Overview
T he University of the West Indies, Mona – Western Jamaica Campus (WJC) completed its 15 th year of operations in the city of Montego Bay with heightened expectancy and an ambivalent sense of hope. This was primarily due to the nega- tive impact of the austere financial realities coupled with increased demand on a physical plant that still requires constant repurposing. During the latter half of the year, in particular, the financial and infrastructural challenges further provoked pre-existing anxieties about the consequences of falling new student registrations, gaps in recruiting and retaining qualified faculty, and returning to face-to-face teaching with inadequate capacity to sustain the campus’ success agenda. For the period under review the new students registration fell to the lowest since the establishment of the campus in 2008 (118 v. 179); but the returning students rate was still high enough to keep the overall campus enrollment at just about two- thirds of its pre-Covid total (613 v. 904). There were also continued streamlining of the academic offerings, including termination of two programmes and suspension of several courses, and a stubborn reluctance to strategically reduce the campus’ over dependence on adjunct engagement. Nevertheless, the WJC managed to ride with the tides delivering notable successes in several undertakings aimed at main- taining its vision as a center of excellence in higher education for Western Jamaica and the global marketplace. The academic year 2022/23 also saw increased faculty engagement in academic and industry conferences, lectures, seminars and publications as well as between the academy and the community. Among the events on which the campus had lead responsibility were the Western Regional Mental Health Conference Virtual Edition 2.0 (October 12–13), the 2 nd biennial Caribbean Sustainable Cities Confer- ence – GS2.2022 (November 16–18); and the first Jamaica Youth Tourism Summit – Future-Proofing Tourism For Us delivered as a course project in the tourism management programme (December 1). All of which not only demonstrated our alignment with the industry and community but also kept critical audience eyes, ears, and minds on the campus. Beyond that, the UWI Mona WJC’s reputation for higher level leadership and involvement across multiple spheres of life in the western region – health and wellness, education, municipal governance, sustainable cities and communities,
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