The Alumni Ambassadors of the UWI STAT Corps
The Alumni Ambassadors of the UWI STAT Corps are now the power behind the Young Alumni Advocates (YAA) and remain - Committed to Caribbean Self- Reliance and Sustainablity"
Established: Feb 12, 2020
Objective: The YAA - i.e. alumni under 48 years of age, will operate regionally and internationally as an active resource network for each other, will visibly promote alumni engagement and interact with their respective campuses.
Operations and Reporting: Under the Director of Alumni Relations, IAD, Vice Chancellery, The UWI Regional Headquarters, (Celia Davidson Francis) - the Alumni Ambassadors will organize and lead the YAA and will work with and through the Director’s office to interface with the UWI RHQ, campuses and the UWIAA Chapters. They will operate autonomously, but in a complimentary and supportive way in each UWI country and internationally. There will be an Advisory Board made up of Alumni Ambassadors. The Board will serve for two years, comprising a YAA country Chair (e.g. YAA Chair Barbados) and Vice Chairs of Volunteerism. Outreach, Communications and Promotion and Finance. The Director of Alumni Relations is the regional Coordinator and ex-officio member. All other members will be termed YAA Liaisons.
Mandate: They will operate mainly virtually, with face to face activities, to encourage continuous engagement with The UWI and recent graduates in a structured way with the support of the Director and Campus Alumni Officers, including:
- Meet Ups with alumni abroad when travelling arranged by Alumni Relations – IAD for networking benefit of YAA Alum Ambassadors and to promote awareness of alumni engagement and The UWI abroad
- Participation in the Alumni Engagement Programme and the use and promotion of the Pelicans Engage App
- Speakers (sharing expertise, challenges, tips, articles with current students) & lead or additional participants in the Soft and Life Skills Series
- Be or recommend alumni as speakers for Pelican Talks, UWI TV and other media opportunities
- Host an annual social event on each campus in association with the Director’s Office and the Campus Alumni Officers which promotes Pelican Pride and UWI entrepreneurs
- Organise, participate in. moderate and support the UWI/YoPro Annual Networking Conference
- Host an annual virtual Chill Chat Reunion – to hear about each other’s lives and ideas
- Virtual and on island/country support and Mentorship of current UWI STAT Regional Corps
Campus Interaction: The Campus Alumni Officer will liaise with the Principal/Deputy Principal of the respective Campus to ensure that the YAA plans support campus priorities & synergy and open communications are established and continue annually, despite any changes which may occur from time to time in the Campus Administration or the YAA Advisory Board.
ACTIVITIES TO DATE
Ongoing - Mentorship of current UWI STAT Ambassadors
FUN CONNECTIONS
1. Periodic ZOOM "Link- Ups" - to get to know each other and share experiences, as well as to develop camaraderie with fellow Alumni Ambassadors from your own or other campses, across the globe. To create a network so that when visiting or moving to different cities or countries, fellow Alumni Ambassadors can give useful advice - best place to eat, great doctor for kids, places to avoid as the service is bad or areas to avoid as they are dangerous, for example.
2. Networking Mixers - professional mixers to make valuable connections professionally. - can be arranged with fellow Ambassadors - also invite co-workers and bosses to increase networks - in a particular country or city.
A BIT OF HISTORY
In 2016-2017, the first ever Chairpersons of the Advisory Board for the Alumni Ambassadors at Mona, Marissa Longsworth and Nicolette Wright, worked with their peers, Prunella Mungroo (St. Augustine) and Dario Welch (Cave Hill) and the Director of Alumni Relations - The UWI, Mrs. Celia Davidson Francis to establish framework to engage all the Alumni Ambassadors on an ongoing basis - and in 2020 the YAA was officially launched. .
Legacy Programme: The Alumni Ambassadors work with the UWI Museum to help preserve the social history of the UCWI and UWI through the Oral History Legacy Programme .
How? By interviewing graduates in person, by phone or via ZOOM, to help find out the history and heritage of their Alma Mater and also encourage cross-generational connections.
This interesting and easy project allows the Alumni Ambassadors to take part in preserving the history of the UWI through the stories and memories of graduates and retirees.
