ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS REPORT
Recruitment
Guyana and a contingent from Guyana. President Ali was supportive of the collaboration and work has advanced, particularly in the Faculties of Agriculture, Medical Sciences and Engineering. Graduation In October 2023 there were 1,101 postgraduate and 2,490 undergraduate graduands eligible to participate in the graduation ceremonies. This figure included the first five persons to graduate with first degrees from the St. Augustine Academy of Sport, part of the cross-campus Faculty of Sport. The Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA) also graduated their first cohorts from the Postgraduate Diploma in Pesticide Technology Management and the MSc Food Security. Overall, the number of persons receiving postgraduate qualifications increased by 18% over the previous year, while the number of persons receiving undergraduate certificates, diplomas and first degrees declined by 9.7%. The number of persons graduating with PhDs (45) was the highest recorded at the Campus in four years. Three honorary graduates were recognised at the ceremonies: Baroness Floella Benjamin, OM, DBE, DL – television personality and activist based in the United Kingdom; Ms. Heather Headley – US-based actress and singer; and Mr. Lawrence Scott – author.
government grant of TT$5 million, which was used to construct a new plant. The factory is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2024. ACCESS There were significant developments at the St. Augustine Campus that contributed to The UWI’s overall strategic goal of widening access to quality tertiary education. These included integrating technology into the Campus’ recruitment strategies, conducting and promoting research with a view to meeting the needs of society, and expanding access to co-curricular programmes.
The Campus continued to focus on improving its student recruitment efforts. One major development was the Registry’s rollout of a new application portal as part of a broader digital Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. The implementation of Ellucian CRM Recruit for the 2023/2024 application cycle targeted to a significant improvement in the efficiency of our internal processes. The Admissions and Graduate Studies teams were able to provide timely updates to applicants, which in turn resulted in an improved responsiveness in our communication with prospective students. According to data provided by the new CRM, during the application cycle, which ended in August 2023, crossing over into the 2023/2024 academic year, the Campus received over 1,600 postgraduate and more than 5,600 undergraduate applications. To support the recruitment efforts being spearheaded by the Office of the Campus Registrar, the position of Brand and Recruitment Manager in the Marketing and Communications Office was filled in May 2023. This position is responsible for coordinating the marketing effort in support of student recruitment at the Campus.
Enrolment
During the 2022/2023 academic year, the total enrolment (on and off Campus) was 13,876 students, a decline of 8% from 2021/2022, disaggregated by level as shown below: • Postgraduate Total – 3,929 • Undergraduate Total – 9,947 During the period under review, the number of postgraduate students declined by 8% (354) as compared to the previous year. The number of undergraduate students also decreased by 8% (900). Given that recent studies conducted by the Campus show that 40% of prospective students come from low income households, to stem the decline at the undergraduate level, the Campus focussed on increasing affordability by disbursing approximately $2.6 million in financial support to 436 undergraduate students through scholarships, bursaries, and various aid programs, including hardship grants and adopt-a- student initiatives.
Increasing Access in Guyana
The Campus has been expanding its outreach to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. With the projected growth of the Guyanese economy given the developing petrochemical sector, development of the country’s human resources will be critical to reaping the greatest benefit in the shortest period of time. The Campus’ Engineering Faculty already had a presence in Guyana and sought to improve its programmes there. To explore possibilities in other fields, the Campus Principal visited Guyana in March 2023 and met with the President of
Research
As a research-driven institution, the Campus remained steadfast in its commitment to advancing knowledge, driving development and solving real- world problems through ground-breaking research. Over the past year, there has been remarkable research conducted by the Campus’ academics in various fields. These include:
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