The beginning of the academic year is always a special time for the campus. Traditionally, a new year signifies renewal and reinvigoration. While our new year begins in August-September, not January, the energy is the same. At UWI St Augustine, we look at the new academic year as a time to start over, build on our previous successes, improve upon our shortcomings and bring fresh enthusiasm - and dynamism - to our work and studies. This is our agenda for Academic Year 2020/2021.
However, this is an academic year like no other. COVID-19 has upended not only our education system, but education systems around the world. We expected and were prepared to make modifications to our operations, such as combining in-person and virtual teaching in a hybrid mode of delivery. These preparations were based on Trinidad and Tobago’s outstanding response to the pandemic. Unfortunately, we have lost ground since then.
At the time of writing, the number of active cases has ballooned to 1,099. The spread has been alarmingly rapid. As part of its response to retrieve control, the Government mandated that teaching institutions be closed for an indefinite period that may extend to the end of 2020. In consideration of this decision, the St Augustine Campus took the decision to move fully to virtual teaching for the first semester of the new academic year.
Even if the closure restrictions are relaxed in the next few weeks, it would be unwise to move from this mode of delivery given the onset of community spread, the low probability of a vaccine being available in the short term, and the logistical cost of accommodating COVID-19 compliant classrooms and labs on site. On this last point, for example, we have determined that the capacity of fixed seating classrooms would have to be decreased by at least 85 per cent to comply with social distancing protocols
We are not the only ones in this predicament. In the US, lawmakers and universities are in serious debate over the approach to reopening as the country continues to be one of the hardest hit by the Coronavirus. In South Korea, one of the great success stories of managing COVID-19, the government recently decided to close all schools in Seoul as over 200 students and staff were infected in just one institution. These are the current conditions and we have to make the best of them, even as we “roll with the punches”.
At UWI St Augustine we will do everything we can to ensure the safety of the campus community while maintaining continuity in our operations and serving our students and society. Our faculties, departments and central administrative offices have spent several weeks putting things in place for on-line learning. The workload has been and continues to be heavy, but they are doing what is required to meet the needs of students. I appreciate their efforts and applaud them for their work ethic and commitment during this challenging time.
We will sometimes fall short. For those students that have experienced difficulties in accessing the services we provide, I wish to assure you that we will continue to do our best in rectifying our shortcomings. We ask for your understanding and patience. We place your welfare and your experience as students as our number one priority.
To ensure that our standard of service is not compromised, we have recommended that faculty and staff administer teaching on campus even though the classes themselves will be virtual. Likewise, all other campus operations will run with staff present on campus. We must not allow COVID-19 to disrupt our efforts to meet our commitments.
However, we must work safer and smarter. Our campus team has put several measures in place to protect those on site from the risk of the virus. These include mandatory face masks, increased cleaning of work spaces, specialised health and safety training for support and security staff, and even staggered work hours and days. I am also imploring all members of the campus community to follow the guidelines that will keep them and their loved ones safe, social distancing in particular.
As part of our efforts to help students prepare for the new academic year we held virtual town halls with both the UWI St Augustine Guild of Students and the wider student body to share information and answer their questions. They were both well received and helpful to those who took part. Clear communication is one of our greatest assets at this time and we will continue to keep in close contact with the entire campus.
For months now, I have struggled to find the proper balance in my message between the unprecedented threats we are facing and a level of optimism in our ability to outlast this circumstance coupled with the possibility of making a substantial contribution to the national and regional COVID-19 response. We have done so. We continue to do so. Now it is time to get back to our primary purpose – preparing our citizens for future leadership. That mission is all the more urgent now as these are the leaders who will guide our journey in the post-COVID era, taking advantage of the opportunities that the pandemic has presented even as we strengthen our defenses against its ravages.
Academic Year 2020/2021 may be a year like no other, but it is the year we have. Let’s move forward in cautious confidence and make the best of it.
PROFESSOR BRIAN COPELAND
Campus Principal
