Georgetown: Reports that current Registrar of the University of Guyana, Dr. Vincent Alexander, is likely to be sidelined for the position of Registrar, was effectively debunked by officials of the University yesterday.
Public Relations Officer of the institution, Ms. Paulette Paul, in an invited comment yesterday revealed that at the moment Dr. Alexander is on end of contract leave as his contract is set to come to an end in April. The position of Registrar, she said, will be advertised shortly and Dr. Alexander like any other qualified individual will be welcome to apply thus advertising does not and could not suggest that any move to sideline the current Registrar is afoot.
Responding to reports that the advertising of the position was unusual as there have been other similar positions that were not advertised, Paul noted that “there will always be innuendos but the fact is that what the University’s Council is doing is the normal procedure.”
Another senior official said that the last time that the position of Registrar was advertised was in 2009 which saw Dr. Alexander both applying and being appointed to the position. “This is not at all unusually,” the senior official asserted yesterday.
However, there are speculations that Dr. Alexander’s position could be threatened due to his role played in the recent National Elections as a Commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission. He is alleged to have had a crucial role in detecting an error in the tabulation of the results, which resulted in the People’s Progressive Party losing a one-seat majority.
Speculations are that Dr. Alexander, like Frederick Kissoon, a columnist attached to the Kaieteur News newspaper and a lecturer at the University for 26 years, has been a target for removal from the institution. Kissoon recently had his contract terminated, a decision which was made at the level of the University’s Council. There have been suggestions that the move was strategic and was spearheaded by PPP members who make up the University’s Board during a recent meeting of the University’s Council.
Council Meetings are confidential
However, the University in a statement issued yesterday pointed out that the deliberations of its Council meetings are confidential even as it pointed to the fact that recent news items have claimed to report on deliberations of the meeting of the Council held last week Wednesday. “As has happened in the past, such statements contain errors of fact, misguided deductions and information without a context for its evaluation,” the statement added.
As such it was noted that the Council wishes the public to know that while it did meet last Wednesday, among other matters, the Council considered appointment matters that had been referred to it by the Appointments Committee as permitted by its Statutes. In determining the matters before it, the Council was guided by the University’s normal considerations including: the University’s rules on the recruitment of persons over the age of retirement; the academic qualifications of persons recommended for appointment; the academic record and performance details of the recommended persons; the proper instruction of our students and the relative value of filling vacancies on a long-term or short-term basis.
The Council of the University, according to the statement, “reminds the public that its deliberations are confidential and that the University does not disclose information that is privileged in its relationship with its staff, applicants for employment or other persons being considered for employment.” It was noted too that unofficial reports on deliberations of University committees, including the Council, must therefore be treated with appropriate caution.
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