Yohann R. G. White
(In a letter to the Editor)
BASED ON not-so-recent debates on the reduction of subsidy to the university by the state, there is now a greater call for operating all aspects of the university in a more efficient way.
This is the chief task of the Campus Principal according to The Charter, Statutes and Ordinances of the University 1998 Volume I, which states that "A Campus Principal shall be responsible to the vice-chancellor for maintaining and promoting the efficiency and good order of the University on the campus to which the Campus Principal is appointed."
Inefficiencies in the operations of the University inevitably translate to higher costs to students in the form of higher tuition and residence fees. Other contributors to the University budget also end up wasting donations when administrators fail to exercise thrift. It was the President of the Jamaica Union of Students and of the UWI Guild of Students, Mr. Junior Rose, in an article in the Sunday Gleaner February 8, 2004 who reiterated that students can be educated at much lower economic costs. In light of the fact that wages account for over 75 per cent of the UWI's budget, he went on to ask a very important question: are we too top-heavy?
TOP HEAVY EVERYWHERE
As a student leader of a Hall of Residence (Rex Nettleford Hall) on the UWI Campus, I can testify firsthand in an affirmative response to Mr. Rose's question. The present structure of running the six Halls of Residence on the Campus is one headed by the Director of Student Services. Each Hall then has its own Student Services Manager, SSM (Warden) who reports to this Director. Additionally Student Services Manager's are assisted by numerous Resident Advisers (Sub-wardens) who are graduate students.
At present residence fees of students living in Hall do not contribute to the payroll of Student Services Managers, but donors to UWI are bearing this cost. University officials are now looking at this as an option in light of two facts. First is the reduction of subsidies by the government to tertiary education. Second is the effort by residents of the Rex Nettleford Hall to obtain a rebate because of absence and malfunction of certain facilities in Hall.
The Consumer Affairs Commis-sion (C.A.C. a government agency) was invited by student leaders to do an independent investigation into our complaints and call for a rebate. The CAC concluded that "the students had in fact been inconvenienced .....we have therefore asked the Pro Vice Chancellor [Professor Kenneth Hall] to make a determination based on the quantification of the Hall fees and propose an acceptable rebate with urgency for the students." The university has, however, ignored the commission. This disregard for the CAC by the university sends a very disturbing message, which is that businesses across Jamaica can wantonly abuse the rights of consumers. It is further a calamity for business ethics in light of the double standard being exercised by UWI by holding business ethics fora at the Mona School of Business on the one hand, and then failing to set a positive example when it comes to the practical test.
Residents in Hall should not be intimidated by possible retaliation by administrators in hiking fees by including SSM's salaries. This is because the post of Students Services Manager is an irrelevant one and its continued existence cannot be justifiable.
The university can start becoming more efficient by rationalising its top-heavy staff by getting rid of Student Services Managers immediately. A more efficient structure for running the Halls is maintaining the post of Director of Student Services. But instead of having six Student Services Managers, have one Deputy Director of Student Services or a Chief Resident Adviser whose portfolio will involve direct responsibility for the Halls.
The tasks of the SSMs can be adequately executed by Resident Advisers, all of whom are graduate students and some of whom have more than one first degree. Rex Nettleford Hall alone has sixteen such Resident Advisers who can more than adequately do the SSM tasks of filing financial requests in keeping with the Hall's budget, dealing with disciplinary matters, organising development programmes and maintaining general order in Hall, inter alia.
A GOOD EXAMPLE
The Jamaican government is now realising this principle and has already started rationalising public sector staff with the aim of cutting expenditure. This is clearly illustrated in the recent steps taken by the government where at least twenty posts were made redundant in several ministries (Sunday Gleaner, February 29, 2004). The university can be much more efficiently operated at all levels!
I could not close this letter without further commenting on the tuition debate. Some members of the media and university officials have expressed that the Jamaican public will not empathise with students' efforts to ensure that tertiary education remains financially accessible to all. Their rationale includes the observation that less than five per cent of the Jamaican population is in university and that some graduates are migrating. They thus want to know, how then are tertiary graduates contributing to nation building.
Graduates leave to find jobs because the Jamaican economy cannot provide these jobs for them. However, the nation benefits from repatriative income. Furthermore, for a developing country like Jamaica that lacks certain natural resources (oil, diamonds etc.), it is important for us to recognise that our human resources are our strongest asset in coping in a globalized market-driven economy our people are our greatest asset. The Jamaican populace is to be encouraged to support the cause of tertiary students, as we know that tertiary education subsidy reduction is just the tip of the iceberg.
YOHANN R.G. WHITE,
charmer_yrgw@yahoo.com
Hall Chairman, Rex Nettleford Hall
UWI, Mona
Via Go-Jamaica
