About OBUS

The Board for Undergraduate Studies (BUS), in a nutshell, has responsibility for General Policy, Quality Assurance and Quality Audit and preservation of regionality at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

 

1. Responsibility for General Policy

BUS sets out general policy guideline with respect to matters within which campus may act, and against which they must measure proposals, to monitor campus actions in this regard; to refer matters back to the campus; and ultimately to review, amend, control or disallow any such act. 

The Board has the ultimate authority to set policy, guidelines with respect to matriculation, programmes, examinations, first degree, certificates and diplomas.

 
2. Preservation of Regionality

CARICOM Heads of Government, articulated in the Grand Anse Declaration in July 1989, explicitly recognised the pivotal role of the UWI and have made a commitment that the University of the West Indies "shall continue indefinitely as a regional institution. "The work of BUS is setting policy on the structure of programmes, is seen as a way of preserving and strengthening the regional content and orientation of the degree programmes of the University. Quality Audit and Assurance mechanisms are also designed to preserve the regional nature of the University.
 

3. Quality Audit and Assurance
 

This is the main area specified by the Governance Report and one which takes up the bulk of the work of the Office of the Board for Undergraduate Studies which serves the Board. BUS has the power to monitor, audit and review teaching/learning activities of the campuses that impinge on the undergraduate programmes.
 

The office of the Board for Undergraduate Studies (OBUS) carries out the policies and directives of BUS, and since OBUS began its work in 1996, its central responsibility has been the development and implementation of the system of Quality Assurance and Quality Audit throughout the UWI that was mandated by the Report of the Chancellor's Commission on Governance.