The union representing students at Memorial University says it will be years until students recover from the choices made under Vianne Timmons administration.

The Board of Regents announced on Thursday that Timmons would no longer be the university president going forward, stating her departure is “without cause” and allowing her to be eligible for nearly $700,000 in severance.

The news comes amid controversy regarding Timmons’ claims of Indigenous ancestry, forcing her to take a six-week paid leave of absence in March while an investigation was being conducted by an Indigenous-led roundtable.

MUNSU President John Harris says Timmons’ false claims of Mi’kmaq heritage is not the only harm she caused during her time as president.

One major issue that happened under Timmons was the doubling in tuition hikes. Harris says it now costs up to $80,000 a year for international students, which is “despicable” and tarnishes MUN’s reputation of being an affordable place to get a quality education.

He says the next president of the University must be someone who is able to take accountability for their actions.

For now, Dr. Neil Bose will take over as President for the next two years or until the position is filled.