December 8 has now been set as the new date for the University of Guyana’s (UG) annual graduation exercise, following the postponement of the ceremony owing to a fall out between the Academic Board and the Council.
At an Academic Board meeting held yesterday, members also called for the resignations of Pro-Chan-cellor Dr Prem Misir and Dr Nanda Gopaul who is a member of the university’s council, over what they say is unacceptable behaviour.
According to a press release from UG’s Turkeyen Campus, “Since council has refused to meet with the Academic Board to discuss this issue that has serious statutory implications and far-reaching consequences, it is only fitting that the board call on the officer that currently holds the highest office at the University to demit office.”
The Academic Board said both Gopaul and Misir have “displayed attitudes and behaviour that contradict academic norms and which are an embarrassment to the academic community.” Despite this, the release said, the Academic Board will reconvene as a Board of Examiners on Monday to review the profiles of prospective graduates so that this year’s Convoca-tion of the Turkeyen Campus could be held on December 8.
The Convocation date for the Berbice Campus will be announced shortly, the release added.
Meanwhile another release from the university said that following a meeting held on October 25 with the Pro-Chancellor on the reappointment and promotion of a temporary lecturer to a senior lecturer at the Berbice Campus, the Deans were confronted with substantive evidence which contradicted the response given by him on that issue.
“The academic community finds this untenable, unprofessional, distasteful, morally reprehensible and a gross betrayal of trust,” the release added.
The academics have also expressed “abhorrence at the unwarranted attacks on the Deans by the Pro-Chancellor Dr Prem Misir and Council member Dr Nanda Gopaul in a recent televised interview.”
This interview, the release said, clearly showed a lack of knowledge of the procedures and processes leading up to Convocation.
The Deans thanked the graduands for their understanding and patience and vowed to continue the struggle for academic propriety, freedom and advancement of the university.
The Deans, however, asserted “that the institutional issues are not independent but inter-connected and inter-dependent, and they agonized over their social responsibility as Deans rather than contractual obligations in the face of veiled, unfounded threats and vitriolic remarks.”
On November 1, the university through a press release confirmed the postponement of the convocation exercise following a publication in this newspaper on that day. The decision to delay the exercise was condemned by the UG Workers’ Union (UGWU) and the UG Students’ Society (UGSS) who called for the ceremony to go on, with the Committee of Deans adhering to the statutes.
