ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS REPORT
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
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sod turning ceremony was held at the Department of Life Sciences’ Peace Park. The Pollinator Garden Project will serve as an education space for students as well as promoting awareness about the importance of flora and fauna that are critical to the ecosystem. This project aligns with the Campus’ efforts to promote sustainability, conservation and environmental education.
To further the continuing professional education and micro credentialing drive, a resource person was appointed to assist faculties. Process and Service Improvements for Staff and Student Satisfaction The Office of the Deputy Principal spearheaded training in customer service for 176 members of staff from across the Campus, stressing the human touch. Meanwhile, other areas of the Campus, such as the Campus IT Services, the Faculty of Law, and Financial Advisory Services, turned to technology to streamline services, improve user experiences, and improve data collection and analysis. The Procurement Unit and the Campus Legal Office conducted extensive sensitisation sessions and provided support to the entire Campus in implementing procedures, forms and templates and policies to ensure compliance by the UWISTA with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act of Trinidad and Tobago (2023) and attendant regulations. The Campus itself successfully completed the registration and prequalification process in order to provide services and consultancies to public bodies. In 2022/2023, the Campus returned to face-to-face/ in-person/physical final examinations. For the academic year a total of approximately 1,873 final examinations were conducted. In the face of industrial action, the Semester II final examinations were successfully managed with minimal disruption. As part of the next steps towards implementing the Triple A Strategy at the Campus Level and in service of our strategic objective of continuing the development of a “creative, caring, accountable, motivated, professional (CAMP) team” (AG2), an Employee Satisfaction and
On Monday, March 27, 2023 the inventors at the Campus met with the Chief Executive Officer and a team from the ANSA McAL Group of Companies to showcase the Campus’ innovative products. This came about following several meetings between Professor Antoine and ANSA McAL. The Breakfast Meeting, hosted by the Office of the Campus Principal, provided an opportunity to learn more about the Campus’ commercial projects, including UWI Fine Cocoa Products and UWI SEAL-IT. The UWI SEAL-IT is a spin-off company, incorporated as a for-profit company in December 2020, offering durable coatings and sealants that can withstand the harshest environmental conditions with a lifespan of up to 20 years. These solvents provide UV protection, are non- toxic and non-carcinogenic. The International Fine Cocoa Innovation Centre (IFCIC) began its expansion into the fine chocolate industry with the symbolic foundation laying ceremony for The UWI Chocolate Factory at the University Field Station in Mount Hope on April 24, 2023. Beyond fine chocolate and couverture, the factory will be equipped to produce a range of value-added cocoa-based products for local and international markets, including cocoa nibs and cocoa liquor. During the review period, the FFA also produced an organic pesticide, Biophyt 1.0, for sale. Biophyt 1.0 is a biopesticide designed for tropical vegetable production systems. A safe, eco-friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides, it promotes plant growth and effectively manages diseases. The Campus, in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Nett TT), launched the Pollinator Garden Project on June 23, 2023. The
Microcredentialing and MOOCs
The Campus continues to work towards ensuring that programme offerings are relevant and sustainable. A new committee, the Committee for Academic Programme Evaluation and Rationalisation (CAPER), was established to review academic programming on the Campus. This is in addition to a project to develop a self-financing strategy for academic and professional development programmes. Apart from expanding the number of courses presented in a blended format, in June 2023 the Faculty of Social Sciences introduced four course “bundles” as part of a Microcredentials Accelerator Path Programme. This is a new approach to professional education, providing working professionals with skills and knowledge they can apply now to enhance their careers and to better satisfy the needs of their organisations. Meanwhile, the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at St. Augustine partnered with their Mona counterparts to produce a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) titled Powerful Women and the Principles of Feminist Transformational Leadership. Launched on September 26, 2022, as of May 21, 2023 it had recorded interest from 391 persons from 81 countries. In December 2022, another collaboration – this time with the FFA, led to the launch of another MOOC titled Gender, Climate Justice and Food Systems Resilience. Both courses are available on the global
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