Contrary to perceptions surrounding the University of Guyana (UG), Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith is maintaining that he and his executives are accountable to various bodies and as such, he is not a ‘runaway Chancellor.’
Professor Griffith made these comments during a media engagement at Herdmanston Lodge on Tuesday where he updated the public on UG’s operations. Griffith also denied that there is any political interference at the university while at the same time noting that the institution has been principally run by Government funding. The Vice Chancellor noted that a revamp of the University’s governance structure was undertaken with a view to not only overhaul the current operations but to look into the University of Guyana Act which in many regards is out dated with references to Britain and having academic links to the United States and Canada. The Act’s approval would need bi-partisan parliamentary approval. It was explained that the current UG Council has approved former Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington to head a Governance Reform Committee.
Professor Griffith explained that Committee met on several occasions, having hosted several meetings over a year and a half and submitted a report in March 2018 at the University Council. There were consultations at Turkeyen and Tain with students and the union. To this end, operatives met with Attorney General Basil Williams and Education Minister Nicolette Henry which was a move to provide stakeholders with updates.
The media was told that an extraordinary meeting of the Council will be held on July 26 whereby the changes to the University Act would be finalised which would then be sent to Parliament for approval. Griffith went on to explain that the consultative process will seek to address the “daily intrusion” of politics into the University’s operations.
“The Governance Task Force recommending that there should be no partisan, political representation or special interest representation on the University Council. There should be no ruling party coalition or Opposition party,” the Vice Chancellor observed.
The objective, according to what the media was told, is that a smaller governance structure is being prized with the focus on “competence” as opposed to special interest representation. University Registrar, Dr Nigel Gravesande added that another implemented measure sought to attain more autonomy of the Vice Chancellor’s office.
“The Vice Chancellor would have to report on the activities of the University with statement of accounts…to the Council,” Dr Gravesande noted.
Professor Griffith meanwhile noted that much of the staff at the 55-year-old institution is being regularised, having moved over 40 persons from month to month contracts which had seen job insecurity. He praised the improvements to UG’s facilities, highlighting that new campus registry building and air conditioning units to two main lecture theatres as some of the major achievements. He however cautioned that some challenges abound especially in the area of fulltime lecturers in the school of medicine. Nevertheless, he hopes that the university could garner more collaboration with the business sector and from alumni especially in the area of funding. This would be aimed at reducing the dependence on State subventions.
In his 2016 report, Auditor General Deodat Sharma found that G$209 million were unaccounted for from the University Science and Technology Support Project. In that year, the sum of G$906 million was allocated this project for curriculum reform; infrastructural design and research; infrastructure rehabilitation; equipping of science laboratories; drainage; Internet network; multimedia equipment; and institutional capacity building at the University of Guyana. A supplementary provision totalling G$411 million was approved, bringing the total allocation to one thousand, three hundred and seventeen million dollars (G$1.317 billion). (Shemuel Fanfair)
