 frequently asked questions updated january 2024 frequently asked questions updated january 2024 dominicbraam mon 10052020 2329 has the university of guyana returned to face to face classes  a yes ug announced and started a phased return to face to face classes since the 202122 academic year b at the moment only 20 of ug s students are exclusively online c a large number of those receiving instructions online are teachers who are required to teach during the day and study in the evenings by request of the ministry of education in 2022  https educationgovgy en indexphp media2 newsevents 4895ugsfacu   d  https msmyfacebookcom newssourceguyana videos centreofexcellence  e the university considers it a massive step in modernization to be able to offer students flexible options where possible what forms of instruction does the university of guyana offer in 2024  a the university of guyana offers face to face online and blended learning opportunities from april 2020 to june 2021 covid period the university was forced to build an expanded online architecture to ensure its students were able to learn and graduate during the covid period b two subsequent surveys indicated that 70 of the students preferred or needed to stay online given their jobs locations domestic situations and other personal characteristics considerations c the university in 2021 began a phased return to face to face classes for 65 of its students and by 2024 most of the students who choose to and those who must attend compulsory classes are back on the campuses across the country why has the university of guyana chosen to retain its online architecture  a it is now a matter of national and strategic security to ensure that our internal online capacity is at its optimum so that people can be trained uninterrupted in case of any emergencies b additionally it could be considered important for the state s university to maintain the ability to continue its online operations as well as perfect them for maximum national security and mobility in uncertain times caused by national security matters natural disasters such as floods and predicted pandemics additionally considerable investment mainly through donors has been made in ug s robust it and online architecture c gog education sector development plan requires the systematic and strategic incorporation of technology into all aspects of education ug as the state university is implementing this in several ways which ug students are online in 2024  a at present only 20 about 2000 of ug s students are exclusively online most students are blended or facetoface b all students who opt for online classes where this could be facilitated can be taught exclusively online c some students who live and work in remote areas are taught online this includes those teaching serving in medical areas serving in the military and law enforcement those having to travel overseas for work and other reasons such as medical students with severe disabilities those who enrolled online during covid and live overseas some foreign and international students including guyanese in the diaspora what facilities does the university of guyana have to support its online instruction  a ug has built one of the most sophisticated arrays for online teaching records management assessment and backend academic services such as registration payment certificate and transcript requests etc in the country and in the region a being continuously built out in a phased manner from april 2020 to present ug s tactical online services unit consists of the following units which are selfexplanatory b it governance research innovation and security igris address all issues and policies relating to cyber security ethics and general safety of students faculty and staff while carrying our functions using the university s elearning platform c software services and educational technology applications sseta oversees all communication platforms and applications used by the university and the administration needs of the university such as the digital gradebook and the management of srms and hrmis d infrastructure and it services also referred to as the centre for information technology cit oversees the physical aspects and communication channels for the university by addressing connectivity communication accounts and maintaining a repository of software that the university s communities use e client core services and enterprise support ccsesu oversees aspects relating to payments refunds and some types of accounting for the university this unit also provides client services and support for students faculty and staff including management of repairs rentto own and loaners of systems and software to staff and students f educational onlining support services edoss focuses on capacity building of faculty staff and students as they migrate to online mode it currently works out of the university of guyana s centre of excellence for teaching and learning coetal  what is the required investment in online services  a to develop and maintain the kind of integrated online architecture required differs from year to year depending mainly on changes in annual licensing fees for over 20 items of necessary application hosting storage cybersecurity records management assessment hardware software infrastructure learning management plagiarism and redundancy requirements to name a few b to minimize these costs in addition to staffing ug s tactical online services unit builds many of the its applications inhouse this work is done mostly by graduates of the university of guyana s computer sciences department and the software development unit of toss c development has to be ongoing to keep up with rapid changes in ict development such as ai and newer version applications etc d it should be noted that the online architecture does not only support students studying exclusively online or in blended mode but all aspects of the university including library counselling research communication innovation and several other services e the minimum cost annually is around g 200 million us 1 million  what is the size of the university of guyana  a the university of guyana in january 2024 has 9 countrywide campuses in 5 regions it owns and operates 52 buildings including over 40 different kinds of laboratories however many of them require upgrading b ugs now has around 11000 students and 1300 faculty members and staff c about 3 of students are international a similar number of staff are international some live in guyana and some on a parttime basis are allowed since covid whose classes are online to teach remotely d ug graduates around 3200 students a year since 2021 e ug offers over 150 different programmes in over 50 distinct disciplines f over its 60 year of existence ug has around 60  alumni and has graduated just over 10000 students in the last 3 years g ug has prioritized training guyanese so far given its national mandate and until recently had not focused on attracting international students h ug has eight 8 faculties five are fully science based and eight 8 research institutes click here ugblueprint  https drivegooglecom file d 14hbetxj9nkjwnwu7gnphofxexcadfhzu view   click  https drivegooglecom file d 15gkmpn0n8mipxyh9lwtqc2dbe2hraqrp view  click  https youtube kqbjiswrri4 is ug s staffing adequate  a ug s current staffing is not optimal but is manageable with room for improvement b ug s staffing tends to be stable since it has always been very fortunate to be served by dedicated committed staff who generally