Guild happy issues fixed

A range of issues, which last year resulted in protests at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, have been mostly resolved for the new semester.

That is according to student leaders on the University of the West Indies’ Guild of Students.

And as students complain of vexing issues affecting this semester’s registration process,  the council is calling for patience as administration seeks a resolution. 

In fact, Guild President Thacher Loutin on Friday reported that the registration issues, caused by technological challenges should be resolved sometime next week.

Thacher Loutin

“Just like any other campus, during registration we’ve encountered a few hiccups and that is normal. We are on a campus where we have over 6,000 students and sometimes we experience logjams.

“But the guild of students is working closely with administration in trying to deal with these minor issues and so far students have received their overrides and faculties would have been given clearance to commence the registration process,” she explained.

Over the last few days, students complained that the university’s website was denying entry to some students before crashing in the midst of the hectic period.

They also complained about a lack of assistance from administration officials but after discussions with those officials, Loutin concluded that the administration was swiftly addressing the problems.

“They all cannot be fixed in one day, and so students have to be a little more patient with the system. I am hoping by next week, everything will be fully sorted and everybody will be registered,” she said.

Last semester tensions boiled over between administration and students living on campus over unsatisfactory conditions on the halls of residence. The issues reached a head in November when persistent utility outages and the absence of a working generator left students with spoilt food and no water.

Earlier in the academic year, students, particularly on the Sherlock Hall told Barbados TODAY they were subjected to poor living conditions and a lack of maintenance after a stove exploded injuring a resident.

But on Friday afternoon, Kamau Grant Sherlock Hall’s chairperson declared that the student’s cries had been heard.

“Living on halls does come with its highs and lows. While there have definitely been highs, we did go through some lows as well, not just with the hall conditions but with the many persons affected by hurricanes in their home countries.

Kamau Grant

“We had fire scares, water outages, power outages, among other things and we did some peaceful and small protesting outside of the administration building.

“But they heard our cries and immediately, facilitated us with a meeting and we were taken to local supermarkets where they purchased a number of non-perishables to assist us with the outages,” explained Grant. 

In addition, he disclosed that as students returned from Christmas break, they found preparations being made to install spanking new water tanks as well.

“As it relates to the power outages, I am not sure what is the status of the generator. We’ll just have to find out when the power goes out,” the hall chair said.

Meanwhile, the guild’s public relations officer Sydni Walker explained the guild deemed it necessary to publicly express their gratitude to the University’s administration for hearing the requests.

“It’s not just in relation to the issues on halls, but many of the other issues that we have lobbied for based on the complaints we have received from students. We know it is not an easy thing to govern the over 6,000 students attending the campus but they have taken the Guild of Students seriously and that in turn reaffirms the faith of students in us.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb