| – Workers’ Union PresidentAlthough moves have been made towards restructuring of the University of Guyana, there is still need for clear direction.This is according to President of the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU), Bruce Haynes, who was at the time addressing a recent press conference,Clemson Tigers Jerseys, held at the University’s Turkeyen Campus.During that forum, Haynes disclosed that despite efforts made to embark on restructuring, through the Trevor Hamilton and Associates Review which is currently ongoing, “we still don’t have a sense in terms of a clear direction that we are going in.”On March 16, 2012, the University of Guyana and Trevor Hamilton and Associates of Jamaica signed an eight-month contract,Fred Lynn Red Sox Throwback Jersey, under which the latter was tasked with conducting a consultancy titled: ‘Review and Enhancement of the Regulatory Framework for the Improvement of Operations at the University of Guyana’.With funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the consultancy was aimed at enhancing the university’s capacity to carry out its daily operations and to boost its effectiveness to function as a national tertiary education institution in the 21st Century.But this has not yet materialised, Haynes said, even in light of the fact that the University recently appointed a new Vice Chancellor in the person of Professor Jacob Opadeyi, who according to him, has not thus far had “an opportunity to become embroiled in all the things that would have transpired before” at the institution.The University’s union and its Senior Staff Association have recently been lamenting the appalling state of affairs at the Turkeyen campus, ranging from late payment of salaries to deplorable infrastructure. In fact the workers, since Monday,Anibal Sanchez Tigers Jersey, commenced a picket exercise.Haynes noted that although Professor Opadeyi would have arrived on the scene with a different perspective and has been exercising same “it hasn’t basically gone down well due to the fact that he inherited an intractable situation where we are not sure how much this university needs to run its business and do it efficiently.”And even as he alluded to his belief that “there is so much work that is required to really turn this university around”, Haynes pointed to the unfortunate fact that the scope that is necessary for any review to take place is simply not there.This dilemma he attributed to “too much interference.”“The university needs less interference. It needs space and space has been denied it,” said Haynes, who also amplified the institution’s need for financial resources.According to him, what the university has been desiring for some time is financial input whereby “someone out there says ‘look you don’t know clearly what are the problems, but at least we understand that to keep you afloat you need the necessary finance and we are prepared to give you the necessary scope to do just that…’”Moreover, he insists that “we have a lot of resources and we can use those resources to turn this university around, but someone has to trust us; someone has to give us the resources to do so.”Added to that, Haynes noted that the university should be allowed to review itself while at the same time seeking to effectively manage itself in such a way that there are no more unneeded disruptions.“This has not been the case,Steve Largent Seahawks Jersey, so we continue to go down. There is no clear direction and we need direction and that direction has to come from the Vice Chancellor,” the UGWU President affirmed.He said that what has been critical is that “from the inception the Vice Chancellor had not thought it fit to make a presentation to us” but rather has started his work without making clear his intended direction.However, this assertion by the Union president may not be entirely accurate,Federico Fazio Jersey UK, since the Vice Chancellor at a public forum not only announced plans for the generation of funds,Lance Alworth Chargers Jersey, but also outlined an ambitious proposal to help improve the infrastructure and the quality of programmes and lecturers, among other crucial facets.“We need to know what direction he is taking this university.How are we going to come out of this unfortunate situation? How much support is he getting? Where is he getting that support from?Who can he trust to ensure that he is going to be given the necessary support no matter what is taking place?” Haynes asked emphatically.He said too that even if it is through a review by the CDB, the systems needed to be put in place at the university will not be possible “unless we have very clear directives so that we all will know where we are going and what are the possibilities that will come out from that and the outcomes that are so necessary for us to move on as an institution”.It is also the conviction of Haynes that UG at the moment does not get the desired respect from its stakeholders.He stressed that respect is especially important since the university is a national institution. |
