SUNDAY 2ND AUGUST, 2015 – UWI TODAY
3
EDITORIAL TEAM
Campus Principal
Professor Clement Sankat
Director of Marketing and Communications
Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
(Ag) EDITOR
Rebecca Robinson
CONTACT US
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002, exts. 82013 / 83997 or email:
The Editor’s Notebook
Welcome toThe UWI, St. Augustine
South Campus, Penal-Debe
FROM the Principal
As many may already know,
through various reports in the
media, one phase of The UWI
St. Augustine South Campus at
Penal-Debe, was celebrated with
a ‘Topping-off ’ ceremony that
took place on 31 July, 2015. As
part of the occasion, there was
a handing over ceremony of the
Deed of ownership, in addition to
the unveiling of a commemorative
plaque by the Honourable Prime
Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar
and the Chancellor of our University, Sir George Alleyne. In
essence, this facility is an extension of The UWI St. Augustine
Campus in the Southland, and as such, the administrative functions
of this South Campus will still be undertaken by the management
of the St. Augustine Campus. What we are doing at St Augustine
mirrors what our Mona Campus has done, by establishing a
Western Jamaica Campus at Montego Bay.
I also wish to note that while it is with great pride that we
recognize the Faculty of Law as the flagship Faculty of our South
Campus (just as our Faculty of Medical Sciences is at Mount
Hope); it is not the only discipline that will be housed there. It was
not conceptualized in this way. The South Campus will have the
capacity to host programmes from all our Faculties, and I expect
the Faculties of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education and
Engineering to take the lead here. It is also entirely conceivable
that an educational Centre of Excellence in Medical Sciences
can be created which is linked to the new Teaching and Learning
Hospital in San Fernando and the San Fernando General Hospital.
In addition, the South Campus will be a home for ROYTEC, which
is now owned by The UWI, and hopefully in the near future, a
home for the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business
(ALJGSB) in the South. Also worth noting is the fact that our
Faculty of Food and Agriculture has already established a ten acre
citrus orchard on the South Campus and we are beginning to see
the fruits of our labours! One day, I hope to see our Faculty of Food
and Agriculture be the flagship Faculty at our East Campus in
Orange Grove. Even as I write, observers passing on the Churchill-
Roosevelt Highway opposite TrincityMall will see the beginning of
our new Agriculture Field Station taking shape there also.
The possibilities are limitless as we look to the future of The
UWI St. Augustine South Campus, Penal-Debe and more broadly,
the expansion of our mandate; one where knowledge generation
and transmission will drive the creation of sustainable societies.
Over the last decade, our St Augustine Campus has had to become
much more decentralized as we seek to discharge our duties and
reach out to our diverse stakeholders. The St Augustine Campus
itself has grown tremendously; we now have just over 19,000
students and 3,000 staff members. Physical expansion beyond our
St. Augustine Campus so as not to take away from the greenery and
beauty of our Campus, the home of the former Imperial College of
Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) was therefore a necessity.
We are confident that our South Campus, when fully
developed and mature would rival any University in the world for
its stunning setting and greenery – situated on the rolling hills just
beyond San Fernando; our second city. I have said before, that the
St Augustine Campus was a great catalyst for the development of
the East-West corridor, and in particular the areas of Mt. Hope, St.
Joseph, Curepe, Tunapuna, El Dorado, Valsayn and Kelly etc., and
I have always commended our leaders of that time, for their vision
in getting the St Augustine Campus started after the Mona Campus
in Jamaica. So too, do I thank the leaders of this time, for really
supporting the vision of the University in getting the South Campus
built and operational.
The creation of the new Campus is a positive step in bringing
higher education closer to those who would have in the past, been
at a considerable disadvantage in attending such a prestigious
regional institution. In keeping with the global thrust of many
other international institutions of higher education to engage larger
student catchment areas, we at The UWI will continue to find ways
to bring education to the doorsteps of our students. I appreciate the
value of expanding our institution into the geographical area of the
South and reaching out to such students in particular. It is equally
significant to consider the immense benefits of the many possible
ways in which the presence of the University itself, can contribute
to the growth and development of the entire area of San Fernando/
Penal-Debe, similar to the way in which the St. Augustine Campus
transformed the East-West corridor.
The UWI will be the driver for the development of support
services in this community. The sporting facilities for Cricket and
Football that will form part of the South Campus and International
Standard Cricket and Football fields are now nearing completion.
