40 | Principal’s Overview
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (FST) RENEWAL PROJECT
Over the review period, the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), while hampered by the worldwide pandemic, furthered its efforts aimed at renewing its physical plant with a view to transforming it to a 21 st Century Faculty. Efforts to revise/renew the curriculum gave way to the need to rapidly transition to online teaching as an emer- gency measure as a result of the pandemic. The sudden shift in institutional teaching activities and conditions also required significant input from the academic and technical staff delivering practical lab sessions as social distancing requirements often resulted in the design of single-user experiments and extended contact hours for staff. Positively, the Faculty continued to strategise the financing of the renewal of the physical structure of the Faculty commencing with the establishment of its first commer- cial laboratory testing centre. The Centre for Commercial Analytical Services (CCAS) in the FST was approved by the Campus’ Finance and General Purposes (F&GPC) Committee at its meeting of October 6, 2021 and ratified by Campus Council on March 11, 2022. The CCAS is envi- sioned as an agile, modern analytical testing facility, related to analyses such as environmental samples, water, food, drugs, industrial and commercial products and volatile organic compounds amongst others, that is able to service the industrial/public sector as well as the individual through fast turnaround times at reasonable prices allowing for quick and effective decision-making. Since its approval, the Faculty, ably supported by the Deputy Principal, the Business Development Office and the Office of Institutional Planning and Infrastructural Services (INPLAIS), has assumed responsibility for the full roll out of the Centre beginning with the renovations of a suitable laboratory space in the Faculty and the recruitment of qualified labora- tory personnel. Both endeavours are ongoing. Acknowledging that the global cost to deliver quality science education, with special emphasis on practical skills training, borne out through exposure to in-laboratory experi- ments, field trips, contemporary software, and experiential learning, is high and continues to rise, the Faculty sought
Students of the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences with Lecturer, Dr Jason Jordan (centre)
to address these higher than average operating costs with the introduction of a science fee, approved by the Campus’ Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GPC) at its meeting of October 6, 2021. The need for the introduction of a science fee for the students in the Faculty of Science and Technology is underscored by the deteriorating infrastruc- ture, increasingly non-functional and inadequate quantities of equipment and obsolete software and hardware and will be used to improve the level student experience. The Faculty also acknowledged the effect of rising infla- tion rates, exacerbated by the pandemic, and recent global conflicts on its student population and their ability to meet additional tuition and other fees such as the science fee. The Faculty therefore, sought and received approval by the Campus’ F&GPC for the establishment of the Faculty of Science and Technology Scholarship Fund at its meeting of December 8, 2021, funded by donations from staff of the Faculty. This fund will be used to award scholarships and bursaries to students based on established criteria.
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS ANNUAL REPORT TO COUNCIL 2021/2022
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