Even as protesting workers called for him to step down citing weak leadership, the University of Guyana (UG) administration yesterday announced that Professor Compton Bourne has been re-elected as Chancellor for a period of three years.
During protests on Wednesday at the Turkeyen Campus, the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Worker’s Union (UGWU) called for Bourne to be removed, accusing him of avoiding consultations with them.
In a press release yesterday, the UG administration said it did not support the call for the Chancellor’s resignation and looked forward to working with him, as well as the council and all university staff and stakeholders in order to chart a new course for the institution. It was noted that Professor Bourne was re-elected Chancellor at a recent meeting of the University’s Council.
Calling for Bourne to be removed from his post, President of the UGSSA, Melissa Ifill had said, “We feel that his leadership has been weak. As a consequence, we don’t have confidence in him. He is the head of this university and he is supposed to be taking us into a new direction.
Certainly what he has demonstrated thus far does not suggest that he has the capacity and the willingness to do so and that is why we are calling for him to go.”
She explained that the Chancellor had failed to respond to the appeals made by the unions and their attempts to engage him on issues. “He is the head of this university, his power is considerable and we have attempted on several occasions to engage him and say could you speak with us on these issues; could you have some sort of dialogue with us on these issues and he has not responded,” she added.
Efforts made yesterday to contact both Ifill and the President of the UGSSA, Dr Patsy Francis for comment on Bourne’s re-election proved futile.
