SUNDAY 1 JULY, 2018 – UWI TODAY
3
EDITORIAL TEAM
CAMPUS PRINCIPAL
Professor Brian Copeland
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
EDITOR:
Vaneisa Baksh
• email:
AG. EDITOR:
Shereen Ann Ali
• email:
CONTACT US
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002, exts. 82013 / 83997 or email:
In Biblical terms, three
score and ten signals
the end of a person’s
n a t u r a l l i f e s p a n .
For The Univers it y
of the West Indies, a
70th anniversary is a
milestone that marks a
re-committal to service
and leadership in and for
the Caribbean.
Our first generation
of scholars and statesmen had a dream of a better life
for the people of this region. In 1968, then Barbados
Prime Minister Errol Barrow cogently captured this
sentiment at the Cave Hill graduation ceremony
when he declared that the citizens of the region
should be encouraged to regard the University as
their most important asset; he suggested the efficient
growth of this University was almost their only path
to prosperity.
That mission remains true forThe UWI although,
for the most part and against the odds, the dream of
these pioneer scholars and statesmen has become
a reality. Over the years, The UWI has grown a
network of more than 120,000 alumni.These men and
women have contributed to Caribbean growth and
development at the highest level of government, in
the corporate world, and in professional life. Twenty-
six of our graduates have been Heads of Government
or President; one is a Nobel Laureate. Moreover, The
UWI remains a major source for research, advice and
consultancy on Caribbean issues.
The very existence of The University of the West
Indies is symbolic of Caribbean independence and our
resurgence as arbiters of our own destiny. For those
of us in the leadership capacity at this Institution, the
struggle to keep the dream alive and vibrant for the
benefit of thousands of Caribbean citizens is very real
and often challenging. Still, we persist because we are
true to our mandate to be a University for the people.
At a time when our regional societies, ecologies,
and economies are delicately poised, the question
now is: “What next?” How doesThe UWI up its game
to ensure that the Caribbean is placed on a robust
trajectory, one that leads to sustainable development?
Achieving this goal is at the very essence of The UWI
Triple-A Strategic Plan for the quinquennium 2017-
2022.
The contribution of the St Augustine Campus to
the Triple-A strategy is based on UWI’s supportive
role in preparing Caribbean citizens for a spectrum
of future realities.
This spectrum is bounded at one extreme by a
worst-case scenario that is undeniably total societal
collapse, caused by catastrophic natural disasters
or by man-made disasters such as overpopulation,
escalating crime, or even economic stratification. Of
note is the fact that history has shown that the divide
between rich and poor, if left unchecked, ultimately
results in societal collapse.
I suggest that at the other extreme lies the best case
– almost Utopian – scenario in which our “Caribbea”
would have achieved theUNSustainableDevelopment
Goals. These goals are pegged on initiatives that build
sustainability in the societal, ecological, and economic
domains of society. In that future state, governance
and culture would have evolved to all but eliminate
the possibility of the kind of man-made disasters seen
in Venezuela or in the crime-stricken countries of the
Caribbean.
In the aftermath of natural disasters, such as
those we faced from the super hurricanes of 2017, our
citizens would be able to survive, and go on to rebuild
and maintain resilient communities that would grow
into flourishing societies. Citizens would understand,
respect, and protect the ecology for future generations.
Our economies would be strong and robust, buoyed by
foreign exchange earned by a mix of large companies
and an extremely healthy network of innovation-
driven, export-oriented SMEs. As alluded to below,
we cherish the thought of our graduates creating these
new SMEs, thus growing what many consider to be an
important sector for the development of Caribbean
economies.
We, on the St Augustine Campus, have identified
two major initiatives for immediate implementation
in support of the Triple-A strategic plan.
The first seeks to reform our core education
processes to become more efficient andmore relevant
to society and the workplace, and to increase access
to a wider range of individuals, significantly the
underserved. The target is a holistically trained
graduate who is a model citizen of the”‘Caribbea” as
characterised by the best-case scenario, but who is
also prepared for the eventuality of society falling far
short of the ideal.
The second initiative seeks to address what our
St Augustine team calls the “Innovation Imperative”
that will enable the creation of an innovation
ecosystem, one that provides all that is necessary to
move potentially viable original ideas and concepts
to commercial reality.
Of great note is the fact that we have broadened
our focus beyond just economic innovation to include
ecological and social innovation for the near-Utopian
scenario.
Indeed, this last strategic initiative is of the highest
priority for the simple reason that it represents a
significant departure in UWI business and culture.
From an economic perspective, its output will be
two-fold: creating spin-off companies that will
enter national and regional economic spaces; and
strengthening the international competitiveness
of existing companies, all to increase the foreign
exchange earning potential of “Caribbea”. A significant
by-product will be the creation of a culture of
innovation.
All of the above is within the scope of The UWI
and its St Augustine Campus. Yet, the challenge
of preparing Caribbean peoples for the best- and
worst-case scenarios described above, and the
spectrumof possibilities that lie in between, is really a
responsibility for Caribbean governments, the private
sector, NGOs as well as education institutions.
The Campus therefore sees the need to take the
lead in working with governments and the private
sector to build the national and regional frameworks
that will support and drive the robust national
innovation ecosystems required to strengthen
Caribbean economies and enable the best possible
future scenario. Furthermore, the challenge of
preparing citizens for the worst-case future scenario
really requires a re-engineering of national education
agendas across the Caribbean. In particular, it requires
that all citizens should possess basic survival skills,
complemented by a high level of physical literacy.
So, 70 years on, themission ofTheUWI continues.
The revitalisation of the Caribbean is placed at the
highest priority in the UWI Triple A Strategic Plan.
It requires nothing less than a significant culture shift
among the people and institutions of “Caribbea” even
as it faces the increasingly dynamic changes in global
economics, society, politics, ecology and technology.
As we look to the next 70 years beyond this
anniversary, the St Augustine Campus stands ready
and eager to play its part in helping The UWI and
“Caribbea” successfully rise to the ongoing challenge.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
PROFESSOR BRIAN COPELAND
Campus Principal
Preparing for the Best and theWorst
