The University of British Columbia has appointed retired judge Mary Ellen Boyd to investigate allegations against Steven Galloway, the suspended chair of the creative writing department.

UBC is not commenting on the decision to retain Boyd, now a mediator at Singleton Urquhart.

Boyd was appointed as a County Court judge in 1985. She became a B.C. Supreme Court judge when the superior courts were merged in 1990, and remained on the bench until her retirement in 2012.

Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo and The Confabulist, was suspended with pay on November 18.

UBC's dean of arts, Gage Averill, posted a memo on the creative writing department's website alleging that an investigation was being conducted due to "serious allegations".

Two days later, UBC faculty association president Mark Mac Lean issued a public statement criticizing university officials for releasing "confidential information" in this manner and for conducting interviews on the topic.

"Professor Galloway has a legal right to privacy regarding matters pertaining to his employment status and an expectation of procedural fairness, natural justice, and that the labour relations and processes and practices be followed," Mac Lean wrote.