The Revenue Revolution
CONTENTS
VICE-CHANCELLOR’S OVERVIEW..............................................................4 AGILITY...................................................................................................8 ACCESS.................................................................................................30 ALIGNMENT...........................................................................................60 STATISTICS. ........................................................................................104 Conversations, Celebrations and Ceremonies.............................. 110 CAMPUS AND CENTRE REPORTS AT A GLANCE........................................130 Principal Officers of The University of the West Indies. ...........166
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Vice-Chancellor’s OVERVIEW
University PERFORMANCE Rises: Raising New Revenue
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, The University of the West Indies
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T he Caribbean economy, while slowly emerging from the 2007/2008 global financial epidemic, has been crippled by the COVID-19 public health pandemic that heaped further havoc upon all economic and social life. Within this destructive, dreadful, existentially threatening context, our task has been to keep The University of the West Indies (UWI) abreast and ahead and rising to the expectations of stakeholders. I am pleased to report, that because of the persistence of commitment from our caring and courageous university community and its allies we have achieved the objective of delivering our services as mandated. We succeeded in the face of the COVID scourge, and the illness and death visited upon our campus and general communities, to achieve the widely considered impossible objective. We kept our classrooms available to our students; converted hundreds of their academic programmes to online, remote formats, took them through examination processes and on to graduation. We are proud of this excellent achievement. We honoured our pledges to our students and their families. This is our core business and we succeeded in banishing all doubt from our doors. During the year, the university skillfully managed the double agenda of building out its academic reputation as a first-class, globally-respected enterprise while deepening strategic plans to accelerate non-government revenue-generation. It was the year in which we pivoted in the Strategic Plan from the phase one “ Reputation Revolution ” to phase two “ Revenue Acceleration ”. We have become known as an enterprise of integrity that delivers upon its promised objectives. We are also known as an activist university that stands up for our stakeholders in meeting their most dire challenges.
On the reputation side, we are happy to report that in 2020, the Times Higher Education presented us with a Triple 1 st Ranking: first in the Caribbean; top 1% in Latin America and the Caribbean; top 1% in the Golden Age category of universities in our 50-80 years cohort. This is a magnificent performance achieved within the context of global competitiveness that reaffirmed the enlightenment of our leadership and the correctness of our collective strategy. Meanwhile, we met head on the challenges associated with the impact of regional economic decline upon our revenues as a publicly funded university. There is no escaping the significant negative consequences of the regional economic catastrophe upon the operations of the enterprise. The challenge has been to seek to arrest and stabilize the decline in government contributions; settle as far as possible the enormous public debt accumulation on our balance sheet; and suppress the annual impairment of millions of dollars in respect of this debt that weakens our financials. On the other hand we went about the serious business of radically enhancing revenue generation as part of an entrepreneurial exercise intended to offset balance sheet leakage and promote the financial health of the enterprise. We set out on this path in a scientific, strategic fashion. University leadership in our developing nations’ context is not an ad hoc affair. It is at once an art and a science. In short time we saw positive results from the collective efforts of some campuses. At the core of this strategy was the importance of facilitating the transition from the 30-year-old deficit financing model to the balanced budget approach. The
It was the year in which we pivoted in the Strategic Plan from the phase one “Reputation Revolution” to phase two “Revenue Acceleration” .
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Vice-Chancellor’s OVERVIEW
Already very good short-term results are being reported with multimillion dollar contracts and agreements signed and being executed. Agreements to take the university to the regional capital market are in place and 2022 will witness the roll out of these measures. Short- and medium- term strategies, therefore, are in place to see the university meet its revised self-financing targets. These strategies were promised. Outcomes will be delivered. The Revenue Revolution, then, is well on its way in a new and unprecedented fashion. It’s a moment that was imagined and is being managed. It was planned and is being implemented. The activist university will honour its pledges and maintain its strategic integrity. We are not afraid of the volatile world; we have visions for it and energy to meet it face on as an example of Caribbean resilience and thriving. We are amongst “the best in the developing West” and have shown the significance of such a hard-earned status. The year in review, then, was a period of academic prosperity in the face of the regional financial and health ferocity faced by the stakeholder family. We stood our ground and defended our communities and nations, serving them as we are mandated to do. The UWI is in a good, strategic position; to erase tomorrow what is today’s deficit. We are grateful for the extraordinary support received during the year. It will be the seed of tomorrow’s fruit.
