DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS AND PHILOSOPHY
Dr. Vivette Milson-Whyte, M.Phil.; Ph.D. – Head of Department
T he 35 full time and 19 adjunct academic staff, nine (9) full time and one (1) part time administrative staff, one (1) full time support staff and several short term members of the three (3) academic sections, two (2) centres and two (2) units and main office of the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy (DLLP) engaged in 2022–23 with a focus on income generation as we attempted to oper- ationalize the institution’s 2022–27 Strategic Plan which emphasized a “revenue revolution”. We foregrounded engagement in initiatives to generate income or reduce expenditure where income generation was not possible while rationalis- ing our courses and programmes on instruction from the Vacancies Monitoring Committee (VMC), marketing our offerings and attempting to increase research, publications and conference presentations as well as outreach activities. Simultaneously, academic staff resumed teaching face-to-face, as directed by upper administrators, and made efforts to facilitate students who were unable to resume physically. The Department received permission for one-tenth (a total of 18 and 14 at the start of Semesters 1 and 2 respectively) of the Academic Literacies (FOUN) classes to be offered online weekly. Portions of other courses (always less than 50% of each) could be offered online and academics and students who were face-to-face were encouraged to assist students with travelling/access logistics issues to join classes remotely. Measures to assist such students included blended approaches and patching in mates via WhatsApp but both staff and students (in-person and remote) recognised that such measures were not sustainable. Most marked in the first semester of the year was the feeling that more preparation could have been done to identify spaces for teaching and have the appropriate equipment and cooling systems in place as some staff and students found themselves literally dripping wet in classrooms. Before a month was out, staff were trying to keep their footing between the challenges and the Head of Department’s charge for them to make the year more than an ordinary one, know their role and pursue their goals in full awareness of institutional limitations. While the Department’s
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