According to the student government of the University of Belize’s Belmopan campus, the university has violated various rules and protocols in their handling of the pre-retirement arrangements for chemistry lecturer Allison Crawford, and they (the student government) have issued a stern press release, calling on the administration to rehire Crawford immediately.
“The Student Government Association of the Belmopan Campus condemns the decision of the University of Belize Administration not to rehire Mrs. Allison Crawford, B.Sc./President-UBFSA (University of Belize Faculty and Staff Association), former Faculty Representative to the UB Board of Trustees, and with 34 years of service, as a retired-rehired lecturer to complete the academic year 2013-2014,” stated the release.
The student government went on to demand in the release that UB “reinstate Mrs. Crawford IMMEDIATELY, so that the students can receive some level of normalcy at this juncture of the semester to avoid any further disruption for the students and their classes and further action by the Student Government Belmopan Campus.”
The Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) has also weighed in on the Crawford retirement matter. In their January 21 letter to the Interim Provost/Ag. President Dr. Wilma Wright, the BNTU notes that, “The concern with respect to Mrs. Crawford is not the retirement age but the many discrepancies in the manner in which her retirement is being handled in stark contrast to other retirees from the University of Belize.”
The BNTU letter went on to list 10 discrepancies in the Crawford retirement case.
But the BNTU letter makes the point that the university’s Human Resource Officer signed the letter regarding the status of Mrs. Crawford employment, which should have been signed by the Human Resource Director. “In addition, the letter does not even bear the department stamp, which makes it unofficial,” BNTU stated.
Apparently there is some administrative confusion at the University of Belize (UB). The UB president, Guyanese national, Dr. Cary Frazer, has stepped out of the picture, although he has not yet reached the end of his contract.
Belizean Dr. Wilma Wright is the acting president and interim provost, two posts with the potential for conflict in some areas of the administration of the university. One such area is the rehiring of retirees, such as Mrs. Crawford, for which the president and the provost have to sign on.
Mrs. Crawford had met with the dean of her department and was offered an adjunct position, so that she could continue teaching up to the end of the school year, and the interim provost and acting president had approved of rehiring her. But the Human Resource Director did not approve. This begs the question, how can a human resource director override a decision made by the acting president of the university? Who is really in charge and who is calling the shots regarding the retirement and rehiring of Mrs. Crawford?
UB did not advertise Mrs. Crawford’s post, so no one has replaced her as yet, Amandala has learned.