university grew significantly within the mutually agreed deficit financing business model. The time has come to drive forward with the balanced budget approach in which frugality rather that the brutality of austerity holds the centre. Frugality is undoubtedly the mother of future growth. Austerity is the anchor of endless decline. The Chairman of the University Grants Committee, the Honourable Colm Imbert, agreed that outgoing chair, Honourable Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, would chair a sub-committee to bring these discourses to maturity. Working with the Honourable Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, and regional finance ministers, the committee brought matters to maturity and closure. It affirmed that the governments and the university should enter into a new phase of mutual bonding and trust in order to move forward on the same page to prosperity. This is the new arena in which the future is being forged. Management is now empowered with better understanding to build out the new entrepreneurial UWI in order to close the US$25 million deficit within the multi-campus, consolidated eco-system. Government arrears that stood in 2015 at a record high of US$117 million is now reduced to US$45 million. Already the new commitment is yielding significant results. Coming out of our 2019 Management Strategy Retreat we rolled out the New Financial Plan 2020 to 2025. In addition to implementing a 10% cut in expenditure, it proposed a 10% increase in entrepreneurial revenue. A multimillion dollar revenue strategy is being implemented that focuses on new markets for our academic services.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, The University of the West Indies
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TheRevenue Revolution , then, is well on its way in a newand unprecedented fashion
AGILiTY
Creating an entrepreneurial universitywith a diverse revenue base, global presence, operational efficiency and financial stability.
The UWI is seeking to raise a bond of TT$335,000,000 on the Trinidad and Tobago capital market to finance the development of the proposed UWISTA Global School of Medicine as a school within the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the St. Augustine Campus.
VICE-CHANCELLOR PROPOSES NEW FINANCIAL MODEL
Global Partnerships and Donors 5%
The UWI’s new financial model will see reduced dependence on declining subventions by regional governments, as the institution turns to other sustainable, forward- thinking strategies. As it stands, running the university costs just over $18 billion per year, yet only 50% of the expenditure comes from Government. During the last year, the institution’s regional leadership met in a series of retreats with stakeholders to discuss strategies for implementing the new model. Despite the impact of COVID-19, the market response suggests there is still a high level of liquidity in the financial system, and investors are willing to invest.
Alumni 5%
Private Sector Funds 15%
Government 50%
UWI Entrepreneurship 10%
Student Fees 15%
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Membership of the Corporate Investment Committee
Mr Gerry Brooks Professor of Practice, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago
Ms Minna Israel , Special Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor on Resource Development
Mr Mitchell Howard Mona School of Business, Jamaica
Mrs Vennecia Christian-Barnes Teaching Fellow, Mona School of Business and Management
Mr Dodridge Miller President and CEO, Sagicor Financial and Professor of Practice at the Vice-Chancellery
Mrs Andrea Taylor-Hanna Campus Bursar at the St Augustine Campus
Professor Densil Williams Pro Vice-Chancellor Planning and Principal, Five Islands Campus
Mrs Laleta Davis-Mattis University Counsel and Head, Legal Unit
Professor Justin Robinson Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business, Barbados
Mrs Andrea McNish University Bursar and Chief Finance Officer
UWI CORPORATE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEETS WITH FINANCE SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES
The UWI has set up a Corporate Investment Committee, which serves as an advisory team for the university’s participation in large-scale private sector investments. On March 10, 2020, The UWI met with regional finance leaders in the private sector to discuss how to bring the institution to market with investment instruments. Vice-Chancellor Beckles delivered a presentation on The UWI’s strategy, while a private sector investment road map for The UWI was presented by Pro Vice-Chancellor for Industry-Academic Partnerships, Professor Densil Williams. The five Campus Principals then presented a roster of projects being prepared for private investments using bonds and Initial Public Offering (IPO) options. Among the for-profit initiatives under consideration are real estate housing schemes, tourism teaching and research facilities, an international for-profit medical school for global students, a hotel and conferencing complex, sports stadia, a sport injury and rehabilitation centre, science and technology spin offs, and data management corporate services.
A cross-section of industry leaders and UWI leadership discussing taking The UWI to market.
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Vice-Chancellor’s OVERVIEW
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Meetings of the Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) hosted by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on March 3 and 4, 2020.
ENHANCING FINANCIAL HEALTH A significant contributory factor to the deficit in 2020 was the cost of post-employment benefits (pension supplementation and medical benefits) for all Campuses
programmes contributed to 32% of its total income. This supported the operations of the University, which continues to experience shortfalls in government funding. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University experienced loss of revenues from its commercial operations. Halls of Residence and conference facilities were closed in the last quarter of the academic year. A deficit of BDS$6.3 million arose from these operations compared with a surplus of BDS$9.5 million in 2019. Other income-generating sources are being explored. In March 2020, the Government of Barbados paid to the University the final tranche of BDS$51.1 million, as settlement for a Bond issued under the debt restructuring programme, in exchange for government contributions and tuition fees due to the University. For early settlement of the Bond, payment of tuition fees from the Government of Barbados to the Cave Hill Campus was restricted to amounts in excess of BDS$20 million for fiscal years 2019 and 2020. APPROVAL OF THE BUDGETS FOR THE BIENNIUM 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 The Budgets for the Biennium 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 of the University’s five Campuses, the University Centre and the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI)
Enhancing financial health to The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is one of the objectives of “Agility”. During the academic year 2019/2020, the Office of Finance and the Campus Bursaries continued to effectively manage the financial affairs of The UWI to achieve this objective. The funding challenges faced by the University were exacerbated in the fourth quarter of the academic year by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contributing Governments which provide the largest portion of income in the form of contributions to economic cost, experienced challenges in honouring their financial obligations to the University. Responding to the demands of their own health care systems, meant that some Governments were not able to make their usual contributions on time. The value of tuition fees collected was also reduced. To maintain financial viability, the University pivoted to remote learning at all Campuses. By continuing to exercise fiscal prudence, the University remained viable without sacrificing the quality of teaching, learning and research. The draft audited Financial Statements for the financial year 2019/2020, show that the operations of the University resulted in a deficit of BDS$66.5 million (Restated 2019: BDS$82 million deficit).
