Welcome to the first issue of UWI Today for 2022. Normally, this first year’s message will be a call for introspection, mindfulness, and New Year’s resolutions centred on personal and professional growth. This year, however, feels different, like 2022 is a year for movement and action.
Since the rise of the pandemic, we have been operating in a kind of stasis, a holding pattern. Yes, we have worked very hard to adapt to this crisis to continue serving our students and the society. We have been integral to national and regional solutions to the pandemic and the development of the post-pandemic strategies for Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean. Nevertheless, we have been operating under very challenging restrictions. We have been locked down - both physically and in the domain of our deeper objectives, our goals and purposes. In 2022, it’s time to power-up those turbines once more.
I am very pleased to announce that in March of this year, UWI St Augustine will open its physical gates to staff after many months of being closed. This decision was taken after a long and thorough consultative process that assessed the current state of the pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago, national rules on travel and other safety measures, our level of vaccinations, and the needs of this institution and its students. The campus will operate at limited capacity, with staff working in small, socially distant teams. This means that our faculty members and other employees will move from working remotely to a mixed schedule of remote and in-office work.
This change represents not only an assessment of the current environment, and the risks versus opportunities of reopening the campus, but is also of enormous symbolic significance. For years now, even before the pandemic, our society has been confronted by the need for change. This region, indeed the world, has been beset by chronic, seemingly ever-worsening issues such as climate change, over-exploitation of the natural environment, low economic growth, weathered infrastructure, aging and outdated institutions, civil unrest, tribalism and many others. Yet our collective response has been to avoid adapting to these challenges.
From the outset, COVID-19 required an immediate response. For the most part, we have been effective in that response. Now, however, we must fully accept that there is no going back to the way things were. We live in a post-pandemic world, and its consequences for how we work will be lasting. It is time to stop waiting for things to return to normal and fully embrace this new reality.
The campus of UWI St Augustine is one of our greatest assets. Its green spaces, the architecture of the buildings, its role as an island within an island, a place of learning, where our students can partake in a communal space and build relationships that will last their entire lives – the campus is a vital part of the university experience. It is important that we reintroduce that experience within the boundaries of a well-enforced health and safety regime.
Returning to office is the first step in this process. We plan as well to eventually allow the campus grounds to be used for exercise activities for the wider community. This will culminate with a return to in-person teaching scheduled for September 2022 for the new academic year.
It should be stressed that these plans are not fixed. As always, the first priority is the safety of the campus community. Should the national situation change and risk factors increase, we will amend our plans. It should also be pointed out that this return-to-office process will follow strict health and safety guidelines. We are not new at this. In the first year of the pandemic, we maintained a successful mixed remote and on-campus work strategy for months. We also safely housed our international students who were unable to return home because of the lockdown, as well as quarantine and step-down facilities to support the national healthcare system. Our approach is one of planning and precaution combined with a bold determination to move forward.
In closing, I wish you all a year of positive momentum. There is much to be done. We at UWI St Augustine intend on making 2022 a year of great progress, bolstered by a renewed dynamism and recognising that the world has moved forward. So must we.
