The University of Guyana’s Academic Board and Council has unanimously endorsed the rollout of an innovative and far- reaching programme aimed at supporting exposure, dialogue and modelling appropriate attitudes and behaviors amongst its community of staff and students.
The programme will include a human relations course, a mural campaign on the campus; and a T-shirt and social media campaign beginning this weekend.
This first of its kind Human relations course will be a 12-hour, 5 modules offered online or face to face which all students and staff from now on will have to take as a prerequisite for graduation or career development.
The five modules will include M1: Soft Skills – Etiquette, self-care, grooming, emotional intelligence, Social Media etiquette; M2. Gender and Social Justice – including sexual harassment, disabilities and violence; M3 Guyanese History and Cultural Diversity- including race, religion and nationalities; M4. Intro to Entrepreneurial Thinking and M5; Guyanese Geographies, including physical, legal, environment and Civics.
The University is collaborating with various individuals and entities to develop and deliver the course to 10,000 of its staffers and students in the next year. Collaborators include the Ministry of Social Cohesion, the Carnegie School of Home Economics, SEBI, and the Institute of Peace Action (InPEAC).
Human Relations 101 will begin in January 2020 with two weekend offerings in Berbice and Georgetown to 300 faculty and staff who can volunteer to take the programme in its initial test phase.
A mural painting exercise on the Turkeyen and Berbice Campuses, and a social media and T shirt campaign focusing on four hashtags: #UGloveeachother; # UGrespectdiverstity; #UGThinkb4uClick; #Careb4Ushare and UG#PeaceforGuyana begin this weekend and run through April 2020.
The University’s task force developing the programme is led by Prof. Paloma Mohamed, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Chair of the Transitional Management Committee. Other members of the task force are Dr. Paulette Henry, Social Worker and Director of CoETAL; Dr. Jewel Thomas, Sociologist; Ms. Nelsonia Budram, Director of the Centre for Communication Studies; Ms. Lisa Edwards Researcher in the Institute of Gender Studies; Ms. Daniella King Assistant Registrar Students Welfare; Ms Juanita Cameron University Counsellor; Mr. Jaffar Gibbons ( Student President) and Prof. Subrahim Gomatanyam, Director of the Berbice Campus.
Persons interested in participating can check the University’s Facebook page and websites starting December 20 for details on how to register.