and the University Centre and the costs associated with the defined benefit scheme for administrative and technical staff at the St Augustine Campus. The total expenditure recorded for these arrangements was BDS$43.2 million in 2020 (2019: BDS$57.8 million). The pension supplementation element of the Federated Superannuation Scheme for Universities (FSSU) is unfunded. Impairments recorded in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standard No.9 (IFRS9) accounted for BDS$22.6 million of the deficit in 2020 (2019: BDS$17.2 million). Impairments were recorded primarily on student and government receivables outstanding for several years as well as on investments. These two items of expenditure which continue to influence the results adversely each year are being reviewed by a Special Committee comprising Government representatives, members of the private sector and the University leadership. This Committee will make recommendations to reduce the associated cost to the University.
The University’s engagement in income-generating activities, including the offering of full fee- paying
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Sources of Income 2020
Sources of Expenditure 2020
Other Income 4% (2019: 4%)
Administrative 12% (2019: 11%)
Tuition and Other Student Fees 15% (2019: 14%)
Departmental 45% (2019: 45%)
Government Contributions 47% (2019: 48%)
Special and Other Projects 19% (2019: 20%)
Special Projects and Other Projects 26% (2019: 27%)
Central 16% (2019: 18%)
Commercial Operations 8% (2019: 7%)
Commercial Operations 8% (2019: 6%)
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Research Grants Increasing research output remained a priority for the University during the year. The University continued to make significant strides towards its goal of growing and sustaining a culture of research and innovation aligned to the specific developmental needs of the region. The value of research grants received by the University during the year 2019/2020 was US$13.1 million (2018/2019: US$6.3 million). Efforts are being made to obtain new grants of high value to conduct research, particularly related to health care and regional development. Execution of research grants provides income to the University in the form of administrative fees. Risk Management The University of the West Indies, like similar institutions of Higher Learning, is exposed to a wide cross section of risks related to reputation, student experience, staffing issues, information technology (cyber risks) and financial issues. Efforts continue to be made to ensure that all major risks are properly identified and to foster more complete risk management arrangements. To this end, initiatives regarding the establishment of adequate University-wide Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) processes are being considered for implementation. The University is now in the process of hiring a new Risk Manager to identify risk, communicate risk policies and processes for the University.
RECURRENT CONTRIBUTIONS FROMTHE CONTRIBUTING GOVERNMENTS
were reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) at the meetings hosted by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on March 3 and 4, 2020. The meetings of the Campus Grants Committees (CGCs) and the University Grants Committee (UGC) were subsequently held on May 4, 2020 and July 10, 2020 virtually to review and approve the recommendations of the TACs. At the UGC meeting, which was chaired by the Honourable Colm Imbert, Minister of Finance, Trinidad and Tobago, an expenditure budget of BDS$701.4 million was approved for The UWI, to be funded by Government contributions totalling BDS$531.5 million and the balance from tuition fees and other sources of income. At the UGC meeting of May 4, 2020 the formation of a Sub-Committee of UGC was agreed, which would meet periodically over the next two years (2020/2021 and 2021/2022), to critically review the budgets of The UWI and the UHWI and to make recommendations regarding the best strategies to: improve teaching and learning; restructure The UWI, its expenditure and cash flow, and develop a plan for income-generation. It was noted that this approach would provide for a greater level of involvement of the UGC in the overall operations of The UWI.
Focus has been placed on maintaining dialogue with Governments to encourage payments of their assessed contributions to The UWI on a consistent basis. During the year 2019/2020, The UWI continued to maintain invaluable relationships with contributing Governments and increased their awareness regarding their outstanding obligations to the institution. In an effort to recover outstanding debt, the University continued to submit payment plans accompanied by monthly or quarterly invoices to the contributing Governments. This has assisted somewhat in reducing the receivables from Governments.
