Dear Editor,
The University of Guyana (UG) is in a comatose and apathetic state. On October 29th I submitted an online application to receive a transcript and replacement certificate in order to apply to a doctoral programme in the United States. No online option was available to make the processing payment to UG; instead, I had to send someone physically to make the payment since I’m currently overseas. Mind you, the university has alumni all over the world who from time to time would require transcripts and certificates and one would have expected online payments options to accommodate those alumni.
The payment was made on November 01 and I was informed that the processing time would be two weeks. Even though this seemed to be a long wait for the requested documents, I nonetheless shrugged it off and was prepared to wait. On November 19, I had someone visit the university to pick up the documents only for the person to be told that they were not ready and the processing would require another two weeks! The reasons cited were that my degree was completed in 2004 and will take longer to process and that the university just held a graduation ceremony and was not processing transcripts and certificates during the period. What a travesty!
Compare this experience to my two postgraduate universities where I also had to apply for transcripts and certificates; I received from the University of the West Indies in one week and one day from Columbia University in New York City.
The University of Guyana has to do better. The administration has to ensure that these processes are more streamlined and efficient and focus should be on delivering the highest customer service to its students and alumni.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
