THE acting Director of the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC), Dr. Subramaniam Gomathinayagam (Gomes), and his deputy, Mrs. Jacqueline Murray, plan to lift the institution by enhancing the physical environment and fostering good relations with the 650 students on roll.

Dr. Gomes, an Indian national, has been working at UGBC since 2005 and is proud to assist in lifting the status of the Campus.
“My staff is very co-operative, including my Assistant Director,” he said, adding , “It is a good opportunity to develop UGBC with a team of 28 lecturers, which includes 23 with Master’s Degrees.”
Dr. Gomes also has a Master’s Degree, as well as a Doctorate in Plant and Soil Biology, and has done extensive work in Plant and Soil Microbiology in India.

Murray would like Berbicians and Guyanese as a whole to know that there are quite capable people here, “ and we have the skills and people with the relevant experience in the education sector.”
The Assistant Director stressed that the staff at UGBC does not lack ambition. “We may from time to time have troubles in terms of money, but like any institution or any home, finance is something we have to manage and we are managing with whatever we have at this point in time.”

The rogrammes being offered at the campus are growing and two new degree programmes  will commence shortly, with the Bachelor of Social Work Degree already in progress and the Degree in Biology to come on stream in September. Additionally, four online programmes have also come on stream: Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Math & Physics, and Environment. They are working towards bringing the online Degree programme in Chemistry too.
“We would really like to have the support of the public, because we know for any institution to grow, there has to be a partnership with the institution and the private sector; we are reliant on the goodwill of people if we are to survive, and we are here to serve them,” Murray said. Ms. Murray has a Bachelor of Education Degree as well as two Master’s Degrees in Finance, Accounting and Management and a Master of Education Degree. She is currently reading for her Doctorate in Business Administration.
Currently, research is being done on mushrooms and DNA from plant pathogens. Soil testing is also being done to cure various plant diseases, including rice  and cash crop diseases, in collaboration with the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) Albion Estate.
Administrative Officer of UGBC, Mr. David Cort revealed that the campus’s Annual Reading Programme will commence on July 14 and Grades 5 and 6 students of the McGowan Primary School will be the beneficiaries, while a network meeting with the private sector through the combined Chambers of Commerce is also in the planning.
It should be noted that the Cari-Science Conference, General Meeting and Symposium, which is a mega- Science meeting of all Caribbean countries, will be held from August 28-29, 2014, at UGBC, where over 25 member states will participate.
The campus has a ten-member Advisory Committee that governs its internal affairs, to charter a vision for the campus with input from the private sector.

(By Michael Khan)