BROADENING THE FUNDING BASE University Trust Fund
The creation of a Trust Fund to provide additional income from performing assets is still being pursued. The contributing Governments will pledge physical assets and other revenue performing assets to the Trust and in some cases these assets will be exchanged for contributions owed to the University. The shortfall in funding of the University’s budget from its current sources of income, has increased the need for the University to seek other sources of income for the long- term. The income-earning capacity of assets in the Trust Fund is being considered as a long-term solution to provide an additional source of revenue to reduce the gap in the budget. Other funding mechanisms are also being explored.
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Tuition Fees The UWI has managed to keep tuition fees affordable and hence widen access to students regionally and internationally. For the year 2019/2020, tuition fees for University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded programmes at the Mona Campus were increased by 1.5%. Tuition fees at the other Campuses remained at the 2018/2019 levels. Scholarships During the 2019/2020 academic year, scholarships to deserving students were provided from funds raised through entities such as The UWI Regional Endowment Fund, The American Foundation of The UWI, The British Foundation of The UWI, The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala and gifts from individuals and the private sector. From its UGC budget, the University also offered a significant number of Open Scholarships to undergraduate students and postgraduate students were also provided with scholarships and grants for research and publications. Cost Saving Measures In light of the budget cuts experienced, a number of cost saving measures have been undertaken across the Campuses and the University Centre to reduce expenditure. Among them include the rationalisation of programme offerings and the reduction of staff costs, capital expenditure, travel, office expenditure and utilities.
The budgets approved during 2019/2020 for the 2020/2022 Biennium took into consideration the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in staff costs was achieved by a reduction in numbers aided by natural attrition, freezing vacant posts and reassigning tasks, and a reduction in overtime payments. Travel expenditure was cut by using various meeting platforms to host meetings virtually. Progressively, The UWI has been reducing its cost to operate in line with available income. The University continues to seek opportunities for operational efficiency in order to reduce cost. Pension Administration The University operates defined-contribution pension schemes for its academic and senior administrative staff and non-academic staff. The St. Augustine Campus administers a defined-benefit plan for its administrative and technical staff. The Federated Superannuation Scheme for Universities (FSSU) for academic and senior administrative staff has a defined benefit element which provides qualifying retirees with a supplement to pension on retirement. A review has been undertaken by a firm of Actuaries and an initial draft of the report with recommendations to reduce the cost of post-employment pension and medical benefits has been received. During the financial year, the Office of Finance continued to have consultations with an investment advisor on the maximisation of returns (at minimal risk) on investment of pension contributions of members of the FSSU. This is one of the tools that can be used to reduce the size of the unfunded supplementation liability. Stewardship of the University’s resources and restoring the financial health of The UWI remains a priority. The University will continue to focus on revenue generation and cost containment in order to achieve the targets of its Strategic Plan.
Costs related to post-employment benefits are being reviewed for more cost-effective arrangements to be implemented.
Mrs. Andrea McNish University Bursar
Read the full report for Finance at www.uwi.edu/vcreport
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2020 Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) meetings hosted by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
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RESEARCH FUNDING
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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
• ACADEMICS (inclusive of all undergraduate, graduate, continuing and professional education, open and distance learning programmes and services);
Conversations and plans for digital transformation have been underway for some time, having been explicitly identified as an objective in The UWI’s Triple A Strategy — AG5: Foster the digital transformation of The UWI. Since the start of 2020, the programme has been energized with the appointment of a new steering custodian and a core team of domain sponsors committed to delivering tangible and pragmatic results to the university community.
This transformation is a complex, people- driven exercise, seen as a means of consolidating current structures and processes to maximise collaborative synergies, agility, effectiveness and efficiency, to deliver greater value to stakeholders. The work model for the digital transformation programme is focused on optimising mission- critical operations across the entire university system:
• KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE (comprising library, records and archival services);
• TECHNOLOGY (involving infrastructural, network and application services);
•
FINANCE (encompassing bursarial services); and
• ADMINISTRATION (related to HR, registrarial, examination, and student financial services).
The roadmap for The UWI’s digital transformation programme sets out a path that includes four phases which run from September 2020 through August 2023: • DISCOVERY (of nomenclature and site locations through data scans and system audits);
• DEFINE (requirements for enterprise architecture and alignment);
• DEVELOP (taxonomic schemes, metrics and dashboards); and
•
DELIVER (multi-platform interoperability).
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COMMITTEE REIMAGINES THE UWI BEYOND 2021
Membership of the Committee Senator Lisa Cummins.................................. Co-Chair Dr Canute Thompson.................................... Co-Chair
Taking account of the challenges faced by The UWI, in April 2020, Vice-Chancellor Beckles appointed a committee to advise the university on “Imagining The UWI for the 2020/21 Academic Year”. The expectation was not merely that The UWI survives the COVID-19 pandemic, but thrives despite the challenges posed. The committee, co-chaired by Senator Lisa Cummins and Dr. Canute Thompson, and comprising a cross section of staff across multiple areas, provided its final report on June 30, 2020. Appreciating its mandate of “re-imagining”The UWI and that inevitably, its recommendations would impact not just the 2020/21 academic year, the committee focused on “Re-imagining The UWI beyond 2020/21” and proffered an overall view that the COVID-19 pandemic presented the university with an opportunity to fast track the embedding of online delivery in its teaching and learning enterprise and to adopt virtual platforms to support all areas of its operations. Its final report presented under the theme “Engaging People, Enhancing Processes, Expanding Possibilities” offered sixty- five recommendations covering the areas of staff and student engagement; digital transformation; teaching and learning; management and administrative support services; halls of residence; financial stabilization; diversification strategy and the entrepreneurial university.
