-impending salary increases for staff

FOLLOWING deliberations among several bodies associated with the University of Guyana (UG), the institution will be introducing a $10,000 graduation fee effective November of this year.In a statement on Thursday, the university said that its Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GPC) met with the Student Society, the University’s Council, and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) at a statutory meeting on Monday where the decision was made.

“All eligible graduating students attending the ceremony will be required to pay a graduation fee of G$10,000, while students not in attendance will pay a fee of $7,000,” the statement said.

According to officials at the institution, this new fee will cover the provision of gowns to the relevant students; rental of chairs and public address system for the ceremony; the Chancellor’s reception for students; the provision of diplomas; and the publication of graduation programmes and convocation booklets, among other things.

Additionally, it was noted that for the first time, graduating students will be provided with diploma covers to safely store their certificates. The statement indicated that the institution has been financing graduation exercises from its scarce resources throughout its life. As tuition fees can be used only for instruction costs, the officials said that expenses incurred for graduation had to be funded from elsewhere, and the expenditure associated with the ceremonies has been increasing over the years.

UG Bursar’s Office has revealed that Convocation-related expenditure for 2013 was estimated to be $3,036,052; for 2014, it rose to $5,158,510; and in 2015, it grew further to $8,340,766.

Speaking at the meeting on Monday, UG Registrar, Dr. Nigel Gravesande, stated that a recent survey of institutions of learning locally, regionally and internationally, revealed that a Graduation Fee is mandatory.

He said that graduation fees are paid at all levels in Guyana, from nursery to secondary, and they range from G$3,000 at the nursery level to $5,000 at the secondary level.

Further, a survey of the Caribbean showed that fees range from US$55.32 for non-Degree Awards, Certificates, Diplomas and Associate Degrees to US$86.92 for a Bachelor’s Degree and US$94.83 for a Master’s Degree and US$213.36 for a Doctorate Degree.

The second major decision made by the F&GPC deals with the perennial problem of the non-submission of grades by some lecturers at UG.

It was pointed out at the meeting that the failure of some lecturers to meet the official timeline for the submission of mark sheets has been an issue for several decades now, and has resulted in the Examination Division being unable to post grades on time.

Accordingly, this is reported to have had several negative impacts on students, including the delay in finalising prospective graduates’ profile; students being unable to matriculate from one programme to the next; unnecessary delays in processing official transcripts for students; delays in student course registrations; and delays in the sitting of supplemental/re-sit examinations.

To remedy this, the bodies, at which a representative from the staff union was present, agreed on a regime of sanctions for non-compliance by lecturers.

These sanctions, the statement said, include, but are not limited to, non-renewal of contracts, disqualification from receiving salary increments, and the inclusion of the timely submission of grades as an integral part of performance appraisal. Letters will also be sent to all defaulting faculty members urging them to submit all outstanding grades by July 15, 2016.

“The Vice-Chancellor voiced his commitment to ending this disservice to and disrespect for students, and he pledged to implement fully the decision of the F&GPC. The sanctions take immediate effect,” the statement noted.

Finally, it was revealed that the F&GPC endorsed a recommendation from the administration to settle an outstanding labor-management dispute over salaries and benefits.

The decision entails paying the relevant staff members as follows: 23 percent increase to the nine employees over whom there was a dispute related to their already being paid at market rate; traveling allowance increase for UA category workers to $17,000 per month for all those workers who have been receiving less than $17,000 per month; traveling allowance increase by 90 percent for UB category employees; and the increase of uniform allowance to $10,000 per year for all female UG employees to assist with the preparation of uniforms.

It was also agreed that all payments will be retroactive to January 1, 2016 and will be made during this month.

“The Vice-Chancellor indicated his strong support for improving the salaries and benefits of academic and non-academic employees at the university but he also shared his expectation of respectful and efficient service to the students and the other constituencies of the university.”

Meanwhile, the institution’s officials sought to point out that as part of the pursuit of greater transparency at UG, major decisions of the F&GPC now will be published at the end of each meeting.

Vice-Chancellor Griffith also proposes to recommend the same course of action to the University Council, the governing body of the University of Guyana.