Education resource ambassadors from various parts of the world who were recently here for a conference on improving UG have raised $14.5m for the university.
A release from the conference follows:
Renaissance of The University of Guyana—More than G$14.5m raised during Education Resource Ambassadors Conference
Contributions of cash, scholarships and pledges totaling over US$70,000 dollars or 14.5 million Guyana dollars were among the major outcomes of the first University of Guyana Education Resource Ambassadors Conference, which concluded successfully at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Saturday, June 25. The three-day conference was held under the theme “Dreaming Resources, Doing Resources”. Participants made a considerable tangible display of passion and concern with their support. This level of fund-raising is expected to continue with several local and international initiatives as part of the strategic resourcing for the University.
This initiative of Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, the 10th Vice Chancellor of The University of Guyana, was aimed at offering some key domestic and Diaspora stakeholders a first-hand view of some of the challenges facing The University of Guyana, including but not limited to, institutional, infrastructural, and technology systems, finance and human resources.
The programme included visits to the Tain and Turkeyen Campuses, as well as plenary and breakout sessions at the Marriott Hotel, where presentations were made by a mix of overseas- and locally-based Guyanese alumni and friends of the University. The Conference helped stakeholders to identify immediate, short-, and long-term contributions and the realities facing the institution.
In response to the invitation by the Vice-Chancellor, 45 high-level Guyanese in education, medicine, media, and industry from across the Diaspora (Barbados, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America), paid their own way to join around 60 local participants in the ground-breaking event, which saw a groundswell of appreciation for the challenges that the national university faces in the production of quality graduates to support the nation’s development.
Apart from the money raised, several important initiatives emerged from the two-day exercise including the adoption of a resolution which called upon the government to provide emergency funding to arrest any further deterioration of the University. The conference also highlighted the importance of identifying tangible ways for various parties to resource the university, such as providing technical support by way of policy, programme and protocol development to strengthen the governance and accountability systems in the University. Moreover, it addressed matters of plant, equipment and faculties development, academic and administrative staff development, student support and development and institutional partnerships.
Professor Ivelaw Griffith, in acknowledging the resounding success of the initiative intoned, “The renaissance of the nation’s University has begun. We are happy that this was achieved through embracing both the challenges and the various strengths we have in Guyana and at the university”. From here moving forward it must be ‘I for UG, U for UG, We all for UG!’
As part of the renaissance the Vice Chancellor envisages re-kindling dormant partnerships and pursuing new ones. In this respect two agreements were signed with the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST); one renewing an existing partnership and another that establishes a new partnership in housing for foreign visiting lecturers and scholars. As well, the title of Education Resource Ambassadorwas conferred on each conference delegatge, with an instrument of appointment signed by the Vice-Chancellor and bearing the university seal.
The first conference of Education Resource Ambassadors facilitated the cultivation of a sense of collective ownership in the welfare of The University of Guyana by those stakeholders and it demonstrated the willingness of persons to contribute to the restoration of the institution’s academic credibility and financial stability. During the concluding session of the conference, Professor Griffith announced that a follow-up conference will be held in about a year’s time, to conincide with his installation as Vice-Chancellor and Principal.
Full text documents as well as photographs and the continuous feed of the two days activities can be viewed at: Facebook: @iloveunig and @ugturkeyencampus
