Staff and students of the University of Guyana have expressed concern that the appointment of former PPP/C minister Bibi Shadick as UG’s Pro-Chancellor, which was announced last week, may have been political in nature.
President of the UG Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) Mellissa Ifill told Stabroek News that the union continues to be concerned about the politicisation of the university.
“We have long advocated that there needs to be a divorce between politics and the university,” Ifill said. She explained that the UGSSA had submitted a petition to Parliament, requesting a review of the composition of UG’s council. She added that the majority of the council’s members are appointed at the Education Minister’s discretion which has led to a situation where the council is dominated by political figures.
Ifill further said that Shadick’s credentials were read out and though the qualifications sounded impressive they were certainly not fitting for an academic institution.
Ifill emphasised that the pro-chancellor or chancellor of the university ought to be someone with academic experience.
“She does not have academic experience to function at that level. The pro-chancellor acts in the place of the chancellor and the chancellor has to be a person who is highly decorated in his or her portfolio,” Ifill said. She continued, “We had hoped for someone with a weighty academic standing but that is not the case with Ms Shadick. We have nothing against her but for us it’s the principle. We want someone with high academic standing and we don’t want the politicisation of the university.”
Furthermore, the university must aim to be on par with universities around the world, Ifill said.
“If we examine universities around the world, we’d see that persons appointed to these posts have high academic standing and substantial experience in the university,” she pointed out.
Ifill admitted that the university’s council is not made up of enough suitable candidates for the chancellor and pro-chancellor post. However, she said this is due to the increasing number of political appointments for council members.
“If we look around the table we don’t necessarily see too many candidates who are suitable to function as a chancellor or a pro-chancellor in the university,” Ifill said. She further said, “I’m not taking anything away from people’s credentials… [but] most of the appointments that are under the minister of education … are political. We have several members of parliament for the governing party.”
Furthermore, Ifill said though Shadick’s appointment was not surprising it was disappointing. “We can’t say that we are surprised…we did anticipate at some point a pro-chancellor would be appointed and we did recognize that the government has the most support within the council. So we figured that [whoever] was appointed would [have had] to secure enough votes…. Nevertheless, we continue to be disappointed.”
Meanwhile, members of the student population have also expressed concern over Shadick’s appointment and her political affiliation.
Grasping
Speaking with Stabroek News, UG Students’ Society (UGSS) President Joshua Griffith said that personally he had no comment on Shadick’s appointment. “At this point, I’m still grasping all of the dynamics…” he said.
However, he admitted that a pro-chancellor was needed and there had been concerns raised by some members of the student body over Shadick’s appointment. According to Griffith, some persons had indicated disquiet about the new pro-chancellor’s portfolio and her political affiliations, particularly with “elections in the air”.
It was announced last week that Shadick, former PPP/C minister and attorney-at-law, was appointed the eighth pro-chancellor of UG, with effect from January 20, 2015.
Shadick, a serving member of the university’s council and chairperson of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority, succeeded Dr Prem Misir, the longest serving UG Pro-Chancellor who resigned in May 2014. Her appointment comes more than one year ahead of the end of his term of office.
The Pro-Chancellor is elected by the University Council from among members of the council, to hold that office for the period of three years, the release said. In the absence of the Chancellor, the Pro-Chancellor performs the functions of the Chancellor.
Shadick’s appointment also comes days after the UGSSA and the UG Workers’ Union (UGWU) held an emergency meeting to discuss a way forward following the collapse of wage negotiations with the administration and during which they called for the appointment of a pro-chancellor or a chancellor.
During the emergency meeting, several staff members had declared that Vice Chancellor Jacob Opadeyi must go. Further, they had opined that Opadeyi held too much power in the absence of a pro-chancellor and chancellor.
