SUNDAY 7TH JUNE, 2015 – UWI TODAY
3
EDITORIAL TEAM
Campus Principal
Professor Clement Sankat
Director of Marketing and Communications
Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
EDITOR
Ms Vaneisa Baksh
CONTACT US
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002, exts. 82013 / 83997 or email:
CAMPUS NEWS
Building Capacity
and Creating Impact
FROM the Principal
New infrastructural initiatives
have
begun the process for further integration
of work being done at The UWI to more
directly serve our society. The projects
have been many.
In May, the new dental facility at
Arima and the UWI School of Nursing
(UWISON) at El Dorado were opened,
while at Mt. Hope, sod was turned for
the expansion of both the Dental School
and the Arthur Lok Jack School of Busi-
ness. Soon there will be ceremonies for two major projects at St.
Augustine: the construction of the new Republic Bank building,
eventually a Northern Plaza at our Eastern Main Road and the
University entrance; and at our Cheeseman Street facility, Phase
One of the construction of our new Department of Creative and
Festival Arts (DCFA).
Also ahead is the soft opening of the South campus at Penal-
Debe; construction and outfitting are moving apace.
We have just signed an MOU with the North West Regional
Health Authority to govern the construction of a Teaching and
Student facility at the Port of Spain General Hospital which will
house students and staff of the UWI St. Augustine Faculty of Medi-
cal Sciences. We expect to be present in that Teaching and Learning
Hospital very shortly.
The many health-related projects being undertaken by the
UWI over a very short period of time presents the most formidable
contribution to that sector by any educational institution in our his-
tory. The Dean and staff of our Faculty of Medical Sciences and the
Ministry of Tertiary and Skills Training and the Ministry of Health
must be commended for their commitment to these projects.
I am pleased to report that our University is making good
headway with projects that demonstrate responsiveness and capacity
building. Common to all these initiatives is the significant impact
they will have on society and the positive way in which they will
bolster our resources in the areas of health and social services in
meeting the needs of our Caribbean people.
Clement K. Sankat
Pro Vice-Chancellor & Principal
The Vice-Chancellor
is the principal
academic and administrative officer of the
University.
The Vice-Chancellor of The UWI is
charged with advancing the University’s
academic reputation and global standing,
while championing the strategic direction
outlined in the strategic plan for the
remaining period of the 2012-2017 plan
and beyond.
The Vice-Chancellor must therefore
possess the credibility, vision and intellectual
respect needed to interact effectively
with the highest levels of government,
business, other academic and international
organizations and civic society, at the
regional and international levels.
Pursuant to Statute 5(a) “The Vice-
Chancellor shall be ex-officio Chair of the
Senate and, save in the case of committees
under Statute 10.4 and of excepted
Committees, of all committees of the
Council and Senate provided that the Vice-
Chancellor may appoint any person being
a member of the University to be Chair of
any such Committee.”
Additionally, the Vice-Chancellor
by Statute 6 is charged with maintaining
and promoting the efficiency and good
order of the University for which the Vice-
Chancellor shall be responsible to the
Council.
In concert with Campus principals,
he/she provides strategic direction and
leadership and helps to position and present
the University internationally, nationally
and regionally. The Vice-Chancellor also
carries out important ceremonial and civic
duties including matriculation and degree
ceremonies.
The Vice-Chancellor chairs University
Council meetings and other principal
university bodies, and nominates deputies
to chair others. He/she works closely with
Role of the
Vice-Chancellor
Previous Vice-Chancellors
Sir William Arthur Lewis...................................
1960–1963
Sir Philip Sherlock. .............................................
1963–1969
Sir Roy Marshall..................................................
1969–1974
Dr Aston Zachariah Preston..............................
1974–1986
Sir Alister McIntyre............................................
1988–1998
Professor Emeritus Rex Nettleford...................
1998–2004
Professor Eon Nigel Harris................................
2004–2015
the campuses to ensure a coherent vision
across all the constituent parts of the
University and across all the constituent
parts of theUniversity so that its governance,
management and administration are
efficient and effective.
Tradition of the
Installation Ceremony
This ceremony contains elements which
are centuries old, based on the tradition of
the medieval university such as the gowns,
the oath and the mace.
The University’s tradition tell us where
we have come from and, knowing where
we have come from helps to give us a clear
idea of where we want to go to next. The
installation of a Vice-Chancellor points to
a most significant intersection of tradition
and renewal in the life of a university.
• Tradition because we continue to
follow the practice of appointing a
single head to act on our behalf as a
community of scholars.
• Renewal because we choose an
outstanding individual to bring his/her
gifts to bear on this most important of
regional institutions and steer it into
the future.
The installation ceremony is an
important rite. It is the formal act of
welcoming and including the Vice-
Chancellor into the academic rites, which
are ceremonial acts prescribed by tradition
or sectoral decree, known and practiced
in all societies and reflect their beliefs and
values.
There is significance in this ritual and
in particular the meaning of tradition, in
the way in which the office of the Vice-
Chancellor ‘captures’ its holder, and how the
conferment of authority is signified.
