THE University of Guyana will soon be expanded to include a new location outside of the Turkeyen Campus, according to Vice Chancellor Dr. Ivelaw Griffith.

The move is an attempt to address the accommodation issues facing the close to 8,000 students of the University.

Dr. Griffith made the disclosure during a recent lunch meeting with reporters at the Herdmanston Lodge. University Registrar Dr. Nigel Gravesande; Deputy Vice Chancellor of Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagements, Dr. Paloma Mohamed; Director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Fitzgerald Yaw; and Director of Estates Management, Danny Khudu, were also present during the meeting.

According to the Vice Chancellor, three locations have already been identified, and one is being seriously considered. “We have identified several locations, (but) we are pursuing one vigorously that can give us the maximum one stop shop,” he explained.

The locations under consideration and their capacities were not disclosed by Dr. Griffith, who committed to providing full disclosure once an agreement has been met.

“What we are doing currently is a business plan as part of pre-discussions with the owner (of the main property of interest),” the Vice Chancellor posited, while noting that if or when the business deal is consummated, he would be in a better position to disclose the income-expenditure component of the plan.

However, he made it clear that the push to have a new location for the University of Guyana will not result in abandonment of the Turkeyen Campus.

Asked whether the university’s administration is considering the establishment of a campus in Linden, the Vice Chancellor responded in the negative.

On a daily basis, hundreds, if not thousands of students from Linden, travel more than 65 miles to access the University’s Turkeyen Campus, while others have no other choice than to migrate to Georgetown and neighbouring communities to reduce the financial burdens and fatigue associated with travelling.

Residents of Linden, Region 10, are not the only ones calling for a campus; Essequibo residents are doing likewise. Dr. Griffith said there must first be significant improvements on the campuses at Turkeyen, Tain and Johns, along with those at the nine Institutes of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE).
“We have got to show the students at our main campus that we are making appreciable improvements in their facilities and in their quality of life, before we go making request for new campuses,” Dr. Griffith said. He noted that for this reason he would not even commit to conducting a feasibility study in Linden.

The Registrar, in offering his contribution, told reporters that greater provisions are being put in place for Lindeners. “For the 2016/2017 academic year, the centre at Linden was able to provide programmes that permitted students access to allow them to matriculate into full degree programmes, and we admitted 42 students from Linden who otherwise did not reach the matriculation requirements,” Dr. Gravesande posited.

He is of the opinion that greater emphasis and focus must be placed on programmes that allow students to matriculate into degree programmes while consolidating the skills-based programmes that create opportunities for economic empowerment.

The University will be resubmitting its budget proposal to the Finance Ministry. That proposal has been pegged at $5.2B: $3B for its recurrent programme and $2.2B for its capital programme.

Increase wages and salaries for lecturers and other staff, infrastructure enhancement and development, a new library and a new Centre for Communication Studies are among the plans outlined in the proposal.