Consultations are currently being conducted to inform a feasibility study which may see a School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) at the University of Guyana (UG) offering classes as early as next August.
This is according to Dr Edward Davis, who is leading a 14-person team currently conducting a feasibility study geared towards establishing the profile of business and entrepreneurial education needed in Guyana.
Director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives Dr Fitzgerald Yaw explained to Stabroek News that while the total cost of the project has not yet been established the university will be meeting these costs from the newly established Vice Chancellor’s fund for Strategic Initiatives.
“Many of the individuals who have agreed to be part of this initiative are overseas based so we have expended funds on their airfare, accommodation and have paid them an honorarium.
We have not paid beyond that for services rendered,” Yaw explained.
Asked about the methodology and timetable for the study, Davis, who is the Dean of the Clark Atlanta University School of Business, said the team will be submitting a report to Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith by February, 2017, after engaging with various stakeholders, including the private sector, on how they wish to see the school developed.
A press statement provided by the university states that the business stands out as one of the “major gaps” in the university’s educational platform.
As a result, it argues that it is necessary to question to what extent UG should consider developing a business school that can better serve the needs of Guyana, not just in terms of Guyana’s economic development but in the light of global trends that have seen transformations in economics regionally, hemispherically and globally.
It further notes that while some concerns, such as Caricom’s economic integration and labour mobility endeavours, periodic global economic crises and protection of domestic industries and markets, are addressed through the Department of Business and Management Studies and the Department of Economics, department-level examinations does not do justice to the existing and future student population nor the nation.
It is against this background, it says, that SEBI is expected to provide a mechanism for a more comprehensive exploration of critical issues that affect business operations, relationships and performance.
The feasibility study team is expected to hold direct and technology-mediated consultation with relevant stakeholders at UG in business and industry locally, with government officials and with other relevant individuals and institutions within and outside of Guyana.
The team led by Davis includes UG Registrar Dr Nigel Gravesande; Dr Leyland Lucas Associate Professor of Business at Morgan State University; Rosalind McLymont Executive Director of the Network Journal, New York; Dr Lila Rao-Graham Deputy Director, Mona School of Business, University of the West Indies; Floyd Haynes President of Haynes Incorporated; Dr David Lewis Vice President of the Manchester Trade, International Business Advisors; Dr Patrick Liverpool Provost Emeritus University of Maryland Easter Shore; Dr Ivor Mitchell Distin-guished Professor Clark Atlanta University; Ramesh Persaud CEO of the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED); Eric Phillips of the UG Faculty of Social Sciences; Dr Michael Scott UG Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Engagement; Komal Singh Managing Director Gaico Construction Guyana; and Verita Singh a UG Tourism Student.
A preliminary report is expected to be delivered by February 1, 2017, and a final report by April 1, 2017.
