ANNUAL REPORT 2021/22
disadvantaged. To that end, we will deepen community engagement and take an activist approach to issues of the day. In all things, we must nurture staff and students to be the champions of change. Meeting the needs of students and preparing them for this more complex world are top priorities. At the same time, and if this campus is to survive, we must have sustainable tuition fees which are not prohibitive for the majority of our students. This means speaking more directly with banks, private sector donors, increasing bursaries, and promoting innovative bond arrangements in exchange for financial assistance and loan schemes. In tandem with the above, there will need to be internships, and a curriculum that is international in focus and more relevant to today’s challenges—in other words, proactive, and geared toward problem- solving and making our curricula more attractive to students looking outwards. This progressive principle must apply as well to our UWI staff. Putting people first means being open, understanding, and promoting a more inclusive governance system. I started my tenure with two Principal Listening Sessions and continued with Open Day Wednesdays for staff and established several new staff-led committees. The intention is to implement workable suggestions that come out of these sessions. As we enter the 75 th Anniversary year of the UWI, I am confident that UWI, St Augustine, will continue to thrive. We will have to work very hard, show great resilience, and harness our creative dynamism—our Caribbean élan—if we are to become the change we seek to make.
Meeting the needs of students and preparing them for this more complex world are top priorities.
It will not be easy, but do it we can, and must.
Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal St Augustine Campus The University of the West Indies
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