Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Russell President Tubman University

Post Date: September 6, 2012

ASSERTIONS VERSUS FACTS AT TUBMAN UNIVERSITY

William V.S. Tubman University (TU) is proud to be one of Liberia’s State own Universities; the other is the University of Liberia. This institution had set out its Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Principles of Operations in April 2009, when it held its first retreat at Wulki Farms, in Margibi County. We committed ourselves and are still committed to making sure that we live, stand by, and preserve the Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Principles of Operations of TU.

As is expected to be the case with a new institution, Tubman University has grown. This growth has come with not only good prospects, but also challenges, for the University; our student, staff, and faculty numbers have soared. Most of those whom have come to join TU have done so with the genuine intention to help this maiden institution realize its primary objective, which is; “to transform lives for worthy service”.

Since we started in 2009 incidents of misinformation intended to distort what the facts are at TU are being provided to the public, and those who do this always prefer to be anonymous as they go about smearing the reputation of the institution and libeling the character of those in administration. One of Principles of Operation to which we committed ourselves is to be transparent and accountable in the conduct of all University business; at this point we may not be able to say that we achieved that by 100%, but we have certainly worked to promote that in every way possible. The University Administration seizes every opportunity to share information at all levels of operation, including,  general staff meetings, which are held once in every quarter of the academic year, University Council (which is representative of every constituent of the University, including students) meetings which take place once every month, and  the President’s Council and Cabinet meetings which are scheduled weekly. At the general staff meetings, and the other levels of meetings identified above, administration has provided information on every aspect of the institution’s operations ranging from update on the University’s finances to personnel, student activities, to the programs of the various colleges of the University etc. 

The President of the University, Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Russell has reiterated from time to time that information regarding the University’s operations is no secret, and she has always encouraged every member of the University community to request whatever information they need with the exception of those that are confidential, such as employee files, student grades, student files, etc. With all this, some individuals remained persistent on spreading invidious and insidious information about the institution. We will seize this opportunity to provide needed clarifications, but will encourage anyone who wants to inquire about the University to PLEASE visit the unit, department, or division within the University that can provide you with the kind of information you seek. We also believe that the intention of those involved in this is to not only provoke public dissent against TU but to also divide and damage the kind of community we are trying to build at TU. We may not be able to undo some of the damage these fabrications or distortions may have caused but we owe it to the Liberian people to have them know exactly what the facts are at TU. However, we do not intend to use this medium to address assertions referencing individual employees. 

Let us look at some of the assertions they have raised and then highlight what the facts are;

• ASSERTION: That Tubman University employs foreigners over Liberians.

• FACT: The University employment process is very clear and transparent; Information about vacancies at TU is advertised locally (here in Maryland County) and nationally, repeatedly, through the print and electronic media, as well as the University website. This is usually followed by a recruitment fare; and special ad-hoc search committees are set up to vet the applicants. There is data at TU to show the statistics of those who applied, show which positions they applied for, and what their qualifications were.  Consistent with our aspiration to make TU a 21st century university, we endeavor to hire the best among those who apply for positions at TU. To date, our record on recruitment shows that most of those employed at the end of the process are Liberians (to prove this, please go to the HR department at TU and get the stats).  Most times, it is after searching tirelessly without any success of getting a Liberian that is not just qualified, but, is also willing and ready to take up assignment with TU in Harper, that we go for applications from other nationals. In Liberia, we are sometimes left to deal with the grim reality that our human capital pool, in some critical areas with high demand, is quite shallow. We owe it to the children of Liberia to make sure that we change this current reality.
  

•  ACTION: Recognizing the fact that TU as a University must operate, without disregarding our commitment to maintaining high academic standards, our least ranked academic faculty (assistant professor) is required to have a master’s degree in the area he/she is expected to teach. This sometimes means that the University will have to go beyond the borders of Liberia to get the quality we seek for our students. We cannot afford to reduce our standards, or settle for less. However, what the administration at TU has done is to introduce a program called “Grow our Own”. The intent of this program is to send abroad, our Liberian staff or teaching assistants with bachelor’s degrees to get their master’s in areas of critical need (such as engineering, agriculture, science etc) to the University. They will then be required to come back and serve at TU. The same will be done for those with master’s degrees to go and get terminal degrees. This will continue until we are able to develop a critical mass of qualified Liberia faculty for the University.

• ASSERTION: That the salaries of non-Liberians are much higher than Liberians in the same positions.

• FACT: Salaries are paid according to positions without any kind of discrimination. All assistant professors (Liberian or non-Liberian) at TU get the same base salary, with points added for years of experience, publications, licensure, etc.  

• ASSERTION: That all foreign employees are provided housing/housing allowance.

• FACT:  Due to our current budget capacity only faculty and members of the President’s Council (regardless of nationality) get housing or housing allowance

• ACTION: At some point, when our budget capacity increases, the University hopes to extend this amenity to all staff at director level.

• ASSERTION: That there are no curricula for the programs at Tubman University.
  FACT: The University does have curricula for its programs. These were developed and endorsed at the 2010 curriculum retreat.

• ACTION: These curricula/course guides etc will be found in the University Catalogue which is currently being processed for printing. We also admit that the printing of the catalogue is overdue. These curricula are also provided on the academic web portal.

• ASSERTION: That the University arbitrarily dismisses employees.

• FACT: Without violating the University’s commitment to hold in confidence personnel related information, we must let you know that most of the cases of dismissal referred to are due to behaviors or actions that are inconsistent with our Core Values; especially cases of theft. Before a decision is made to have someone dismissed for inappropriate behavior, a thorough investigation is carried out (sometimes with the help of the Liberia National Police.

• ASSERTION: That some Liberians are resigning to join other institutions because of the way they are treated at TU.

• FACT:  At TU and in Liberia, like other places in the world, people are free to make their choices. We do not have the authority to coerce people to stay at TU. One has the right to seek opportunities that they deem more profitable to their lives; we welcome the decision of anyone making such decisions. We also acknowledge that some of our current employees have come from other institutions; most of them are driven by their passion for education and the desperate need for their service at TU and Liberia.

• ASSERTION: That diversity thrives only in the United Nations and other international organizations and has no place at TU or Liberia.

• FACT: We assume that such assertion is made out of utter ignorance, hence, for the purpose of education, we will like to inform our detractors that diversity is a phenomenon that is reflected in every unit of society; diversity allows people to come from different cultures to make a family, form a union, or share common interests. Our common interest, here at TU, is “transformation for worthy service”, not just to Maryland County and Liberia, but the world. We do not expect our graduates to be limited to only Maryland and Liberia, but to be on par with best practices in their fields and global developments. One of the core phenomena that Universities are expected to project to enhance international recognition and acquire international accreditation is diversity; even their programs expected to be nationally, but also, internationally focused. For example, Standard 5 for teacher education programs is diversity. These standards were promulgated by the Ministry of Education. We expect our students to look beyond Liberia and in perspective, help them to understand what it means for the world to be regarded as a global village. There are thousands of Liberians working outside Liberia in other countries. We must think about them when we relate to people of other nationalities in our Country.

• ASSERTION: That those involved who expose wrong doing at TU are being threatened with dismissal.

• FACT: Tubman University subscribes to freedom of speech in line with our Core Value to promote transparency and accountability. However, the University will not tolerate or condone fabricated information intended to blemish the reputation of the institution

• ACTION: An investigation will definitely be conducted and the University will take action against those found guilty of wrong doing. This process will be based on fairness and reliability and validity of evidence.  

GOD BLESS TUBMAN UNIVERSITY!!
GOD BLESS LIBERIA!!

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