Dr. Layli Maparyan, a New Face of the University of Liberia

In 2004, I was a few months into my University of Liberia life when I experienced my first taste of campus riot. This time, it was the result of faculty and students resisting the appointment of Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh, citing that he was an “outsider” to the University. I was tear-gassed by UNMIL police officers and from that day, I changed my mind set about the safety of students one the campus – I had to always be ready anytime.

Fast forward to 2009, Dr. Emmet A. Dennis was appointed as president of UL, and again there was disagreement over his appointment as some faculty and students lamented that he wasn’t a graduate of the University. As I have learned, it has been a long-standing tradition of the University to hire an alum of the university as president. A reason for holding on to this tradition, as I have been told, is that if one has felt the “struggles” as a UL student, he/she certainly shares something in common with most of the faculty and students, and that automatically guarantees their success. Well, I think that’s a debatable concept but I ‘ll leave it for the “experts” of UL politics. Contrary to traditions, Dr. Emmet Dennis went on to lead the University to becoming a safe and welcoming environment for all. During Dr. Dennis' tenure, he opened doors for faculty and students to exchange experiences which attracted scholars like Dr. Layli Maparyan who would later begin discussions for a Gender Studies program at UL.

I met Dr. Layli Maparyan in 2009 when she visited Liberia with a mission to contribute to our national development agenda, specifically in areas of gender studies. Between 2009 and 2010 as gender studies program development leader, Dr. Maparyan had a series of discussions for the development of a gender studies program at University of Liberia. Her approach was focused on engaging stakeholders such as students, faculty, administrators, civil society, partners, and the government of Liberia. She met and discussed with students at the famous UL Palava Hut, sat in lecture rooms and engaged faculty and students and discussed gender issues and how they could be factored into the curriculum. On one of those days with Dr. Maparyan, we rode together to the UL Fendall Campus alongside the then smartly dressed ULSU representative to UL administration at the time, now Dr. Augustus Panton. I quietly sat and listened to Drs. Maparyan and Panton discuss a variety of issues. At Fendell, Dr. Maparyan stood before a half-filled auditorium and had an interactive discussion with students on gender studies and gathered students’ perspectives. These engagements, I strongly believe, gave her some perspective of the challenges in and out of the classroom at the University of Liberia. After years of collaborative work with key stakeholders, a College of Gender Studies and Interdisciplinary Research was launched in 2019.

Over the years, Dr. Maparyan has served in several roles that have had great impact on higher education in Liberia. From 2010 to 2012 she served as Chair of the Board, University Consortium for Liberia (UCL), a nonprofit organization focused on coordinating diverse academic efforts between Liberia and the global community. She returned to board duties in 2021 and has since made significant effort in attracting funding to the organization. Since 2009, the UCL has collaborated with students, university faculty, and other academic professionals and strategic international partners to increase learning in Liberia and the United States. I had the distinguished honor of being a UCL scholar and serving, as the only student, on the board of the UCL for 6 years. As Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) at Wellesley College, Dr. Maparyan has recently been between the US and Liberia working on a 5 million USAID funded project, the Higher Education for Conservation (HECA) where she serves on curriculum development for soft skills, forestry biodiversity and conservation as well as gender, equity, and social inclusion lead expert. I was fortunate to have been part of the initial team led by Dr. Maparyan to develop the proposal for the 5 million USAID grant. I must say that I learned a lot working with Dr. Maparyan. Her attention to details, professionalism, ability to demystify complex scenarios and overall, her excellent communication and leadership qualities are few of her unique attributes.

Having known and worked with Dr. Maparyan for more than a decade, it was no surprise to me that President Joseph Boakai, after a comprehensive search for a new president, appointed her as the 16^th President of the University of Liberia. I believe she will become the NEW FACE of the University of Liberia considering her active engagement with the University of Liberia community in areas of significant needs for the last 15 years. I trust that she’ll be actively engaged with the campus community, encourage excellence in various academic fields, represent the University of Liberia positively and restore a system of order that is so desperately needed for a well-functioning UL. In her inaugural speech today, she outlined her values in her capacity as president of UL, the FIVE Es (Education, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Excellence and Ethics). As someone who has taught at colleges and Universities in the US such as Spelman College (Dr. Maparyan’s alma mater), Kennesaw State University and now an adjunct at Howard University in Washington DC, I share similar values and here are my perspectives of each.

Education: An educator once said that “education is not merely bookish facts but the fundamental ability to think clearly.” To uphold this value, we need to reimage teaching and learning at the University of Liberia where knowledge, skills (hard and soft) and positive dispositions become the core elements of teaching, learning and career development. Our faculty must tailor their teaching to active engagement of students with the materials, encourage them to analyze, evaluate and synthesize information through research, writing and classroom discussions. The enabling environment must be available where students have access to diverse knowledge and perspectives. Also, adapting a student-centered teaching and learning philosophy, I believe, will prepare our students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship.

Effectiveness: effectiveness of the university of Liberia’s faculty and staff will be a key determinant of measuring students' learning outcomes and their success. Effectiveness should focus on learning outcomes and students’ success that align with teaching objectives. Being effective must have a student-centered approach as they are the reason the faculty and administrators have their jobs. As there are growing needs of students in today’s job market, career/professional development that focuses on developing students’ soft skills must be factored into the university’s strategic plan for the next 4 years.

Efficiency: One of the biggest challenges the University of Liberia faces is the unnecessary bureaucratic process which, I believe, has rendered the University inefficiency in most if not all its administrative and academic operations. The university needs to make maximum use of resources available to them. Speaking of resources, the Government of Liberia must increase the UL budget to an amount that will sufficiently support the FIVE Es. Academic calendar, as Dr. Maparyan stated in her inaugural speech, must be predictable and respected so that students, faculty, and support staff can plan effectively. In addition, administrative processes that lead to entrance and exit of students need to be streamlined to conform to 21^st century academic efficiency. Also, the university must ensure efficient optimization of technology to boost teaching and learning experiences of faculty and students.

Excellence: to uplift operational excellence, the university must foster a culture of continuous improvement in and out of the classroom. The standards for excellence must be set from the admission of students to their graduation. Additionally, faculty must adhere to prescribed teaching and research quality that support students’ careers. In the end, acknowledgement and reward for outstanding faculty and students’ achievements should be a symbol of excellence.

Ethics: It is a well-known fact that the University of Liberia has struggled with adhering to ethical academic and administrative practices. A failure in any one of the previous Es, I think, will have a trickle-down effect on ethical practices. Upholding academic integrity and responsible conduct of research and teaching as well as administrative practices, from the office of the President to the student community, will measure the outcome of the values of Education, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Excellence and Ethics at the University of Liberia.

While I have a strong conviction that Dr. Maparyan will succeed in restoring a system of order at the University of Liberia, it must be important to note that this is a shared responsibility of the faculty, staff, students, civil society, and the Liberian government.

Saki Golafale, Ph.D.

Former UCL Board Member and UCL Scholar

Maryland, USA