Imperatives

As a result of discussions with stakeholders and University constituents, there are four major imperatives which in my mind require attention.

1)      Strengthening the productivity of The University of the West Indies around a cohesive Strategic Plan, concentrating particularly on areas of perceived weakness.

2)      Re-building the contribution and presence of the University in UWI-12 countries based on a systemic identification of their human resource needs.

3)      Expansion of Programmes to address critical growth and development needs of the Caribbean.

4)      Broadening the Outreach and Financial Base of the Institution.

1. STRENGTHENING THE UNIVERSITY AROUND A COHESIVE
       STRATEGIC PLAN

The University community has a well structured strategic plan covering the years 2002-2007. Major goals of the plan include increasing access, quality, student-centredness, research productivity, international image, and financing. While progress has been made on many fronts, particularly, with respect to increased access (undergraduate enrolment has increased from about 23,000 to nearly 35,000 in the last five years), a number of gaps and challenges remain.  In the first year, my approach has been to determine what are the problems that pose an immediate threat to the University's credibility and service provision and to initiate efforts to deal with those problems. Areas being addressed included a restructuring of the Examination system; insurance of implementation of performance and accountability requirements of the staff, departments, faculty and campus levels, enhancement of data gathering to support management decisions; a comprehensive review of graduate programmes with an expectation that they will be re-structured to enable improved quality, research productivity and revenue generation;  and finally,  enhancement of the University's Office of Research to increase research productivity.

Promoting Student Exchange between Campuses

As the region moves towards greater integration, it is my belief that the University should play a leading  role in this process, with its students leading this effort. One of the major challenges that has arisen over the last two decades is the increasing concentration of students on the campuses of countries in which they are located. To reverse this trend we are embarking on a Programme entitled "The UWI Caribbean Integration Programme"  to promote movement of students between campuses. Our plan is to start with a pilot programme in which about 60 students will spend at least one semester on another campus. To this end, we shall seek support for travel and some living expenses for these students - the plan is that their fees and living expenses will be the same as on their "home campuses". As "UWI-12" Community Colleges enhance their own degree programmes in collaboration with UWI, our hope is that exchanges will be promoted between students of these colleges and those from the three major campuses.