UG Council defends VC choice

Dec 14, 2012 News

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…insists selection process was transparent

Concerted efforts were made yesterday to defend the selection and approval of Nigerian-born, Dr Jacob Opadeyi for the position of Vice Chancellor (VC) at the University of Guyana.  At a press conference held at the University’s Turkeyen Campus Education Lecture Theatre, Pro Chancellor Dr. Prem Misir and Registrar Mr. Vincent Alexander, backed by members of the Council’s Sub Committee, which was tasked with selecting the best candidate for the post, were frank in their responses as they sought to clear the air on any concerns relating to the Council’s choice for VC.

Among the Council members in attendance yesterday were Private Sector Representative, Mr. Samuel Goolsaran; Education Ministry Representative, Mrs. Melcita Bovell; Academic Board Representative, Mr. Phillip Da Silva; UG Student Society Representative, Mr. Ganesh Mahipaul and politicians Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine and Ms. Gail Teixeira.
Teixeira, in responding to questions from the media, firmly insisted that the decision to choose Dr. Opadeyi was in fact a unanimous one by the Sub-Committee, which was subsequently sent to and approved by the Council on Wednesday.
According to Teixeira, the process prior to the selection allowed each candidate to show their strengths and weaknesses and in the final cut, the Sub-Committee determined that Dr. Opadeyi was the best candidate for the University. He is the holder of a Ph.D in Surveying and Engineering and an Executive Masters in Business Administration.
Teixeira said that not only are Dr. Opadeyi’s qualifications laudable, but his understanding of management is equally praiseworthy.  She explained that the position of VC is a management undertaking, adding that the role of Dr. Opadeyi will in fact be that of “Chief Executive Officer of the University of Guyana. This is the person that we felt was most competent for the University of Guyana at this time and I think the underlying issue, or the most important issue, is that this was a decision that was unanimously taken both at the sub-committee and at the Council.”

Adding his view of the selection process, Dr. Roopnaraine said that the new VC was chosen from a list of shortlisted candidates who are all highly qualified academics with the potential to bring to the university a lot of expertise. In addition to Dr. Opadeyi, who is currently a serving professor at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Professors Rory Fraser, Muniram Budhu and Jaipaul Singh, were shortlisted for the position.
According to Dr. Roopnaraine, several other outstanding applicants showed interest in the university, despite the fact that there is a great deal of work to be done to transform it to an acceptable state.
“We really need to deal with wide-ranging reforms and wide-ranging assessments of our present governance, structure, curricula, operations of the faculties…all of these things need to be done, and we believe that in selecting Professor Opadeyi, what we have done is gone for the person we believe has the energy, the openness, the innovation and so on, and that I believe gave him the edge over the other candidates.”
In fact Dr. Roopnaraine said that he was very surprised by the calibre of all the applicants for the position, given what is being offered by the university and the magnitude of work that has to be undertaken.
“It was very encouraging to us, and given the amount of work to be done here at the institution, we believed that whoever we chose will have the support of the entire campus.”  Dr. Roopnaraine stressed that a crucial role that now sits on the shoulders of the Council, having selected the VC, is to unite the campus behind Dr. Opadeyi, since without that, the institution will continue to stumble.
Speaking to the transparency of the process, Pro Chancellor Misir related that approximately one year ago the University articulated and initiated a policy that now requires the advertisement of its statutory officers, including Vice Chancellor, Bursar, Registrar and Director of the Berbice Campus, whenever their contracts expire. In each instance, he explained, the incumbent is treated as an applicant if he or she expresses an interest in continuing in the post.
With this in mind and given Professor Lawrence Carrington’s intimation of not being desirous of being considered for a new contract, the University earlier this year invited applications for the VC position, Dr. Misir disclosed. In response to the advertisement which was carried internationally, regionally and locally, 18 applications were received.
In order to choose the best suited candidate, Dr. Misir said that the University’s Council established an elaborate process in keeping with best practices.
“This process included the establishment of criteria for shortlisting, the actual shortlisting, a menu of interviewing activities and a recommendation and approval process,” the Pro Chancellor disclosed, adding that all of these stages were reported on and approved by the Council.
The selection of Dr. Opadeyi for VC was approved on Wednesday at the level of Council, paving the way for an official announcement yesterday. Dr. Opadeyi has since consented to the offer. He is expected to shortly engage officials at UG in relation to his association and the terms and conditions under which he will be contracted, Dr. Misir disclosed.

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