stay with the university for decades annual long service awards are testament to this annual turnover in all areas is less than 2 with the largest of staff leaving mainly because of salaries comparatively 300 lower than similar positions in the caribbean ug has been consistently training staff and losing some of them to the public sector other regional and international institutions and recently like most of the country the international private sector c the recent injection through donor support for 31 new full time staff with doctoral degrees in ug in december 2023 has gone a far way in addressing some of the past faculty needs since there has been no internal capacity to fund training and research for a long time this will now have a huge impact on all aspects of the university of guyana s operations view more on this here  https drivegooglecom file d 1veifol2cfdihuw0j1sziiyxjyvyyw view   d there are two other smaller similar programmes underway supported by donors set to be completed in 2024 and 2025 this is part of a systematic programme to produce 100 phds in critical areas by 2025 which is the end of the first of 4 phases of ug s blueprint 2040 e in terms of performance all levels of university staff are subject to annual staff reviews which revolve around academic credentials teaching evaluations done by students every semester research output national and international service renewal or extensions of contracts are based on these requirements and are decided upon by specific committees governed by the university acts and statutes what is driving the strategic direction of the university of guyana  the university of guyana s futuristic blueprint 2020 to 2040 developed continuously through extensive collaboration with over 70 national and international stakeholders from 2018 to present is what drives its broad goals click here for a quick overview ugblueprint  https drivegooglecom file d 14hbetxj9nkjwnwu7gnphofxexcadfhzu view    how does ug make decisions about what courses and programmes to offer  a ug takes a strategic stakeholderbased approach to the creation and addition of new programmes b as the largest and only national university in guyana ug receives and integrates written requests of the state the private and public sectors along with industry research its own surveys of students and prospective students and employers ug also considers the advice of faculty advisory boards international and regional strategy documents and policies c additionally as part of a respected global academic network ug monitors very carefully how its offerings align with future trends and predictions of tertiary education work and global labor force considerations d most importantly for its international accreditation and quality control purposes the university must submit itself to systematic and periodic reviews of programmes and curriculum how is ug funded  a since the 1990 s when a small fee was introduced ug is funded through a mix of government subvention 45 to 69 since the subvention is not predictable the rest is sometimes covered by fees 3540 variable according to the number of students and their ability to pay and research grants services and philanthropy 26 which is also highly variable and unpredictable b in 2024 ug s projected budget is 105 billion guyana c since 2020 ug submits its budgets projected for 5 years as well as its workplan and extensive budget narrative explaining each area of request as is required by the moe what is the cost of a university of guyana degree  a the university of guyana offers the best value for money in this region since its undergraduate degrees are amongst the lowest per credit in the world the average undergraduate degree has been kept at the rough equivalent of us 1000 a year or us 31 dollars per credit per year comparative to the lowest in its class us3500 a year or over us175 dollars per credit per year b for the professional degrees of law and medicine the fees are us 1600 and us 5000 respectively a year c for masters and phd degrees including medical and law degrees ug costs us 4000 to us 6000 a year or ten times less than the closest competitor in its class what financial arrangements are there for students  a ug accepts payments via direct transfer and mmg b students needing financial assistance can access student loans through the government loan agency managed by the ministry of finance they can also apply for psm scholarships offered to ug students through the ministry of the presidency c starting 2023 ug grants 20 ug scholarships to students in the caribbean sportsmen and women in guyana as well as those with other special talents d students may also access flexible payment plans from the university based on conditions e scholarships with particular conditions may also be available from private citizens and companies f the university has no formal information on a free education policy at the present moment what are the facilities and maintenance fees used for  a facilities and maintenance fees were introduced in 2014 since the government subventions and very low fees could not sustain the important needs of the university in particular the following university of guyana facilities and maintenance fees b in 202122 the policy was revised to include the costs of online education overseas travel for students on academic conferences and the administration and costs for the new students complex at the turkeyn campus which is shared by over 30 student clubs and the student society ugss it should be noted that between 2020 and 2022 during the covid period these fees were relaxed in support of students is ug satisfied with the performance of ug s alumni and the quality of ug s degrees  a ug s degrees are accepted in most parts of the world and its alumni make up 80 of guyana s parliament and government b graduates also hold very prestigious offices regionally and internationally and generally find jobs based on their degrees in guyana regionally and worldwide for instance ug s law graduates often graduate from hugh wooding law school as the best graduating students and in international competitions amongst the top 3 in medical school ug has produced stellar graduates such as recently celebrated amb carolyn rodrigues only woman and first on the un security council vidya roopnauth pfizer virologist dr lydia guerra belize s first female lieutenant colonel to only name a few in 2021 and all ug team shocked the world by winning the international webby award c however no serious institution should ever rest on its laurels and claim to be totally satisfied with anything this is not a perfecting and growth mindset so the university of guyana sees room for improvement and seeks innovative ways to do better there are some specific areas which require significant support for ug to reach the aspired worldclass status how is ug managed  a ug s has a leadership team of over 100 officers directors deans assistant deans heads and coordinators led by a senior management team of 11 which includes the vice chancellor three deputy vice chancellors librarian registrar bursar and directors of the berbice campus tactical online services unit and the institute for distance and continuing education b since 2020 each of these officers has been subject to systematic and hyper rigorous performance evaluation based on their approved kpi s what is the legal status of the university of guyana  the university was established by the university of guyana act 1963 three years before guyana gained independence  