MORE than 1,600 students are expected to graduate at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus 52nd Convocation, to be held on Saturday, November 10, at the National Cultural Centre.
There the university will celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2018. For the first time in the history of the university, the certificates, diplomas and degrees will be awarded at three ceremonies held on the same day.
The increase in the number of ceremonies, from two last year, is due to the large number of graduating students; then there is the desire to avoid having very long ceremonies, while still maintaining the personal touch, where each graduand crosses the stage and shakes the hand of the chancellor.
The first ceremony will be held at 09:00hrs and will feature the Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Education and Humanities. The graduation address will be delivered by Professor David Phoenix, Vice-Chancellor of London South Bank University; this is one of the leading British universities with which UG is developing relations.
The second ceremony for the Faculties of Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences and Natural Sciences, will be held at 13:00 hrs. The feature address there will be delivered by Guyana-born Professor Norman Munroe, Director, Office of Student Access and Success and of the Center for Diversity in Engineering and Computing at Florida International University.
The largest of the three ceremonies will be held at 17:00hrs; it will involve the Faculty of Social Sciences and the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, the two largest units of the university. The keynote speaker there will be Attorney-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran, a University of Guyana alumnus of the Class of 1997. Mr Ramkarran is a partner at Cameron and Shepherd, one of the nation’s leading law firms. Ramkarran is serving his second term as President of the Guyana Bar Association.
SPOTLIGHTING ALUMNI
Additionally, as part of continuing efforts to embrace alumni, the university will continue to spotlight alumni at the various convocations. Sara Bharrat (Class of 2015), Dellon Fraser (Class of 2011) and Nelsonia Persaud-Budhram (Class of 2010), will offer words of wisdom to the prospective alumni at the Turkeyen ceremonies; Somattie Sayrange (Class of 2002, 2004, 2009) will speak at the Berbice campus when it holds its 17th Convocation.
The more than 1, 6oo students will graduate with masters and bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, diplomas and certificates. The ceremonies will honour graduates from 116 academic programmes in UG’s eight academic units— the Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Education and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI).
This year marks the first time that students will graduate through SEBI since the launch of the School in 2017. The prospective graduates are third-year students in the Faculty of Social Sciences, pursuing programmes that were transferred to SEBI.
Notably, also, will be the graduation of the first batch of students from 12 different programmes offered at the university. From the Faculties of Health Sciences will be the Diploma in General Psychology; Master of Medicine-Emergency Medicine, Master of Medicine-Family Medicine, Bachelor’s of Science Medical Rehabilitation — first batch of students to graduate with the option in Speech, Language Therapy and Audiology.
From the Faculty of Engineering and Technology will come the Associate of Science in Industrial Engineering — previous batches did the certificate and diploma. Not to be left out is the Faculty of Natural Sciences, with the Associate of Science in Computer Science — previous batches did the diploma. Natural Sciences also will graduate its first Associate of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Information Systems, Bachelor’s of Science in Information Technology and Associate of Science in Biology – first batch from the Turkeyen campus.
The Faculty of Social Sciences will produce its first Bachelor of Social Science in Business Economics. The President’s Medal for the best graduating bachelor’s degree student will be among numerous awards and prizes presented at the university’s 52nd Convocation.
NEW AWARDS
Additionally, two new awards will be presented from this year. The Francille Griffith Award for Excellence in Nursing will be presented to two outstanding nurses pursuing their bachelor’s degrees in nursing in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The award, valued at $ 50,000 each, will be offered annually to a thir- year student and a graduating student.
The second new award is the Dr Cyril Solomon Prize for the student with the best overall performance at first attempt at Applied Microeconomics, Applied Econometrics, Labour Economics I, and Labour Economics II; these were courses taught by the late Dr Solomon during his time at the University of Guyana. The value of the award is $50,000.
At the Berbice campus convocation, where more than 200 students will graduate on November 17 on the University Square at Tain, the keynote address will be delivered by University of Guyana alumna from the Class of 2016, paediatrician Dr Bibi Areefa Alladin-Karan. Dr Alladin-Karan, a Berbician is a lecturer in the School of Medicine and a practitioner at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education, the extra-mural arm of the university, is scheduled to hold its graduation ceremonies for its four centres as follows: the Georgetown Centre on November 24; Linden Centre on November 25; Anna Regina Centre on December 1 and the New Amsterdam Centre on December 8, 2018.
Since 1968, when the university held its first graduation, it has become a leading provider of tertiary education in the country. It graduates every year, professionals with the knowledge and skills that are needed by the local, regional and global job markets. UG graduates can be found in senior positions in major public and private sector agencies, both locally and around the world. To date, more than 20,000 students have graduated from both the Turkeyen and Berbice campuses.