Over the last ten years, the area of Penal-Debe has had a reputation
for producing some of the best sportsmen; in particularly in cricket.
It is our intention to engage the community in a sustainable way
in further promoting and facilitating the development of sports
in that area. Our thrust to institutionalising sports at all The UWI
Campuses is now gaining momentum and our facilities at the South
Campus will have a key role to play in these plans. Our presence
and the inescapable value that would be added to the surrounding
communities go well beyond the walls of the classrooms. This South
Campus will have a catalytic effect for growth and I am confident
that when we look back in history to this time, this would have been
demonstrated. There is a pressing need for all of us in Trinidad and
Tobago to imagine a shared future and then work steadily, without
interruption and despite the trials and challenges of the times, to
create it. The search for that which is good and progressive must
be relentless.
While the primary business of The UWI is that of higher
learning and education, and to produce distinguished professionals
in different fields, it is reasonable to conclude that our broader
responsibility and long-term objectives are to improve the quality
and standard of living for all, with some ways being more direct than
others. Progress may not occur overnight, and with most things it
will take time to get the vision of the South Campus made into a
reality. Notwithstanding, I am truly proud that we have made the
first big step, with the foundation stone already being laid.
Clement K. Sankat
Pro Vice-Chancellor & Principal
The Progressive
Momentum
The theme of this month’s
UWI Today
- innovation and
change - arose organically as features on events came to the
editor’s desk: an application has been created; winning new
ideas have emerged from global competition; a variety of
UWI associated people have been rewarded with positions
for new contributions; the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-
Moon interacted with regional youth on matters surrounding
their fresh perspectives on issues and a small cross-section
of conferences reflected on how to propel their respective
developmental agendas with out-of-the-box thinking.
Also carrying that programme of innovation and change
this month is the Campus Principal’s message that is previewing
the St Augustine South Campus at Penal-Debe. The overall
trajectory of events lends itself to widely accepted definitions of
what are progress and growth – developments that improve the
quality of lives and uplift the conditions of newly encountered
ones. This feels like the momentum an institution of higher
education is supposed to have and while that can hold true
maybe for any service organization, a balance must be sought
that ensures while in the pursuit of staying relevant, the core
definition of institutional self is preserved.
It was serendipitous that as these reflections were being
written an email arrived fromSt. Clair King, Professor Emeritus,
Faculty of Engineering, on the very topic. It provided a different,
institutional perspective on the topic of innovation that simply,
complemented all the developments detailed in this month’s
UWI Today
and while he has been invited to write a full article
on the subject of what are the parameters of ‘innovation’ for
The UWI, it is in seeking to balance perspectives that some of
his key points are mentioned now.
Professor King said an Institutional interpretation of
innovation is can be obtained from The UWI’s strategic plan
for its contribution to diversifying regional economies and
making select products and services commercial – that can all
compete globally. In the pursuit of this goal, a Research and
Innovation Committee was set up – that he chaired – which
began its work by reviewing how to move regional economies
away from agriculture into manufacturing and the provision
of value-added goods and services. The Committee concluded
that The UWI has to partner with governments and regional
institutions. He said in his note, “Etzkowitz in his
Triple
Helix
, showed us that for this diversification by innovation
to work there has to be close collaboration among the R&D
institutions, the government and the private sector- driven by
the governments of the region. The Committee’s consultant
introduced the idea of the Innovation Diamond that defined
the interrelationship among the R&D institutions (centres of
excellence), the financing system, the market development and
marketing, the creation and support of SMEs and the protection
and management of the ensuing Intellectual Property. The
crucial recognitionwas that UWI, operating on its own, creating
IP, in regional economies in which there was an absence of
funding and venture capital with a risk averse private sector,
cannot make any significant impact on their diversification.
Hence UWI should encourage the regional governments and
institutions (CDB, CARICOM) to create these innovation
systems with adequate long term risk financing.”
Professor King went on to say that a progressive
momentum can be supported by The UWI but its current
structure as an institution whose primary activities are in the
domain of higher education, does not lean towards leadership
in this area. He added that the Committee recommended
that for UWI to adapt, it should create specialist centres
of excellence and that the innovation systems, of which
UWI can be part, need to be more broadly structured.
This is clearly a conversation that is to be continued.
