UGSS looking for “total recall of hiked fees”

Feb 09, 2018 News

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A total recall of the decision to hike administrative fees is the move that President of the University of Guyana Student Society [UGSS], Mr. Norwell Hinds, is expecting of the administration of the University of Guyana [UG].
Hinds, in an invited comment to this publication, said that such a move would be warranted in order for the UGSS to refrain from legal action, which it is currently pursuing.
“The only thing that can really appease the students is a total recall of the increased fees,” said Hinds, as he informed that the UGSS has already started to receive pro bono advice from a number of lawyers on the matter.
Hinds is convinced that the UGSS has a solid case with which it could head to the court.
He recalled that the move in this direction was spurred because of a refusal of the administration to reconsider its fee increase decision which is viewed by students, and by extension the UGSS, as unfair.
He recalled that the executive of the UGSS, which was installed towards the end of last year, was made aware of the state of affairs through the complaints of students on January 8, 2018.  By way of email, students were informed of the increase of administrative fees.
According to information shared by the administration, the increase was imperative, since apart from tuition and facilities fees, there are other expenses associated with studying at the university.
The fees, the university explained, “cover a wide range of services, including fees for processing applications for degree, diploma and certificate programmes [adjusted from $500 to $1000], and late applications [adjusted from $2,000 to $3,000], late registration [adjusted from $10,000 to $12,000], supplemental examinations [adjusted from $1,500 to $5,000]. The cost of personal transcripts has moved from $3,000 to $5,000”.
It also noted that “some services were entirely free, and now attract a fee. Included here are the re-sit examinations, which now cost $6,000 and letters for students that are used for visa applications and other purposes; they now will attract a charge of $5,000.”
The university’s administration had also made it clear that the UGSS had a hand in the decision to hike the fees.
But according to Hinds, while the former UGSS, headed by the then-President Ron Glasgow, was involved in a Council meeting which approved the budget of 2017 which included the administrative fees, the present executive has not supported this move.
The Council, which has since been dissolved, also approved some other fees including tuition fee increases for three consecutive years starting with a 15 percent imposed increase from this academic year, 10 percent slated to be applied in September and a further 20 percent for the following academic year, Hinds related.
He however noted that in relation to the administrative fees, “once we received the complaints, we did begin to initiate a conversation with the administration…our first bit of conversation was for us to understand the basis for the increase, and they provided information about the Council meeting that approved the fees as part of the budget.”
Hinds noted that in studying the related documents shared by the administration, the UGSS had raised concerns about students not being afforded prior notice.
This resulted in the administration opting to revise the implementation of hiked fees from January 1, 2018 to March 1, 2018.
But after further perusal of the documents, Hinds said that “we found that because the implementation was part of the budget for the year 2017, we felt that any fees such as the services fees could only be implemented in the budget year, and if the budget year had already expired, the fees could no longer be implemented now.”
It is the view of the UGSS, Hinds said, that the administration must seek to present again the fees hike proposal as part of the budget estimates for 2018. Moreover, he added, “We wrote to the administration to that effect on January 16, and they subsequently met with us on January 25.”
According to Hinds, during that meeting, the administration made it clear that its position was unchanged since the increased fees were approved ahead of the dissolution of the Council with the support of the former UGSS. He informed that the university administration premised its decision on the fact that it is in need of finances.
“They said they are going to go ahead with the fees and we said that we are going to oppose the fees, since we didn’t support it, and we would make our views public…and we will also seek a legal option and that is how that meeting ended,” said Hinds.
Unless moves are made by the administration to recall its decision, Hinds said that the UGSS will be looking to the courts to decide whether its interpretation of the state of affairs is accurate or not.

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