Carrington calls for joint chronicling of UG history
LONG serving staff members provide a cultural base for the University of Guyana (UG), the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lawrence Carrington said at a Thursday night ceremony to honour 15 of them. At the function, hosted at the Georgetown Club, on Camp Street, he said part of UG’s remit is to convert experience into knowledge.
Noting that UG would be 50 years old in 2013, Carrington challenged historians and chroniclers to start a process of converting the experiences of the awardees into knowledge of the institution’s history, through the process of oral narrative and written contributions.
He cited ‘University of Guyana: Perspectives on the Early History’, published in 2002 by a guild of graduates in Ontario, Canada, comprising a collection of contributions by Dr. Harold Drayton, Dr. Alan Earp and Dr. Dennis Irvine, who all served between 1963 and 1982, the last two of whom were Vice-Chancellors.
Carrington said it is not just the chronicling that is needed but the many different personal experiences which give texture to the chronicle and relate it to realities of contemporary life.
He said it is not only staff members who can contribute to the project but UG’s alumni and, in particular, close attention should be paid to the experiences and knowledge of those whose public function have given them cause to look in at the institution from the outside.
Carrington mentioned civil servants who process UG’s budget submissions, bankers who earned their degrees at the institution and decision makers who were former students there.
He said such persons represent a category of sources of information and perceptions that have exceptional potential value “in the analysis of our journey and in understanding ourselves.”
Acknowledging that UG has been going through some difficult times, Carrington said it is not only the university but the entire society.
FORTITUDE
Referring to the theme for the occasion, ‘Fortitude’, he said staying the course calls for that and conscious commitment to the goodness of the cause, which is developing Guyana through service to its university.
Reminding that the event was in recognition of service given and not a retirement ceremony, Carrington expressed the hope that it would serve as an incentive for the awardees to continue contributing to UG.
The Registrar, Mr. Vincent Alexander expressed appreciation for the awardees’ service, noting that occasions of the sort often become ritualistic. But, in this case, it was a serious attempt by UG to show it appreciates its long serving employees.
Praising the awardees’ dedication, he said the theme was apt because there were some hard times that called for fortitude.
Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mr. Gary Mendonca said it is known that the most important component of an organistion is its employees, as, without them, failure is imminent.
He said he hopes the awardees would remain and give good service, having set examples for others to follow and he thanked each of them by name.
Eleven persons were honoured for 20 years service, two for 25 years and two for 30 years, having served in the Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Education and Humanities, Faculties Maintenance Division, University Library, Bursary and Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE).