Fifty-nine employees were recently honoured for their long service at the University of Guyana (UG).
The ceremony was held under the theme “Perseverance” and commemorates both the 2020 and 2021 longest-serving staff members from all its campuses.
It was hosted on Friday, November 19 at UG’s Turkeyen Campus in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre for a limited number of awardees because of COVID-19 restrictions.
According to a UG press release, awardees with 40, 35, 30, 25 and 20 years’ service were given monetary gifts, certificates, and plaques in recognition of their dedication and commitment to the development of the institution.
UG Vice Chancellor, Paloma Mohamed-Martin, congratulated and expressed her gratitude to the awardees for their tenacity, dedication and selfless service offered to the university over the years.
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Emanuel Cummings, acknowledged the significant contribution made by each awardee. He too was awarded for his 30 years of service to the institution and noted that it is the first time the university was awarding its 59 employees all at the same time.
Calvin Bernard of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Arlene McLean who worked in the office of the Vice Chancellor, for 20 and 30 years respectively, spoke on behalf of the awardees,
The two reflected on the challenges and experiences they encountered while working at the university. They also noted that serving the institution over the years was a fulfilling and rewarding experience for them.
The longest serving employee for the year 2020 was Carmen Yusuf, who served a total of 35 years in the faculty of Education and Humanities, while the longest serving employees of the year 2021 were Esther Overton-Ifill, Registry; Veronica Woolford, Bursary; Olive Samuels, Bursary; and Sandra Ramnarine, University Library.