Dr Mairette Newman..................................... Commonwealth of Learning Mr Raymond Campbell................................ KPMG Advisory Services
Professor Justin Robinson........................... Cave Hill Professor Opal Adisa....................................... Centre Mrs Brigitte Collins.......................................... Centre Dr Rhonda Jaipaul-O’Garro........................ Centre Dr Stacy Richards-Kennedy....................... Centre Mr Hyram Forde................................................ Five Islands Professor Paul Brown.....................................Mona Dr Heather Ricketts.........................................Mona
Senator Lisa Cummins
Mr Danny Roberts............................................Open Campus Dr Cheryl Sloley.................................................Open Campus Mr Navneet Boodhai...................................... St Augustine Dr Hamid Ghany............................................... St Augustine Dr Katija Khan..................................................... St Augustine Mr Troy Eustace................................................. Student Representative, St Augustine Mrs Marvette Facey-Thompson.............. Administrative Support
Dr Canute Thompson
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DIGGING DEEP – COVID-19 RESILIENCE AND TRANSFORMATION
model pioneered in 2016 for the UWI Zika Task Force. The COVID-19 Task Force was chaired by Professor Clive Landis, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies and former Director of the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre. The Task Force comprised experts in areas such as virology, epidemiology, laboratory diagnostics, critical care, respiratory medicine, pulmonology, health leadership, emergency medicine, veterinary medicine, mental health, public health, clinical psychology and counselling, tourism, trade, international relations, public education, youth advocacy, ethics, and communication, among other areas. The prevailing themes upon which the Task Force first focused were public health policy; clinical care; ethics; psycho-social care; gender; economic simulation; tourism recovery; students; and communications. One of their earliest tasks was to help create the UWI COVID-19 Management Plan (UWI-READY), which was approved on March 9, just days before a case was confirmed in a UWI campus country. Closure of campuses In accordance with government mandates, in-person classes were suspended in March 2020. The UWI convened special executive management meetings
In January 2019, as the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency, The UWI activated its COVID-19 response plan. Cognisant of its dual responsibilities to its internal communities as well as to its stakeholders in the wider Caribbean region, The UWI unleashed a two-fold response. INTERNAL RESPONSE Staff and students at the UWICIIT Its primary matter of concern was the well-being of its administrative staff and 28 students present in China, who were enrolled in a programme at the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology (UWICIIT). As The UWI remained in regular contact with them, offering support, practical assistance and counselling, while reaching out to their families at home in the Caribbean, this association with our Chinese partners also allowed the university the advantage of a swifter response as compared to many of our counterparts in Europe to the Caribbean reality and risks, once a global pandemic became evident. The UWI COVID Task Force In February 2020, the University established The COVID-19 Task Force comprising in-house subject- matter experts. It was based upon the collaborative
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with its senior leadership, the student leadership and roundtable discussions with WIGUT presidents, and leaders of unions representing all categories of staff to discuss the threats and opportunities posed by COVID-19. Impact survey The UWI Rapid Response COVID-19 Impact Survey was launched across all five campuses in April 2020, to determine the extent of mental health and psychosocial problems being experienced by students and staff so that we could respond at the macro UWI level and the individual campus levels. Mental health services were made available remotely through Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The Psychosocial Unit delivered counselling and training for professional service providers on topics relevant to the handling of COVID-19 scenarios.
The impact survey will be repeated periodically to allow for monitoring and recording over time.
Support of socially displaced students A substantial percentage of registered students exist in financial and social circumstances that made it difficult for them to keep up with classes and even to live normal lives during the pandemic. While several existing programmes were already in place to assist students with severe financial constraints, such as the Adopt-a- Student programme and the Student Hardship Fund, but it was recognised that the circumstances required a more targeted response. The decision was made by the Vice-Chancellor, the Campus Principals, Pro Vice-Chancellors, University Bursar and University Registrar, to volunteer a percentage of their salaries, which signalled the birth of a special UWI Cares Fund to help students impacted by the pandemic. This was supplemented by various other fundraising initiatives across the university system, engaging staff, students, alumni, donors and partners.
