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In My Opinion
Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie

by Pro Vice Chancellor Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie

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As we move forward, there are certain things which require urgent actions. One of these is administrative and managerial transformation. As a consequence, over the next several months, we are pursuing three key matters on this front:

  • Speeding up work to ensure that enterprise systems such as Peoplesoft and Banner are operating at full capacity supported by a redesign of jobs, a reduced number of modified work processes and effective training and development.
  • Appointment of a Faculty point person in each Faculty to link with Registry and Bursary to solve problems as they emerge and smoothen the road to effective execution but also to support student friendliness.
  • Establishing an incentive system to reward performance, promote change and achieve objectives of the strategic plan.

Another concern is ensuring that the plan is central to thinking and execution across the University system and at all levels of the system. To ensure that this happens, the following are going to be institutionalized and operationalized to promote accountability and information sharing; but this will also facilitate more effective monitoring:

  • Systematic reporting to Faculty Boards by Departments and Units on progress of the Plan Systematic reporting to Academic Boards by Faculties Establishment of leadership, management, infrastructure and ownership requirements to drive execution of the Strategic Plan and meet relevant objectives and deadlines.
  • Updates by PVCs to Academic Boards with opportunity for dialogue in order to facilitate clarity on issues as they come up and to strengthen focus on action steps and execution.
  • Regular reporting to University F&GPC and Council and annual monitoring and review at the Vice Chancellor’s Retreat.

This issue of making the action items of the Strategic Plan central to all that we do is a vital concern. We did much better at integrating plan and budget in 2008-2009 than we did in 2007-2008 and we achieved even better alignment over the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 as we prepared to engage the Technical Advisory Committee of Regional Governments in January 2009. By January 2010 funding from regional governments for the entire five years of the strategic plan 2007-12 will have been determined, by and large, and by the end of the 2009- 2010 academic year we will be in a position to assess how much progress will have been made after three years of implementation. At that time not only the amount of progress but the extent of gaps in both achievement and funding will become clear, opening the door to rethinking, restrategizing, modification and adjustment, if required.

Meanwhile, the thrust at this time is action to put UWI in the best possible position by the middle of 2010, when we will do our midterm review. What we are focused on now is intensifying effort, leveraging strategic actions and ensuring that buy in is accompanied by infrastructure and resource support to make execution and impact meaningful and real. This is the thrust to build momentum over the next two years of the plan. But at the end of this academic year we will also be doing a review, assessment and evaluation of progress.

So we are on track with the plan and we are garnering resources, not just from government but from a range of nongovernment sources as we seek to increase grants, endowments, philanthropic gifts and secure loans. Those of you reading this article who might want to make a contribution can send me an email. You can be part of the excitement of development.

But there is more work to do in order to achieve the leapfrogging advance that we seek.

All of what we do must be buttressed by data analysis, information and measurements; that means determining the range of information required not only to support effective implementation but effective decision-making as well as we make progress.

In addition, we need to strengthen institutional research and conduct baseline studies to make the measurement of progress meaningful over the planning period and beyond and we need to establish benchmarks for comparison of key indicators to understand not just how much progress we are making but where we stand in the world.

Any plan, however, can only be brought to fruition by people; and even with a vision to draw them and a sense of mission to drive them, people have to be motivated and inspired. The best inspiration is when people summon motivation and inspiration within themselves so that they not merely accept responsibility and make themselves accountable but seize ownership for outcomes as well. This is the major challenge as we make progress in this our second year of implementation. All of us need to work according to plan, but most important of all, we need to summon the will to action, and the passion for creation and achievement.

Send an email to Dr. Tewarie at pvcplanningdevelopment@sta.uwi.edu to continue this conversation on UWI’s strategic plan

[Download a PDF copy of the strategic plan -1.4 MB]
For reports and presentations on the plan’s implementation to date, visit the Office of Planning and development website

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I believe that we are quite aware that we will not be able to count this event as a success if we are not able to provide a safe haven; if we will not reap the projected financial results or even if we are not able to overcome transportation and airlift issues. But far less tangible are the issues of the psyche and integrity of our people when this is all over.

Will we have overcome some of the issues of regionalism? Will we see a more fluid system for movement of human resource and workforce throughout the region? Will the home advantage spark our cricket team into brilliance and consistency? Will there be better understanding among the people of the region? Will such an event showcase our regions’ athletes and people so as to spark a much greater understanding of sport and the role it plays in our societies?

And what roles are the two vanguard institutions playing in ensuring that these things might possibly happen? In some aspects The University of the West Indies has already begun to do so. With its CLR James Cricket Research Centre and its Sport & Physical Education Centre it has sent strong indication that an academic and research arm will ensue. The University of the West Indies will now engage in scholarship that can directly inform the West Indies Cricket Board who, in turn, can use the information to improve its athletes, technical staff and administrators.

UWI SPEC BleachersIt is my belief that most of our competitors have surpassed us because they have developed a scientific and research based approach to the game of cricket and have left us behind just relying on our raw talent. This is not to say that we have not regarded the science of the game, but to suggest that we have not relied on this aspect as much as we should. We too are often informed by research that is not conducted on us, by us or for us and, thus, do not always get the desired result.

We also note that the move is afoot by The University of the West Indies, to grant scholarships to student-athletes, including cricketers. It means that we may be able to keep our athletes at home under optimum conditions. No longer would we have to export our talent and to rely solely on another to assist them in realising their full potential. If the majority of our talent is able to train in the region and to hone their skills at home, then we may be able to have a stronger display of talent in our regional competitions as they might just become more available to us. Indeed, if more of our athletes are continually working together, the issues surrounding the molding of a team might fade into the West Indian sunset.

The University of the West Indies must also take or, in some instances, continue to take the lead in developing areas of academic study and research in sport psychology, cricket pitch and grass technology, sport architecture, sport photography, sports tourism and other relevant areas of expertise that may inform cricket in a manner that speaks to our peculiar needs.

At the St. Augustine Campus, for instance, there is a Sport Management degree programme that will assist with the training of regional cricket administrators and a Bachelor’s degree in Sport & Exercise Science that can raise the training bar for coaches, massage therapists, athletic trainers and gym & fitness instructors. All mechanisms that will aid us in the development of qualified and experienced technical personnel who can only help to facilitate better management of our cricket and better performances by our team.

There are many other aspects of cricket development that scream for collaboration between the West Indies Cricket Board and The University of the West Indies. The areas of sport & international relations, sport & regional law, player representation and corporate sponsorship & grants are but a few. It is only left for these two institutions to make this a reality so that our people can continue to dance, sing and rejoice as only we can. Cricket, Oh lovely Cri

Professor Nettleford, former Resident Tutor, Director, School of Continuing Studies (SCS), PVC, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor (the first UWI graduate to be VC) is now Vice Chancellor Emeritus and a Distinguished Fellow, School of Graduate Studies and Research in The University of the West Indies.