BY SVETLANA MARSHALL
Fort Valley State University President, Dr Ivelaw Griffith said if the University of Guyana (UG) is to progress, it must work towards delivering a more credible programme while ensuring its economic viability. Griffith made the comments while addressing the university’s 47th convocation exercise at the Turkeyen Campus on Saturday.
“For the University of Guyana to have a salutary ‘tomorrow’ that goes beyond crisis management survival and that avoids its leaders being practitioners of the science of muddling through, I see the necessity for the following three maturation imperatives: an economic viability imperative, an academic credibility imperative and a diaspora engagement imperative,” Dr Griffith said.
Dr Griffith, himself a UG graduate, explained that the economic viability imperative should focus primarily on the university’s business model, referencing to the generation of revenues.
“No state university can afford to rely solely on the state; not the one I have been honoured to lead, not the University of Guyana. But the state must match platitudes with practise; it must put its money where its mouth is,” he said.
He opined that relevant powerbrokers may request a redefinition of the relationship between the university and society, noting that while it is a legitimate pursuit, it must be done in a transparent manner.
This move will create avenues for endowments for professorships and scholarships, Dr Griffith stated, adding that it would not only enhance the prospects of the tertiary institution economically, but attach academic credibility.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship and resource mobilisation are key factors that should be incorporated in the new business model, Dr Griffith suggested. It was pointed out that effective utilisation of resources will optimise all possible savings, reduce waste and enhance cost and time efficiency. But for this to be a success, business practises must be reviewed and modified. “The economic viability imperative requires attention to having salaries that attract and retain quality academic and non-academic staff, to the physical plant, equipment and supplies and to placing a premium on competence without pandering to race or political affiliation.”
Turning his attention to the academic credibility imperative, the Fort Valley State University president said academic freedom must be practised. “To know what people really think, pay regard, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say,” he said as he quoted renowned philosopher George Santayana.
Political maturity
What is essential at this stage is political maturity, he said, explaining that despite the political party in power, it must be able to resist political intrusion and micro- management.
The onus is on UG’s leadership to avoid unevenness and simultaneously preach and practise excellence as a value. Quoting Aristotle, he said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” It therefore means, excellence must be individualised as well as institutionalised through goals and established targets.
He said that students and lecturers of the university should be guardians of integrity and must continuously seek to root out academic corruption, whether plagiarism, illegal sale of services or property, or outright theft.
“The condition of our university as it celebrates its golden jubilee is such that it cannot realistically pursue the two imperatives described above without embracing alumni, both within Guyana and in the diaspora.” However, he said the unfortunate reality is that graduates of the university who have excelled in various fields, many have migrated to greener pastures.
Nevertheless, he opined that the institution must be international in reaching out, celebrating, and seeking time, talent and treasure of its alumni. Dr Griffith pointed out that the University of the West Indies now offers an exceptional model of fundraising and friend-raising, capitalising on its alumni in the diaspora as a key constituency.
