News Releases

Data. Driven. Performance. Building a World Class University

For Release Upon Receipt - March 25, 2015

St. Augustine


The UWI St. Augustine presents 2013/2014 Faculty and Annual Reports at Campus Council Meeting

ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus Council Chairman Ewart Williams, Vice-Chancellor Professor E. Nigel Harris and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Clement Sankat were among the speakers for the annual meeting of the Campus Council on March 24 at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre.

Campus Councils give greater autonomy to campuses to respond to national needs while preserving the regional character of The UWI. A fundamental aspect of the accountability of The UWI is this annual meeting in which, among other things, Academic Board representatives, Guild representatives as well as Campus and University Executive Management report on academic and curriculum updates; changing statistics on students with regard to enrolment and graduate throughput; staffing issues and strategic initiatives undertaken.

The meeting reviews the St. Augustine Campus' performance over the last academic year as well as the Financial Report for the year ending July 31st, 2014 through the presentation of the 2013/ 2014 Annual and Faculty Reports.

“Data. Driven. Performance. Building a World Class University” emerged as the overarching theme of the Faculty and Annual Reports due to the growing understanding of the importance of gathering data on the Campus itself, and using that data to drive policy and process. The theme speaks to taking a closer look at the ways data is being/will be used to make the Campus more efficient, responsive and competitive; as there are examples of our drive to improve Employee Engagement, the student experience, to produce graduates worthy of The UWI name, to forge mutually beneficial international partnerships and to connect with external stakeholders and our alumni.

Key highlights of the 2013/ 2014 Annual Report are as follows:

Data

·         Largest Graduation Class for the second consecutive year: St Augustine Campus awarded 4232 degrees (3,008 first degrees; 1,224 higher degrees, including 37 MPhils, 21 PhDs and 20 MDs).  In the last 7 years, the Campus has produced more than 25,000 graduates.

·         The St. Augustine Campus remains the largest campus of the regional UWI in terms of student population: At the undergraduate level, there were nearly 13,000 students, and at the postgraduate level just over 6,100. In 2013/14, therefore, total student enrolment for The UWI St. Augustine Campus stood at just above 19,700.

 Driven

·         The St Augustine Campus continued to expand its programme offerings to address regional needs: Notable additions were the Masters’ degree in Renewable Energy Technology, and the launch of the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean, a joint initiative between The University’s Institute of International Affairs and the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This Academy should serve a critical function as it provides training in 21st century diplomacy to countries in the region.

·         New and responsive undergraduate and postgraduate programmes: Among the undergraduate programmes approved in 2013/2014 were the BSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice in the Faculty of Social Sciences; the BSc in Nursing (Pre-registration) in the Faculty of Medical Sciences; a Major in Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Food and Agriculture; and the BSc in Mathematics and Major in Electronics in the Faculty of Science and Technology. At the postgraduate level, the Campus introduced a Master of Educational Leadership; an MSc in Computer Science and Technology where students may specialise in Cloud Technologies or Mobile Computing; a Postgraduate Diploma in Biotechnology; an MSc in Biotechnology; and the Postgraduate Diploma, Master, MPhil and PhD in Law.

 Performance

·         The Campus’ determined quest for academic excellence is evident in the several programmes focused on improving the quality of teaching, the priority accorded to research and research-led teaching and the variety of learning modes that have been adopted. The drive to extend this pursuit of quality beyond academics and into service delivery seeks to strengthen and reposition the efficient delivery of student services as central to the total university experience. This is complemented by a range of new student-centred programmes.

·         The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CeTL) continued to make significant progress with the Campus’ Blended Learning programme: The Blended Learning team conducted 26 workshops - a 40% increase over the previous reporting year, and 21 blended learning clinics which represents an exponential increase from 5 clinics in the previous year. Two pilot programmes were introduced - the Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management and the Diploma in Management of HIV Infection.  In 2013/2014, 23 members of teaching staff successfully completed The UWI Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning; 2,350 courses were evaluated via the Student Evaluation of Courses and Lecturers; and 31 programmes and 607 courses were reviewed as part of CeTL’s continuing process to ensure quality academic standards.

 Building a World Class University

The St Augustine Campus still faces a number of challenges. To achieve world-class status requires attracting high calibre teaching and research staff in the face of tightening financial constraints. This underscores the need for intensified efforts to increase self-financing and to enhance the efficiency of our operations:

·         On October 23rd, 2013 the Confucius Institute at The UWI St. Augustine Campus was officially launched in the presence of Chancellor Sir George Alleyne, Vice-Chancellor Professor E. Nigel Harris,  Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Winston Dookeran, and President of China Agricultural University Professor KE Bingsheng.  The agreement with Hanban has set the stage for a deepening of the bilateral relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and China in areas such as trade and investment, food and agriculture, energy, infrastructural development, technical cooperation, cultural engagement and educational exchanges.

·         The Quality Assurance Unit of the Regional Head Quarters of The UWI located at the St. Augustine Campus conducted 10 Quality Evaluations, and five Quality Assurance Reviews in Departments such as Government, Management Studies, Mechanical Engineering, Clinical Surgical Sciences, Life Sciences, Physics, Computing & Information Technology and Creative and Festival Arts among others.

·         In April 2014, two external evaluators of the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago conducted a Focused Site Visit on the St Augustine Campus. At the end of which, the evaluators pronounced that the St Augustine Campus is a ‘high quality institution’ which has secured significant capital investment to treat with physical infrastructure; has a high calibre of teaching and research staff; and has maintained a high level of confidence for quality assurance in academic and non-academic operations. This sets the stage for the first reaccreditation visit in 2017.

·         The UWI-Trinidad and Tobago Research and Development Impact Fund (RDI Fund), established in 2012, continues to be one of the main initiatives to advance the research agenda. Since its inception, the RDI Fund has issued 2 Calls for Proposals, for which 22 projects have been approved with a total grant funding of TT$14,343,228. While the projects are all at varying stages of implementation, the projects supported by the RDI Fund are already starting to achieve real development impact, attracting millions of dollars in counterpart funding. To this end, although the RDI Fund can be considered as a very young multi-million dollar Research and Development Impact Fund, it is already being cited as an emergent Best Practice model for research funding in the region.

To view the 2013/ 2014 reports, please log onto http://sta.uwi.edu/news/reports/default.asp

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About The Campus Council 

Each Campus of The University of the West Indies has a Campus Council. The Campus Council is the governing and executive body of the Campus, with powers vested by the University Council, to manage all matters as prescribed in Statute 21 and subject to The UWI’s Charter. At each meeting of Campus Council, the Campus Principal reports to the membership all activities undertaken over the previous academic year, and these include inter alia academic and curriculum updates, changing statistics on students enrolment and graduate throughput, and staffing across all levels of the Campus; management and expansion of the physical Campus sites; and strategic initiatives that are being undertaken to enhance the delivery of all services provided by the Campus. Additionally, the Campus Bursar reports on the audited financial statements for the year in review, and beyond the balance sheet and income statements information is provided on cash flow, finances, accounts, and investments. 

 

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. Website: www.uwi.edu

 

(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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