HOUSTON, TEXAS — A doctoral scholarship initiative funded through support from the ExxonMobil Foundation and the Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI) helped the University of Guyana strengthen its academic standing and secure international accreditation, outgoing Vice Chancellor Professor Paloma Mohamed said last Tuesday.
Mohamed made the disclosure during a panel discussion at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas focused on Guyana’s transformation since the country’s offshore oil discoveries.
“ExxonMobil Foundation…as well as the GGI project funded a very, very phenomenal project for us a couple of years ago,” Mohamed said.
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The initiative financed doctoral studies for 40 University of Guyana academics across several faculties. Mohamed explained that the program targeted experienced lecturers and scholars within the university who had not yet obtained terminal degrees.
She said the return of those scholars strengthened the university’s academic capacity and contributed to improvements in international rankings.
“The net effect of that was that we went up 300 places in ratings internationally,” Mohamed stated.
Mohamed also linked the initiative to accreditation gains achieved by the university in recent years. “We were able to get accreditation for the University, accreditation for the College of Medical Sciences again, and then our petroleum engineering program was accredited,” she said.
The Greater Guyana Initiative is a US$100 million program funded by ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC to support capacity building among businesses and drive sustainable economic growth.
