 ug establishes a university press ug establishes a university press ug establishes a university press webmaster sun 3192017 2049 the university of guyana ug and ian randle publishers irp of jamaica signed an agreement on march 16 2017 to establish the university of guyana press as the publishing arm of ug to create an outlet for the scholarly work of faculty and student researchers as part of efforts to boost research and scholarship at the nation s sole national university the agreement takes effect on april 1 2017 and will be in effect for an initial period of three years according to vicechancellor professor ivelaw lloyd griffith the establishment of the press is both historymaking and an important part of enhancing the brand of the university it is an integral part of my renaissance vision for our university the university of guyana attaches great importance to this collaboration with irp which is the largest scholarly and commercial publisher in caricom the agreement was signed on behalf of the university by vicechancellor and principal ivelaw lloyd griffith and irp board chairman ian randle signed on behalf of irp the ceremony took place in herdmanston lodge georgetown at the end of the presentation of the second vicechancellor s renaissance lecture which was delivered by mr randle on the publishing pillar of the renaissance bridge present for the historic occasion was professor george ken danns of the university of north georgia who accepted the vicechancellor s invitation to serve as the founding chair of the international editorial board of the press both ug and irp noted their intention to actualise the agreement fully to ensure the publication of deserving works by university faculty and students as well as scholars in the diaspora especially on matters related to guyana and the caribbean both vicechancellor griffith and chairman randle are committed to having the first ug press titles available before the end of 2017 in his remarks at the event vicechancellor griffith announced that the press will publish both books and journals including transition a journal that has had a troubled publication history and at least two new ones he has in mind a journal of entrepreneurship to link with the proposed school of entrepreneurship and business innovation and a journal of diaspora engagement as the scholarly arena of the proposed regional center for diaspora engagement mr randle also gifted the university library with 200 books worth us 15  the vicechancellor received the donation on behalf of the university he thanked the irp chairman for his kind expression of personal friendship and institutional support he noted that not only is ian a friend of long standing and the publisher of my seventh book but he is committed to enlarging the educational boundaries of caribbean people through the availability of educational and popular material the vicechancellor seized the opportunity to present mr randle with the instrument of appointment as an education resource ambassador of the university also inducted as a ug ambassador was ms roxanne reece director of fly jamaica which was one of the cosponsors of the renaissance lecture  ug in brief with a current enrollment of some 8000 students the university of guyana ug has graduated more than 20000 students who have gone on to successful careers locally regionally and internationally the university is also a major contributor to the national economy and to business and industry established in 1963 on a parttime basis with shared space at queens college ug moved to its own campus at turkeyen in 1970 and expanded in 2000 with the addition of the tain campus it now offers more than 60 under graduate and postgraduate programmes including the natural sciences engineering environmental studies forestry urban planning and management tourism studies education creative arts economics law medicine optometry and nursing several online programmes are available and the ug also offers extramural classes at four locations through its institute of distance and continuing education idce the ug also offers the opportunity for student engagement in debating sports and cultural religious and professional activities public relations division march 18 2017 ian randle publishing research 