decision” to step down as chair of the University of Alberta’s board of governors.

Goss’s term was slated to end in February 2018.

His decision to leave has “nothing to do with” the controversy over pre-election remarks he made warning against voting for the NDP, Goss told the Journal.

“I’ve spent 12 years as a volunteer in the post-secondary sector, including eight years with NAIT and 3-1/2 at the U of A,” said Goss, who will leave at the end of August.

“I’ve done more than my share for PSS.”

“I’m happy with the state of affairs at the university and under new president David Turpin, the university is in great hands.”

Goss said he hasn’t had discussions with the NDP government since the election — except for a conversation this week with Advanced Education Minister Lori Sigurdson to inform her of his departure.

Goss said he is “extremely proud” of the board’s achievements during his tenure, including embracing the vision of creating a top-tier university, raising the U of A endowment fund by 50 per cent to $1.2 billion, and hiring the new president.

Goss dismissed as unfounded the concerns of the U of A faculty association, which called on the provincial government to rescind his appointment after his partisan comments.

It’s “ridiculous to suggest” that new premier Rachel Notley would take punitive actions toward the university because of comments in a campaign, he added.

“I don’t expect Rachel Notley to take that position,” he added.

Asked if he thought it would be hard to carry on as board chair given his pro-Conservative stance in the campaign, Goss said: ”Maybe — but I don’t regret what I did.”

“I will never give up my right as a personal citizen to say what I think.”

Five days before the May 5 vote, Goss joined four other city CEOs praising the Conservatives and warning against voting for the NDP. He later clarified that those were personal comments.

Heather Bruce, recently elected president of the faculty association, said Goss’s departure “may provide new opportunities and we look forward to working with the new board chair.”

“We wish Mr. Goss all the best,” Bruce added.

Goss said he’s confident Turpin and the new board chair will carry on with major administrative reforms, including a new budget model requiring faculties to raise some fop their own funding.

“It’s a highly decentralized institution and it has to work together, and that’s the course (former president) Indira Samarasekera and I set,” said Goss.

Goss took over the chair in difficult times that included a seven-per-cent cut in provincial funding for universities and colleges.

“We were the only institution that took on the PC government over the 7.3-per-cent cuts in provincial grants,” added Goss, a longtime backroom strategist and fundraiser for the provincial Conservatives.

Goss also worked with the PC government to restore the Access to the Future Fund matching grants and convinced the province to put in $100 million to match previous donations.

Without that it would be impossible to start another round of fundraising, said Goss, who plans to take an active role in fundraising for the U of A.

When Goss was appointed for a second three-year term by the previous Conservative government, he intended to stay on.

“A few months ago there was a more robust future, but nothing stays the same. You have to calculate your own circumstance,” he added.

The chair position is unpaid and involves “thousands of hours,” he said.

Besides running businesses and a law practice, Goss noted he also volunteers on four other non-profit boards: Fort Edmonton Park, Hockey Canada, the Stollery Children’s Hospital and Tourism Jasper.

“Sometimes you have to sit back and look at things as a voter, dad, a husband and a son,” he said.

In a statement Tuesday, Sigurdson thanked Goss for “his work and efforts promoting one of the province’s leading post-secondary institutions over the last three years.”

Turpin also paid tribute to Goss as a “proud and passionate Albertan, and an unwavering champion of the university.”

spratt@edmontonjournal.com