ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS REPORT
The Faculty of Law published the first edition of a new law review journal, The UWI St. Augustine Law Journal (UWISALJ). The UWISALJ focuses on legal scholarship, which is relevant to the legal community in Trinidad and Tobago, the wider Commonwealth Caribbean and beyond. The journal will be published annually, with special editions as determined by the editorial committee. The Office of the Deputy Principal expanded access to co-curricular programmes to include staff and the general public alongside students. Faculties and student services departments invested heavily in building industry partnerships that would secure internships for students. Of note this year were internships provided for students with disabilities, some of whom were offered permanent employment.
through international collaborations and signing up to advance geospatial observation for climate resilience, placing academia at the centre of the quest to solve real- world challenges. Faculty of Food and Agriculture Market Place The Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA) Market Place was launched on March 29, 2023. The Market Place is a revenue-generating activity for the Faculty but also provides FFA students an opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills. It also contributes to the wellness of the Campus and the surrounding community as it is a convenient source of fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, sustainably-reared gourmet meats, eggs, plants, seed kits, freshly cooked meals and many other items. Most of the produce was sourced from the Faculty’s own University Field Station, a farm that produces livestock, poultry and crops. The venture facilitates practical training for agribusiness, agriculture and shade house students as well.
UWI on the Ground in the Newsday
“ A university must be centred in the community, leading on the key issues of the day. ”This quote from Professor Antoine underpinned a new series of articles in the Newsday newspaper, which featured researchers from the Campus addressing the pressing issues of the day as they relate to the environment and climate change. Between January and April 2023, these articles were published in the Sunday Newsday on minimising disruptions caused by flooding, soil management, nature-based solutions to deal with the impacts of climate change, the impact of climate change on human health, using sargassum to create sustainable agriculture, climate change and the arts with a focus on indigenous peoples, monitoring seismic activity in the Caribbean, and how DNA barcoding could be used to improve food safety. The series was an initiative of the Office of the Campus Principal to sensitise the public on the research taking place at the Campus. Academic Programmes and Student Support Options for study at the Campus expanded with the introduction of the DM in Medical Microbiology, and the BSc in Disaster Risk Resilience for Agriculture and the Environment programmes. Additionally, the Master of Public Health programme was changed from fully face- to-face to blended, which resulted in an increase in local, regional and international applications. The Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA) trained its first cohort (64 students) with the Professional Certificate in Shade House Production and Management. The programme was offered in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service. During the review period, the FFA also developed a similar certification on behalf of the Ministry to train 100 youth in aquaculture.
First Post-Pandemic UWI Fete
The Campus’ biggest fundraising event was held in January 2022 after a one-year hiatus caused by COVID-19 restrictions. The 2022 edition of the annual UWI All-Inclusive Carnival Fete offered patrons the opportunity to “ReLive” in pre-pandemic style. The event, hosted by The UWI Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF), typically provides some 200 scholarships and bursaries to students at the Campus. ALIGNMENT The St. Augustine Campus continues to seek out and take advantage of national, regional, and global opportunities, forging valuable partnerships that benefit not only the Campus and the organisations involved but also the wider society. During the 2022/2023 academic year, key projects included empowering local farmers
UWI/USAID Train Local Farmers
More than 750 local farmers benefitted from the three-year The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) programme, conducted in collaboration with Purdue University and the Faculty of Food and Agriculture that began in 2020 and which came to a close on May 11, 2023. The programme provided crucial expertise in nutrition, food safety, value- added agriculture, marketing, and climate adaptation through a unique approach involving technical support and farmer-to-farmer interactions. This initiative effectively promoted sustainable farming practices and is expected to establish a lasting network for knowledge exchange and collaboration among local farmers.
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