Principal’s Overview | 39
UWI IN THE CITY On March 31, 2022, in what represented a soft launch of Cave Hill’s Bridgetown facilities, the Campus hosted UWI in the City at the historic Mutual Building. Leased to the Campus in a long-term arrangement with Sagicor Inc., the space has been designated as a multi-purpose teaching, training and technology hub. The event involved a very well supported private sector forum headed by Chair of the Barbados Private Sector Association, Ms Trisha Tannis, as the Campus signaled its intention to innovate based on the well-established Triple Helix model of a tripartite rela- tionship between the higher education sector, Government and the private sector. In welcoming The UWI to the city, Ms Tannis remarked “…how appropriate it would be for The UWI, as it did years ago with making tertiary education more accessible to a nation of people, to lead the education process of wealth creation and generation that is broad- based, and accessible to a wide cross section people from all walks of life”. The Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP and four Ministers of Government including the Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training and the Minister of Industry and Innovation attended the event. The Prime Minister in her address embraced the Campus’ move to develop rela- tionships in order to drive innovation and commended the Campus for repurposing a building with a “troubled history” into a centre fostering small business development and wealth generation. Members of the private sector turned out in their numbers, including Sagicor representatives with whom the University had been negotiating concessional leasing arrangements. Funding was received from the Suzhou Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST) for the retrofitting of three of the four floors of the building, in support of the delivery of the BSc Software Engineering, a joint programme between The UWI and GIST. The Chinese Ambassador to Barbados was also in attendance.
Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP, Prime Minister of Barbados, addressing the gathering at UWI in the City
Chair of the Barbados Private Sector Association, Ms Tricia Tannis, delivering remarks at UWI in the City
The Mutual Building, Bridgetown, Barbados
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS ANNUAL REPORT TO COUNCIL 2021/2022
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