@UWI – transformation is not a four letter word
Dawn Marie De Four-Gill
Editor
Print this articleHappy New ‘Beginnings’ – and I say this because it is truly a new beginning for us at UWI. We have gone past 60…and are now into our golden years...who says life begins at 40!
This issue of Pelican is a departure from the norm – it focuses on our strategic plan and what we at UWI are doing to ‘make it real’. As an institution we have fully embraced what we need to do to successfully transform ourselves. To get to that point, we dialogued with all our stakeholders, from the governments of the region who support us to the current and even prospective students that grace...or soon will grace our hallowed halls. What we have now, is a living document that focuses and guides all our major activities.
In the cover story, our three key operational Pro-Vice Chancellors speak about the ‘hows’ of the plan:
- How will we produce better graduates?
- How will we become better teachers?
- How will we grow graduate studies? and
- How do we build a research enterprise?
Dr. Tewarie, Pro-Vice Chancellor Planning & Development, is responsible for the plan’s implementation across the entire university system, and he shares with us in the ‘In My Opinion’ piece, what he plans to do to ensure its success, and the possibility of real gaps in financing during these precarious economic times that could stymie the progress we make. Our last feature piece focuses on the Open Campus and the endless possibilities that 3 + 1 could produce.
But can we think of the Caribbean without UWI? What would the state of development be? At last count we have over 90,000 graduates, each one of them contributing (hopefully) in a positive way to the region’s developmental goals. In that light, Cave Hill alum, Senator Maxine Mc Clean fondly remembers her time at UWI as both a student and lecturer in ‘Conversations with Alumni’, where she vividly recalls a campus that was truly regional in nature.
What it comes down to is that we all have a vested interest in UWI as Caribbean citizens or people of the West Indian Diaspora. We have to support it and leave a legacy that we can continue to be proud of. UWI has committed to not having transformation be viewed as an ugly four letter word. We are mobilizing and reexamining ourselves to do more with less, and to do what we usually do better and more efficiently. But to truly fulfill our strategic mandate, there are key areas that must be financed and that is where we look to you – our friends, our alumni and our governments.
We have just completed a whirlwind year of activities to mark the celebration of UWI @ 60 – truly an achievement – and we are pleased to give you a snippet of what you may or may not have missed in our fold out centre spread. I really hope that you enjoy this issue. I want to thank all our Pelican readers for the many letters and good wishes we received. Keep on visiting Pelican online at http://www.uwi.edu/pelican for updated online exclusives and back issues.