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THE UWI’S FINEST HOUR: CONQUERING THE DOUBT AND FEAR
They also created simulated scenarios which allowed for projections of situations that might arise over the course of the pandemic, given certain variables. The Task Force’s discussions did not only surround means of surviving the initial onslaught of the pandemic, but also ways to emerge from it with a clear plan for recovery. Acting in the public interest with UWI Science at their backs, regional leaders took tough decisions with confidence and courage, thus saving perhaps thousands of lives. A full website was devoted to information disseminated by the Task Force, through which the collective knowledge and expertise were available to all, with the primary objective being to provide accurate and reliable information through other channels of communication, such as webinars, podcasts, online seminars, weekly bulletins and video tips on a range of topics managed by University Marketing & Communications and UWI tv respectively. Public Forums and other informative programmes In response to the pandemic, several of the Vice- Chancellor’s Forums, conducted virtually, addressed the pandemic, with the very first hosted on January
More than ever before, we were called to rally around each other in 2020. As an activist university, The UWI continued to engage in the search for sustainable solutions for the Caribbean to confront the COVID-19 challenge. Universities are built and resourced to serve their communities and nations, so times like these drew precisely on our academy’s purpose. Through science, medicine, engineering and volunteerism, our staff and students are contributing their resources and expertise towards the fight, demonstrating that UWI cares.
The UWI COVID-19 Task Force guides the Caribbean response
Throughout the pandemic, the Task Force emphasised the sense of Caribbean community and solidarity and worked closely with organisations such as CARICOM, CARPHA, CDEMA, PAHO, and The Caribbean Tourism Organisation, as well as individual regional governments to lend their knowledge and resources as they sought the interest of their citizens. The virologists on the Task Force were networked into global alliances, for example the Global Virology Network (GVN), that monitor and track the evolution of viral pandemics. By contributing genomic sequence data into these global networks, our virologists help monitor mutations or new strains of COVID-19 that may emerge as the virus moves from country to country.
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30, 2020, even before one case was prevalent in the Caribbean region, testament to the proactive commitment of the university to be a source of trusted and reliable public information. Daily Monitoring The George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA-CDRC) provided daily surveillance and modelling to support evidence-based decision- making in the Caribbean. The reports compiled information taken from 20 territories within the region. Data which included confirmed COVID-19 cases, deaths, and outbreak growth rates for fourteen CARICOM countries and six UK Overseas Territories, as well as regional heat map models were regularly presented to various meetings of CARICOM Heads of Government and other agencies to model the epidemic and project healthcare and other emergency response needs. Daily reports were also made available to the public online via the Task Force website. Frontline clinical care Thousands of UWI alumni and members of our Faculties of Medical Sciences across the region provided and continue to provide critical care for COVID-19 patients at hospitals and primary care settings and centres. Medical students volunteer Hundreds of medical students from across all our campuses volunteered to provide supplementary support to doctors and nurses. UWI Mona students supported communication activities for the Ministry
of Health and Wellness through the Campus Call Centre and the National Emergency Operations Centre.
Testing The National Influenza Centre at The UWI Mona’s Department of Microbiology remains an active testing facility for COVID-19. Similarly, to help increase testing capacity in Trinidad and Tobago, The UWI St Augustine handed over the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Molecular Biology Laboratory along with additional PCR machines from its Faculty of Science and Technology’s Department of Life Sciences to the Ministry of Health for real- time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for COVID-19. Field hospitals The UWI Cave Hill, in partnership with the Barbados Defence Force and Ministry of Health and Wellness, hosted a Respiratory Short Stay Unit, a field hospital on the premises of its E.R. Waldrond Clinical Skills building at Jemmots Lane. In Trinidad and Tobago, The UWI St Augustine’s main campus as well as Couva and Debe facilities all remain in use for COVID-19 patients and quarantined returning nationals.
100+ students in the District Health Visiting programme at UWI St Augustine are doing contact tracing for the Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago.
Nursing Programme staff are working the COVID Hotlines, and overseeing operations of Field Hospitals.
Cave Hill’s Department of Social Work staff are lending social care assistance to the elderly, along with UWI Five Islands providing COVID-19 relief to single mothers and the elderly. Approximately 360 students of The Cave Hill Campus visited Barbadian communities as part of an island-wide COVID-19 data-gathering exercise, Seek & Save.
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Drug treatment The Faculty of Medical Sciences at the St Augustine Campus has reviewed the use of drugs for the management of COVID-19 to guide Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Health. Global solidarity clinical trial The UWI is part of the World Health Organisation’s “Solidarity Trial” to investigate the efficacy of potential treatment drugs. Science for policy decisions Researchers and experts from our specialised units and centres are producing models and policy briefs to inform national and regional governments and decision makers. Studies Studies undertaken to support decisions at local and regional levels include • COVID’s psychological impact on workers • Intervention strategies to curb spread • Public health modelling to predict infection and mortality rates of the virus • Behavioural changes needed to halt the spread of viral illness Engineering solutions The Faculties of Engineering at UWI St Augustine and Mona, in collaboration with students, alumni and industry partners, drove national efforts to manufacture ventilators, face shields and other medical equipment to support the COVID-19 response. Hand sanitizer Thousands of litres of hand sanitizer were produced daily by The UWI Mona Campus’ Doctor of Pharmacy programme in collaboration with National Health Fund
and its partners, J. Wray and Nephew Ltd.; Organic Growth Holdings, and Carimed Ltd.
