“The days are very dark, but this is when we have to shine brightest.” These were the opening remarks of Professor Brian Copeland, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal for the St Augustine Campus of The UWI at its annual Campus Council meeting.
This 2020 Council on March 17 met remotely via teleconferencing. Participants included Minister of Education Anthony Garcia represented by Carol Bickram, The UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Campus Council Chair Sharon Christopher, members of the St Augustine Campus Council, and other specially invited guests.
“Perseverance’ (the theme chosen for this year’s Council) highlights the Campus’ resilience in the face of challenges and setbacks,” remarked Campus Chair Sharon Christopher. This theme could not have been more fitting as the world battles the onslaught of the new Coronavirus, now classified global pandemic, COVID-19.
Despite the uncertainty and anxiety about the future, Professor Copeland highlighted Campus successes over the past academic year, 2018/2019, and detailed plans for the upcoming academic year, 2020/2021.
Successes included Donald “Jackie” Hinkson’s 110-ft mural near the Alma Jordan Library celebrating Carnival; UWI Ventures, a business hub for innovation and entrepreneurship to encourage sustainability; industry agreements with Lake Asphalt to commercialise products as well as with Bmobile and Huawei for a Technology Innovation lab. There was also the NameExoWorlds competition’s winning entry “Dingolay” and “Ramajay”, the nation’s first locally named star and exoplanet, submitted by Head of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, senior Linguistics lecturer Dr Jo-Anne Ferreira; and a partnership between Mondelez International, parent company of Cadbury, and the Cocoa Research Centre at The UWI. Many of these noteworthy accomplishments were mere goals in 2019’s Campus Council, “Bold Strokes”, with the aim of making the St Augustine Campus a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Professor Copeland referenced The University’s Triple A Strategy 2017-2022, “Access, Alignment, Agility,” specifically the Vice-Chancellor’s “5 planks.” These were established under the 10 in 2 strategy under the strategic plan for the continued development of the Campus.
The Triple A Strategy is in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as well as Vision 2030 of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and with the institution’s mission: “To advance learning, create knowledge and foster innovation for the positive transformation of the Caribbean and the wider world”.
Copeland made the point that “we’ve been asked to educate students and we’ve done so.... At the same time, we are looking at how best we can prepare students as they leave our University.... Wherever our students are, wherever our graduates are, they must be as well prepared as possible for the challenges that they will [encounter]....”
Sir Hilary reiterated Campus Chair Sharon Christopher’s titling of the Council meeting as “mission critical” in response to the COVID-19’s effect on students and the larger Caribbean community. He pointed to the University’s “research function in helping to find an answer to this problem, as quickly as possible... in much the same way we were imagining the Caribbean economy beyond the IMF, we now have to imagine the Caribbean economy beyond COVID-19 — the new normal.”
Council meetings are considered the annual business meetings of the regional University and are fundamental to its accountability. The Vice-Chancellor and Principals of each of the five campuses report to their Council memberships and larger stakeholder community on activities over the previous academic year.
The 2018/2019 Annual Report for the St Augustine Campus can be found on The University’s website under: https://sta.uwi.edu/news/reports/default.asp.
You can also view Annual Report highlights at https://sta.uwi.edu/annualreport/report.php
