News Releases

The UWI St. Augustine Campus Council meets to review Academic Year 2010/2011

For Release Upon Receipt - March 27, 2012

St. Augustine


On Tuesday March 27th 2012, The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, hosted its annual Campus Council meeting. The Campus welcomed Chancellor, Sir George Alleyne, Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris; Council Chairman, Mr. Ewart Williams; as well as all other appointed members of the Council for the presentation of the 2010/2011 Annual Report.

A fundamental aspect of the accountability of The UWI, this year’s meeting was given the overarching theme, ‘Take a closer look’, which describes the detailed reports brought forward by officers and committees on issues that are central to the advancement of staff members and students. The meeting also saw the Campus Principal, Professor Clement Sankat, present his report on the previous academic year.

The report gave details of the steady growth and development experienced by the Campus over the past academic year, exhibited by the increase in the number of matriculating students in September 2010, as well as the need to increase the St. Augustine Campus Graduation ceremonies to six, in 2011, to accommodate graduates and their families. To treat with growing numbers, the Campus continued to advance several capital projects, including the renovation of the Old Bachelor’s Quarters at the San Fernando General Hospital to provide better facilities for medical students, the renovation and expansion of Canada Hall, the fencing of the Orange Grove lands which will support the work of the Agricultural Field Station, the renovation of Harnanan House and the creation of a UWI Inn for income-generation opportunities. One of the biggest initiatives undertaken in the academic year was the extension of the UWI St. Augustine to South Trinidad, this development forms part of a strategic goal to provide increased access to quality tertiary education to remote communities.

The meeting also reviewed the Campus’ fiscal stance for the period. In the 2010/11 fiscal year, the Campus was fortunate to receive reimbursements by the Trinidad and Tobago Government for its accumulated recurrent budgetary shortfall to the Campus and to the Faculty of Medical Sciences.  There was a reduction in the capital expenditure shortfall for PSIP projects and a reduction in the deficit incurred by the Faculty of Medical Sciences, through an increase in income from tuition fees. Stringent management of expenditure, the decision to undertake no new large capital projects and to employ the design/build approach to reduce capital costs, also helped weather the stormy effects of the global economic downturn. 

Historically, The UWI has been synonymous with rigorous quality standards in tertiary education, the efforts made to uphold this were also reviewed at the meeting.  In the 2010/2011 academic year, the St. Augustine Campus officially achieved institutional accreditation by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) for seven years, (the maximum period granted); the Campus also saw many of its programmes receive accreditation from other external bodies during the academic period. In addition to accreditation, the St. Augustine Campus also developed and initiated several new programmes at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in 2010/2011. Several programmes in areas such as journalism, accounting, small and medium enterprise management, and sustainable energy management have been developed through collaborations with the private sector, demonstrating efforts at ensuring relevance to market needs.

Also being highlighted at the meeting was the number of research initiatives undertaken at the St. Augustine Campus in the 2010/2011 academic year. During the period, the Campus attracted over US$11 million in external research funding for projects in areas such as financial risk assessment, ecosystem services and sustainable development, seismic hazard mitigation, water management, enhancing Caribbean competitiveness and the costing of health services in Trinidad and Tobago.  The Campus also convened a consensus-building Workshop on Research Priorities to develop thematic areas for dedicated funding from the Government research grant. The multi-disciplinary and cross-Campus research, will address some of the most pressing problems in society, with a clear focus on national and regional issues in the future.

Amidst its other activities, The UWI St. Augustine Campus also focused on providing service to its stakeholders at the national level and throughout the Caribbean.  As part of its contribution to public service and nation-building, The UWI St. Augustine Campus continued to strengthen its efforts at reaching out, and communicating with a wide range of external stakeholders. The Campus hosted several conferences, workshops and public lectures, as well as produced several books and other periodical publications, during the 2010/2011 academic year. With a focus on regional outreach, the beginning of the 2010/11 academic year saw over 60 Haitian students from the State University of Haiti, have the opportunity to complete their degrees at the St. Augustine Campus, following the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.  In addition to this aid, several UWI experts participated in the post-disaster response and technical assessments, while scores of staff and students organized and contributed to various fund-raising initiatives. Apart from this, members of the Campus Council were also told of the technical expertise offered by the St. Augustine Campus to countries such as Guyana, Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Kitts in the area of agricultural development.

In looking ahead, the meeting also heard of the ways in which the St. Augustine Campus poised itself to continue strengthening partnerships and forming beneficial relationships, during the 2010/2011 academic period. The Campus Principal reported of the many meetings held with Government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, the private sector and captains of industry in this regard. The results of which could be seen by the developments of MOUs with key institutions such as the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the Institute of Marine Affairs, among others.

A full copy of the St. Augustine Campus’ Annual Report can be downloaded at http://sta.uwi.edu/resources/documents/UWI_AnnualReport_10_11.pdf.

A full copy of the St. Augustine Campus’ Faculty Report can be downloaded at http://sta.uwi.edu/resources/documents/UWI_FacultyReport_10_11.pdf.

Please also visit The UWI Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theuwi/sets/72157629332614448/ to view event images.

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.

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.

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