Faculty of Social Sciences Alumni Chapter launches with a plan for graduates to enjoy community, lifelong learning, and the chance to contribute to a better T&T
“This is a movement,” says Dr Acolla Lewis-Cameron, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS). “It's a movement towards social engagement and being solutions-oriented within our sphere of influence.”
Dr Lewis-Cameron is speaking of The UWI St Augustine FSS Alumni Chapter, launched this past May. The chapter, she explains, is an ambitious project created to reach the tens of thousands that have graduated from FSS over the decades and bring them together for the benefit of themselves, the campus, and the society itself.
The FSS Alumni Chapter has three main intentions: to offer members lifelong learning in their respective fields through the faculty’s research and teaching, to create an expansive network of graduates, and to engage alumni in activities for national development in their spheres of influence.
Dean Lewis-Cameron believes this is an enormous opportunity for both alumni and the country: “They graduate. Then they spend their time reminiscing with colleagues and former classmates about the good old days at UWI. We want to help them move from reflection to action.”
It’s a good plan. FSS has the largest body of students on campus, graduating, on average, more than 1,000 every year. And those graduates come from diverse fields: business management, psychology, criminology, politics and many more. These are fields that offer training and skills expressly suited to the well-being and prosperity of society.
In fact, many FSS graduates are already well-placed in positions of leadership and influence in politics, business, community development and mental health. At the chapter launch on May 3, the highlight was a segment called “UWI Stories” in which three FSS alums shared their journeys from graduation to professional life.
The speakers were Mr Nigel Edwards, Executive Director of the Unit Trust Corporation; Mr Ramon Gregorio, Managing Director of Lucent Research and President of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce; and Dr Gloria Edwards-Joseph, clinical psychologist and educator.
At the ceremony, the chapter also set up its interim committee. The next step is to establish a proper executive.
“Our near-term goal is all about membership,” says the Dean of FSS. “We want as many of our alumni as possible to become a partner with the Faculty of Social Sciences. We want them to get on board with this movement.”
The goal is to establish a vibrant alumni chapter that gives back to the FSS community, the faculty itself, the university and Trinidad and Tobago.
“People always talk about the good experiences they had at UWI. They are thankful for those experiences. Now they have a chance to help provide solutions for the issues that we face,” says the FSS dean.
For more information on how to get involved, reach out to the UWI FSS Alumni Chapter https://sta.uwi.edu/fss/alumni/.
