 ug on course to addressing rep problem vicechancellor ug on course to addressing rep problem vicechancellor ug on course to addressing rep problem vicechancellor webmaster wed 8022017 2328 faced with a rep problem for a protracted period the university of guyana ug is in desperate need of redemption the way has already been paved for this renaissance but the problem must be recognised in order for it to be effectively addressed several problems faced by the state university were recently amplified by its principal and vice chancellor professor ivelaw griffith ug has had an rep resources esteem and perspicacity problem i am quite mindful of the prescient proposition of writer and philosopher rabindranath tagore you cannot cross the sea simply by standing and staring at the water thus on assuming the vicechancellorship rather than lament i launched project renaissance which aims to rebuild ug s educational and economic enterprise and enable it to become a consequential national and international educational stakeholder asserted professor griffith professor griffith s remarks were made during his inaugural speech after making history as the first vice chancellor of the ug to have a coronation ceremony but professor griffith hopes to also make history by revolutionising the national university he observed that this institution s recent yesterdays have been characterized by neglect and stormy seas with an interlinked threedimensional predicament which revolved around resources both in relation to acquisition and management esteem internal as well as external and notably in relation to academic credibility and brand and perspicacity in that the university had lost its intellectual spunk when it comes to critical inquiry and theoretical and applied research he said that his vision for a renaissance project is both a dreaming and doing project why dream some have asked when this university has suffered such neglect and for so long this renaissance bridge building project has four main pillars called imperatives and six values asserted professor griffith according to the university s principal the first imperative is capital investment which involves human capital physical capital and brand capital second to this is academic enhancement which professor griffith said entails improving instructional credentials curricula and andragogy adult education and introducing new educational programmes and research to address national and regional business civic and overall development needs he pointed out that the economic viability imperative is the third pillar this imperative he said requires fortifying the major existing revenue streams that is government subventions and tuition fees but also expanding the revenue base through alumni and corporate giving grants and merchandising the fourth imperative alumni engagement entails reaching out to ug graduates within and outside guyana celebrating their accomplishments and inviting them to aid the continued pursuit of our mission and goals as one might suspect pursuing project renaissance has daunting herculean elements it entails facing and fixing to quote writer james baldwin and it involves pursuing new ventures and setting new baselines some of which are new to ug and to guyana although not new to the academy in many parts of the world said professor griffith understandably then decisionmaking often has been and will be tough but as roy disney once averred and correctly so in my view it s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are said professor griffith who confidently underscored that our renaissance pursuits are guided by six cardinal values respect integrity excellence transparency inclusion and efficiency but such values according to the vice chancellor cannot be merely platitudinous incantations they must be lived he added in relation to excellence for example aristotle reminds us of the importance of habituation we are what we repeatedly do excellence then is not an act but a habit he said living these values is particularly important at this period of guyana s contemporary history as our nation has a considerable respectdeficit and integritychallenged profile the onus is on us at the university to aid the alteration of this profile over time underscored the vice chancellor even as he pointed out that changes introduced at the university have started to yield laudable results vice chancellor griffith noted that this has not been without challenges and criticisms he however noted that the university will continue to boasts of its success this he revealed will entail the posting of a scorecard to the university s website for the world to see article adapted from  http wwwkaieteurnewsonlinecom 20170802 ugoncoursetoaddressingrepproblemvicechancellor  vicechancellor uog 