News Releases

Regional prisons association signs historic MOU with UWI

For Release Upon Receipt - June 17, 2010

St. Augustine


The University of the West Indies (UWI) and The Association of Caribbean Heads of Corrections and Prison Services (ACHCPS) have signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreeing to collaborate and engage in joint programmes and activities in the areas of research, education, training, quality assurance, institutional strengthening and capacity building in all aspects of Corrections. 

Among the first major activities, the ACHCPS will be hosting a conference in Nassau, Bahamas from June 20th to 25th, 2010, at which the University will present various ways in which it can support the initiatives of the ACHCPS. The theme of the conference is “Meeting the Challenges of Corrections in 2010 and Beyond: A Caribbean Perspective.”

“This signing ceremony signals the start of a collaborative effort between both organisations to work towards the development of relevant programmes,” said Professor Clement Sankat, UWI Pro Vice Chancellor and St Augustine Campus Principal, who signed the MOU opposite Mr John Rougier, ACHCPS President, at a formal ceremony hosted by the Office of the St Augustine Campus Principal on Tuesday 15th June, 2010.

The ceremony was chaired by Dr David Rampersad, Director of the UWI Business Development Office (BDO), and attended by Dr Derek Chadee, Coordinator of the UWI Psychology Unit,

Dr Kenneth Niles, UWI Lecturer in Social Gerontology, and several representatives of the UWI BDO. Also in attendance were Mr Martin Martinez, Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, Mr Gordon Husbands, Director, Penal Reform and Transformation Unit, Mr Christopher Chinapoo, Corrections Specialist, Penal Reform and Transformation Unit, and Ms Barbara Ann Hutson, Deputy Director Corporate Services, CARICOM IMPACS (Implementation Agency for Crime and Security).

The MOU is expected to pave the way for greater joint sponsorship and conduct of conferences and workshops, cooperative use of materials and facilities, expert consultancy services, coordinated research projects, development, teaching and extension programmes in collaboration with other institutions. Through the new MOU, ACHCPS and UWI will also seek to partner with regional ministries of national security and CARICOM. The ACHCPS has also proposed the development of a regional centre for Correctional Administration Excellence which will bring together many of the planned activities. 

It is expected that cooperative relationships between The UWI and the ACHCPS will contribute to the proper execution of the Corrections study. The UWI will play the principal role as it relates to the contribution of knowledge and training, placing emphasis on the development of the required leadership style and orientation, source funding, resources and grants required to implement the philosophical underpinnings of the ACHCPS.  This role will be critical given the University’s presence in fifteen countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean and its mandate to act as an engine of regional development.

For more information, please contact Mrs. Shelley-Ann Maria Patrick-Harper, Events Team, Office of the Campus Principal at (868) 662-2002 ext. 3942 or 2635, or visit the official ACHCPS website at http://achcps.org/ or the official CARICOM IMPACS website at www.caricomimpacs.org.

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

 

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

Contact

  • Mrs. Shelley-Ann Maria Patrick-Harper

  • Faculty/Department

  • Tel.: (868) 662-2002 ext. 3942 or 2635
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