The UWI Cave Hill Campus also produced hand sanitizer for essential workers.
Equipping regional educators to teach online The UWI Open Campus trained more than 2,000 teachers/educators across the region in the use of educational technology for the rapid response delivery of online education. • Close to 600 teachers, community college lecturers and curriculum officers from ministries of education in Barbados and OECS, in association with the Eastern Caribbean Joint Board of Teacher Education. • Over 1,000 personnel from sister campuses and 752 tutors from Open Campus Country Sites in 16 countries.
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Post COVID-19 recovery The Post COVID-19 Road Map to Recovery team comprised UWI Chancellor and other UWI experts and alumni for Trinidad and Tobago. Similarly, in Barbados, Cave Hill staff served on a Jobs and Investment Council to help the government mobilise and catalyse opportunities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Prof. The Most Hon. Eudine Barriteau chaired the Services and the Creative Economy Committee. The UWI Global Tourism Resilience Centre in Jamaica is leading the recovery of the region’s tourism industry beginning with simulations to understand the economic and social impact. From psycho-social and clinical experts to economists and more, a wide range of disciplines and specialists are focused on the Caribbean’s rebound from the impact of COVID-19. The UWI St. Augustine Researchers Analyse Coronavirus Genomes A team of researchers from The UWI St. Augustine embarked on a project to analyse coronavirus genomes from infected individuals. The exercise enhances the Caribbean’s capacity to identify different lineages of the virus and monitor mutations in order to track the virus’ spread, distinguish between local and newly imported cases, and better understand the virus and our immune system’s response to it. Professor Christine Carrington emphasised, “The COVID-19 IMPACT project means that we can now detect and track the progress of SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in the region. We’ve analysed samples from 11 CARPHA member countries and identified 28 distinct SARS-CoV-2 lineages to date. This capacity for genomic surveillance is crucial particularly now that vaccines are being introduced. As we continue to monitor mutations that may be of biological significance, it’s important that we continue with our public health interventions so that vaccination can get out ahead of the virus.” The project is funded by a grant from the UWI-Trinidad and Tobago Research, Development and Impact (RDI) Fund. The research team includes investigators from The UWI, Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Health, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the University of Oxford and the University of London.
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Vice-Chancellor’s OVERVIEW ACCESS
Increasing participation in higher education for all.
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TRANSITIONING TO ONLINE TEACHING & LEARNING
During Semester 2 of the period under review, the Senior Programme Officer (SPO) in the QAU at Cave Hill led development of a hybrid approach for the conduct of Quality Assurance Reviews (QARs) in a pandemic, with emphasis on the use of virtual/online platforms to conduct external stakeholder meetings. The draft hybrid QAR proposal was circulated in May 2020 and later received and accepted the proposal for implementation in Academic Year 2020/2021. Matriculation Policy As a result of anticipated disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board for Undergraduate Studies (BUS) approved a waiver of the matriculation requirement for CAPE students applying for admission in academic year 2020/2021. The waiver allowed campuses to make firm offers to students based on their first year of CAPE results. Caribbean Ministers of Education attending the Emergency Meeting of the CARICOM Committee on Human and Social Development (COHSOD) on May 8, 2020, unanimously endorsed the revised matriculation policy. Examinations In recognition of the unexpected imposition of changes to teaching and assessment due to COVID-19, the Board for Undergraduate Studies and the Board for Graduate Studies & Research approved a Fail Minus Penalty (FMP) joint policy for students who failed any courses in Semester 2 of Academic Year 2019/2020. Students were permitted to repeat failed courses without academic penalty.
As a leading regional educational institution that is both proactive and responsive, The UWI took immediate steps to protect and preserve the well-being of all stakeholders during the COVID-19 global pandemic, while continuing to deliver on its mandate. It was a true reflection of the confluence between our strategic pillars: Access for our people, Alignment with the needs of our society in this time of crisis, and Agility in our response to these rapidly changing times. The initial response by regional governments to the declaration of the global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) included the closure of learning institutions, including all campuses of The UWI. This closure included the suspension of physical classes and cancellation of exams; the closure of sporting and recreational grounds; the cancellation of non-essential, extra-curricular and social events; and the reduction of population density on halls of residence by the repatriation of students. The measures also impacted the physical delivery of administrative and other support services. As an agile and dexterous university, The UWI leveraged its technological resources to maintain open communications during the lockdown period. It continues to do so even as restrictions have been alleviated—but not eliminated—under social distancing protocols.
