News Releases

UWI Vice-Chancellor to talk Strategic Partnerships at Global Higher Education Conference

For Release Upon Receipt - April 7, 2014

St. Augustine


MONA, UWI Regional Headquarters – Professor E. Nigel Harris, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has been invited to speak at Going Global, the annual flagship conference of the British Council, in Miami this month.

Going Global brings together Higher Education Institutes (HEI) representatives from around the world to share best practices, network and strategies about the future of Higher Education and presents an ideal opportunity to showcase The UWI and the higher education system of the Caribbean to a highly relevant audience of international policymakers and HEIs, in collaboration with the British Council.

Vice-Chancellor Harris has been invited to serve on three panels: Strategic Partnerships and Inclusive Internationalisation and on the final wrap up panel. Strategic partnerships will consider the major role of international partnerships in driving innovation and delivering impact and the models that have been developed in this regard. The session will consider models from the universities of the West Indies, Warwick and Monash and Swansea.

Inclusive internationalisation focuses on internationalisation as a hallmark of, and a path to, quality in higher education.  Internationalisation is therefore essential for all types of institutions, in all disciplines, for all students, faculty and staff.  The panel will question, among other things, whether inclusive internationalisation has been achieved, what distance remains to be travelled and the measures needed to reach this objective at institutional and policy levels.

Vice-Chancellor Harris sees The UWI’s singular focus at Going Global is to position the University in the global landscape as an authority in small island state development and an ideal global partner. He notes, “The UWI, as the largest university in the English-speaking Caribbean, and as one of just two regional (multi country) universities worldwide, is well placed to take advantage of regional and international partnerships to strengthen its mandate as an engine of development in teaching, research and public service.”

The UWI will also have a booth and host a breakfast meeting for selected stakeholders, based on The UWI’s strategic projects as a cursor to partnership building. Caribbean Export Development Agency, the only regional trade and investment promotion agency in the African, Caribbean and Pacific group, is the main sponsor ensuring The UWI’s participation at Going Global. Going Global 2014 takes place in Miami from April 29 to May 1, 2014.

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About Vice-Chancellor E. Nigel Harris 

Since coming to The University of the West Indies, Professor Nigel Harris has focused on programmes to enhance UWI’s contributions to Caribbean Governments; strengthen services to stakeholders; broaden funding; and enhance alumni relations and marketing.  He led the creation of the Open Campus designed to deliver education by distance to students in all 17 contributing countries without access to the three residential campuses in Barbados (Cave Hill), Jamaica (Mona) and Trinidad and Tobago (St Augustine).  

About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.  

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

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