The Academic Board of the University of Guyana is urging the UG Council not to accept the resignation of Chancellor Compton Bourne when next it meets.
The Board is also hoping that within this period, the Chancellor would be prevailed upon to reconsider his decision in the best interest of the university and his country, the Academic Board said in a statement yesterday.
And in these same interests, he is being assured of the Academic Board’s strongest commitment and support. The Academic Board comprises all Deans, Heads of Departments, special representatives and top university officials.
The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU), on the other hand, said yesterday that their position remains the same.
“Bourne has failed to be an effective Chancellor notwithstanding his many credentials. It must be recalled that the immediate cause of the industrial crisis were several unconstitutional decisions made by the council over which Professor Bourne presided. Moreover, he has admitted to not having the temperament to redress the very situation which the council under his administration precipitated,” Vice President of the UGSSA, Dr Melissa Ifill, said in a press release yesterday in reply to the Academic Board.
On July 10, the Academic Board had its first meeting since Chancellor Bourne proffered his resignation a week ago. The Board reflected on the resignation and determined that the sentiments which prompted it were not supported by the majority of academics whom it represents.
Moreover, the Academic Board supports the position taken by the UG Committee of Deans and the Senior Administrative Group in their immediate expression of “a profound sense of concern at Chancellor Bourne’s resignation and deep regret over the circumstances that precipitated it.”
Meanwhile, the Academic Board has expressed its “own sincere appreciation for Bourne’s services given to the University as its Chancellor over the past three years and the effective contributions he made to the functioning of the institution.”
The statement said the Academic Board noted that the Chancellor has demonstrated a genuine interest in the University of Guyana.
“He spent an unprecedented amount of time working on behalf of the UG both on and off campus, in and out of Guyana. This includes attendance at practically every university meeting, function and ceremony at which his presence and participation were required, including turning up to chair all meetings of the university council.”
In addition, Chancellor Bourne worked closely with ad interim Vice-Chancellor Prof Lawrence Carrington on many projects both internally and externally including a number of initiatives towards regulatory improvements.
Together they worked assiduously to accelerate change at the University of Guyana, the statement said, and “through those efforts the frequency of meetings of the council was effectively regulated and in their conduct returned closer to the spirit of what is written in the statutes.”
Consequently, the university’s administrators were able to more effectively take charge of the management of the institution.
According to the board, “most prominent among Bourne’s initiatives was the project now underway for the review of the regulatory framework of the university and the successful sourcing of considerable funding from the Caribbean Development Bank.”
The board also noted that Chancellor Bourne had recently led the process which eventually resulted in the re-appointment of the Registrar, and was leading the search for a Vice-Chancellor with the full involvement of the academic community, and this was done in a manner that met the community’s approval. “The Chancellor’s departure from this process could now place the search for a suitable Vice Chancellor in some jeopardy,” the board stated.
“In Chancellor Bourne, UG has a committed and sympathetic officer with international reputation and influence. His conduct is both dignified and erudite,” the board further said.
The Academic Board also noted that Chancellor Bourne’s statement of resignation was addressed to the council, which is not now in session and which has not had the opportunity to consider it, the statement concluded.
Forceful
Recognizing the Academic Board’s ability to share its opinion on the matter of Bourne’s resignation, the unions yesterday requested that it “immediately and publicly articulate in an equally forceful manner” on other issues the unions have been protesting about.
These include the immediate signature of the World Bank loan by the Minister of Finance, in the light of the October deadline so that the science and technology faculties could receive the upgrade they so urgently need; the council which is yet to be appointed, reviews and corrects the decisions and actions that have infringed on the academic liberties within the university including the firing of academic staff without a hearing or recourse; the inability of the university to attract and retain the quality of staff required for the delivery of high quality programmes and the need for immediate increases in salaries and emoluments for all categories of staff since they are way below comparable levels paid to the administrative staff at the university, the public and private sectors in Guyana and regional universities; the immediate enhancement in the deplorable conditions on the campus and the provision of adequate teaching materials for effective instruction; an urgent inquiry into the financing of the university to move it from the current precarious condition to ensure among other things that staff are paid on time and their tax and NIS contributions remitted faithfully and finally; and the claim by Director of the University of Berbice Campus, Dr Daizal Samad, that the Turkeyen faculty produces no research.
