SUNDAY 6 AUGUST, 2017 – UWI TODAY
13
Jeanette G. Awai is a freelance writer and marketing and communications assistant at The UWI St. Augustine Marketing and Communications Office.
INCOMING
What does becoming Dean mean to you?
It means an opportunity to build on the work of the
previous FST Deans. It means I’ve been entrusted with
leading a powerful force for change. Personally, it means
considerable sacrifice and opportunity.
How do you define your role as a Dean and
how do you define your leadership style?
I see the Dean as a servant of the Principal and
broader university management (of which Deans form
a part) in that Deans are entrusted to lead academic
units, put university policy into action and run faculties
as productively as possible. Often that requires being
the keeper or interpreter of regulations and statutes.
Always, that means exercising oversight of all quality
assurance and quality control mechanisms in relation to
the business of the faculty and UWI and our interactions
with all stakeholders.
But Deans are also servants of all members of staff.
And that means finding ways to help them achieve their
goals – maybe by assisting with removing obstacles
to productivity where possible, or through finding
creative means of resolving conflicts, maybe in ways that
might not be immediately appreciated. So I reckon my
leadership style involves being a facilitator/coach for the
most part.
…You’re trying to help people achieve their goals
or helping people collaborate, helping people work out
conflicts – pretty much that’s it. I recognise subject matter
experts as being just that – experts in their field – and my
challenge is to attempt to get them to perform at their
best by removing obstacles.
Students have grade anxiety, problems
with lecturers, and other challenges.
As a facilitator, what is your method for
handling student-centered issues?
That is a tremendous challenge. Since access was
greatly increased and more young people are seizing
the opportunities to further their education, we moved
from traditionally solely focusing on A students, to
seeing B and C students as legitimate. Course delivery
and assessment needed to be modified to address these
students. FST has one of the most robust staff-student
liaison traditions. All courses have student liaisons, and
staff-student liaison meetings are held by all departments,
where students are encouraged to bring concerns. The
minutes of those meetings are tabled at the Faculty Board
and they are taken very seriously. Former FST Dean
[Dyer] Narinesingh (before Dean [Indar] Ramnarine),
tremendously influenced me in the way he would
scrutinise every item that came to the Faculty Board. He
showed that quality assurance is important and it’s the
Dean’s responsibility to ensure that everything we do
here, we do it to the best of our ability.
“In all classes, I aim to nurture independent
skeptics.” This is your teaching philosophy.
One of the criticisms of our current
education system is that this approach has
not been encouraged at all. What have been
the challenges for you?
There’s a preference for notes. The more ‘complete’
(as in what covers the examination paper ‘completely’)
the notes, the better. Our programmes are mainly face
to face but in some quarters this is seen as a weakness
because it’s ‘traditional.’ I think it’s actually a strength.
Students who show up to class and are ready to be
engaged, find themselves rewarded. Teaching through
encouraging a logical progression of thought and
enquiry asks much of the student body, but empowers
them to answer questions that haven’t been asked yet.
My major challenge has been in attempting to make this
attractive.
How do you feel relinquishing your
Public Orator duties?
I enjoyed some of the aspects of being Public Orator.
It was quite a challenge, trying to craft a citation that
would do honour to the honorary graduand but also serve
as some form of inspiration to the graduates. Am I going
to miss it? The delivery, yes. Preparing the citations – not
so much.
Any advice for the next Public Orator?
Try to enjoy it, have fun and lighten up. I took the
role very seriously but as Professor Eudine Barriteau
demonstrated at Professor Brian Copeland’s Induction
– it’s possible to have your presentation bear the gravitas
that’s appropriate, but also make it quite entertaining.
What changes and challenges
does your field face now?
The challenges we face in my field are related to the
frenetic pace of discoveries and analytic tools available.
The number of publications now makes it difficult to stay
abreast of your field, even within your narrow specialty.
It’s one of the reasons people require more collaboration
within biology and sub-disciplines in biology and even
outside of biology. The challenge is to break down the
barriers that we erect. There’s not enough talking between
the departments, we don’t talk about work and science
and about issues and challenges in our communities and
what role scientists can play in addressing these concerns
of the communities; there needs to be more such talk. And
really, that’s how you’re going to break down these artificial
barriers, because if there’s a research question, you need to
employ solutions wherever you find them – engineering,
physics, chemistry. You ought not to pigeonhole yourself.
Is there anything else you can tell us that
would be interesting or helpful to others
aspiring to enter and succeed in the same field?
One thing I tell students during academic advising,
no one has a monopoly on good advice – speak to lots
of people and filter what you hear. Figuring out what
to do with your life is one of the most difficult pieces of
homework you will ever get. There are no signposts, there
is no grade, there’s no one to tell you you’re doing it right.
I attempt to tailor the advice I give to whomever is sitting
in front of me, and it’s a painstaking process that requires
lots of listening. I’m a ferocious listener and I ask a lot of
questions. So that’s why I think people should ask one
more question. Stay curious. Learn. Learning is fun, I’m
still learning.
Dr. Brian Cockburn
officially took up the position of Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology on August 1. A graduate of
The UWI with a BSc in Chemistry and Biochemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry, Dr. Cockburn has done considerable research into
diabetes and obesity. He was a senior lecturer and Deputy Dean of Enterprise, Development and Outreach in the Faculty of Science
and Agriculture, and Campus Orator since 2013. In this interview with
Jeanette Awai
, he shares some ideas on his new role.
Independent Skeptic
New Dean is as thought-provoking as they come
