The University of Guyana has announced that classes for its new academic year will commence on October 25, 2021, for all new and continuing students.
According to a UG release yesterday, approximately 65 per cent of its classes will remain online for the first semes-ter from October 2021 to January 2022 due to prevailing COVID-19 conditions as well as major building works arising from recent extreme weather conditions. The remaining 35 percent of classes, consisting mainly of laboratory and field exercises, are expected to be a mix of blended and face-to-face sessions delivered at the various campuses for specific courses or parts of courses only in the first semester of October 2021 to January 2022. Students will be notified directly of the schedule as well as the safety measures they are expected to comply with for courses that are to be held face-to-face. Schedules will also be posted on Faculty websites.
The traditional commencement ceremony will also be held virtually on October 22, 2021.
Orientation sessions
Refresher orientations will be available for continuing students on October 1. UG will be hosting its orientation for new students during the period October 18 to 22, 2021.
The release made it clear that these sessions will all be conducted online. In addition, new students already fully or conditionally accepted to the university for the new year should have received communication with links to the sessions from their prospective departments and faculties as well as from the university’s registry. Students will receive emails directly with the necessary login information to register.
It was also explained that the orientation sessions are aimed at providing a step-by-step introduction to all of the systems, policies, personnel, and resources that students need to navigate the university. This, the release said, will be particularly important for students to start their classes seamlessly on the first day of classes. This also will address programme-related queries and concerns and provide the necessary support and guidance to students to ensure their time at the university is “smooth, enriching and fulfilling as far as possible.”
The orientation process is an onboarding exercise whereby students are also introduced to the rules, regulations, lecturers, specific processes, given a tour of the physical and online classrooms, and taught how to read and calculate their grade point average and academic profiles. They are also made aware of the special services and opportunities available to them during and after their studies.
The Inaugural Continuing Students’ Orientation Ceremonial Opening will begin at 09:00 hrs today, October 1, 2021 via Zoom Webinar at https://zoom.us/j/ 92315218995#success/Webinar ID: 923 1521 8995 | Passcode: Not Required.
The informational breakout sessions will begin at 9:50 hrs.
Persons wishing to access the Frequently Asked Questions can do so at https://uog.edu.gy/notices/university-guyana-frequently-asked-questions, the release added.