This pivot to online learning began with the virtual delivery of the remainder of the academic year 2019/2020. Campus principals, deans and department heads made necessary adjustments, with focus on modules which would normally need to be delivered in a physical setting, arranging suitable alternatives. Requirements for matriculation were modified to allow students whose final academic year was disrupted by the pandemic to successfully apply. In acknowledgment of realities and economic constraints experienced by students during this time, the university also offered revised payment plans. EnhancingQuality in a Pandemic A significant change during the period under review was the COVID-19 exigency, which required transition to online teaching and learning, campus lockdowns, and work-from-home arrangements across The UWI campuses. Significantly, campuses had to develop alternative online assessment proposals, and all Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) officers participated in the special AQAC meetings and deliberations to interrogate and finalise the revised assessment plans.
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A CAMPUS LIKE NO OTHER
Excerpts from speech at the Ceremonial Opening of The UWI Five Islands Campus.
The Honourable GastonA. Browne Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda “The Five Islands Campus is the most significant blessing that has been bestowed on the people of Antigua and Barbuda since independence. Therefore, we are compelled to be thankful. Throughout history, in every part of the world, as people struggled to raise themselves from oppression, exploitation, discrimination and marginalization, their leaders asserted the central importance of education. … By opening the door of the university to all, we open the opportunity for this generation, and all the generations that follow: to know as much as the next person if not more; to hold their own anywhere in the world; to rise-up from the dark shadow of ignorance into the glowing light of knowledge of competitiveness and of respect.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles Vice-Chancellor, The UWI “This is your university. For 71 years, you have supported it. You have stood by it. You have committed to it and you have shown trust in it. We are merely doing our job. You have done yours. We also know that the development of a nation, its economic transformation, its social sophistication, are expressions of the number of its citizens who have professional training, skills development, and higher education in general. In other words, the plank of development is the vehicle of higher education, professional training, and skills development. In my time as the Principal of the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados, Prime Minister Mia Mottley was my Minister of Education. Together we worked out a concept for the Cave Hill Campus that every household in Barbados would have at least one university graduate—and there were 110,000 households. Within a few years, Barbados had achieved the highest rate of tertiary education for young people in the Caribbean. Antigua and Barbuda now has a model. Now, we wish for Five Islands Campus and for this nation that will host it the same synergy of association, because this nation will rise up on the plank that will be the Five Islands Campus over the years to come.”
Prime Minister Gaston A. Browne and Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles considered the historic opening of the University’s fifth campus— Five Islands—in St. John’s, Antigua, on September 1, 2019 “a matter of great pride for The UWI”. In addition to serving the needs of Antigua and Barbuda, the campus was designed to operate within the wider context of the country’s membership of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), which, with a population of 600,000 citizens, had traditionally been underserved regarding accessing tertiary education. Formally launched with a public ecumenical service at The St. John’s Cathedral, followed by a ceremonial opening on September 3, the new 21 st century, fit-for- purpose FIC commenced operations in Semester 1 of academic year 2019/2020, with 175 students registered for programmes across three schools: Health and Behavioural Sciences; Humanities and Education; Management, Sciences and Technology.
Education is as much a human right as it is a social and economic good.
The establishment of the fourth landed campus of The UWI is a landmark event and a defining moment in our nation’s history. It opens a further pathway for our country’s growth, development and prosperity, through improved education, expanded knowledge, and increased capacity of its most significant resource — its people.”
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UWI Software Engineering students in China pose with their certificates at a ceremony to celebrate the end of two years of study at the Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST) in Suzhou.
FIRST OUT OF UWI-CHINA
Six months into what evolved into a global pandemic, in July 2020, 26 students proudly completed the China module of their Software Engineering programme, seen as a vital element in the drive to fuel the region’s digital revolution. Students were exposed to academic, technological, and cultural elements, such as state-of-the-art software engineering training and research and development, Mandarin lessons, and immersion in Chinese culture. They pursued industry-related internships with international clients in Suzhou, and in Italy and other countries. Although formal graduation ceremonies were cancelled, a modest celebration marked the occasion. Students were congratulated via video message by Vice-Chancellor Beckles, who called them “ambassadors and leaders of the programme”. President of GIST, Professor Zhu Xiu Lin, also extended his congratulations, commending them on their discipline and courage during the difficult pandemic-related restrictions, and expressing admiration for their personal values. He wished them well in their future careers and future contributions to the economic and social development of the Caribbean region.
From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in January 2020, The UWI administration had its finger on the pulse of students deployed in China completing their 2+2 degree in Software Engineering (Mobile Application Technology), a collaboration between The UWI and the Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST) in Suzhou, China. Closely monitored and supported, provided with medical screenings and counselling, our students continued to work remotely during the precautionary closure of the campus, which took place even though Suzhou was not at the epicentre of the outbreak.
Undoubtedly, amid the pandemic, software engineering and related fields have taken on newmeaning, as businesses are spurred on to develop more customer- focused software.
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