Non-Academic Annual Planning Workshop 2022 – Faculty of Science

The Faculty of Science successfully conducted its 1^st Non-Academic Annual Planning Workshop on April 22, 2022, at the Auditorium of the Information and Learning Centre, Faculty of Science. The main objective of the workshop was to obtain feedback from Non-Academic Staff on how they could increase their efficiency and contribute more to the development of the faculty. The workshop aimed to identify the present drawbacks in Laboratory Management (which includes Chemical, Biological, Physical and Computer Science), Office Management and Human Resource Management. The coordinators (from Non-Academic staff) of the committees set up for five key areas made presentations on the drawbacks and on the possible solutions.

The workshop was well attended. Senior Professor (Chair) H.D. Karunaratne, the Vice Chancellor, addressed the gathering and Professor Upul Sonnadara, Dean, Faculty of Science, presented an overview of the faculty. The objectives of the workshop were presented by Professor Sanjeewa Perera, Chairperson of the QA Cell, Faculty of Science. The welcome speech was delivered by Ms. Tharushika Pathiranage, Senior assistant registrar, Faculty of Science. The ensuing discussions were facilitated by Professor Chamari Hettiarachchi and Professor Deepthi Wickremasinghe.

The morning session was followed by a special session for the Technical Officers of the Faculty of Science in the afternoon. This session which was entitled “Engaging in research” was organized by the Research Committee of the Faculty of Science. The main objective of this workshop was to make the Technical Officers of the faculty aware of the importance of engaging in research activities within the department. Three academic staff members – Professor Preethi Udagama (Chairperson, Research Committee, Faculty of Science), Professor Chandrika Nannayakkara (Department of Plant Sciences), Professor IMK Fernando (Department of Physics) and Dr MN Kaumal (Department of Chemistry), and Mr JARC Jayakody (Chief Technical Officer, Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences) spoke on topics covering available research options, selecting an appropriate research area, how to balance routine work and research activities and on the benefits of engaging in research. There was an interactive discussion at the end of this session. This special session was completed successfully.