Revitalising Caribbean Development

With the new Strategic Plan 2017–2022 coming into effect, The UWI looks forward to refocusing and reiterating its intention to be an invaluable contributor to Caribbean development. The new Plan is centred around a Triple A Strategy for The UWI, namely:

  • Widening Access to quality tertiary education;
  • Greater Alignment of The UWI as one university with academic-industry partnerships relevant to the region's needs;
  • Agility and alertness in engaging global connections and possibilities.

The new Plan is a result of a year of activity, principally conducted by the University Office of Planning (UOP) and involving the engagement of all stakeholders, both internal and external, through the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. It entailed several retreats by executive members of staff, and conversations with staff and faculty from all campuses and units. The draft Strategic Plan was presented at the Annual Business Session of The University Council in April 2017 and was unanimously approved.

This approval was immediately followed by a series of training sessions to inform and familiarise strategy officers in all locations, including the use of the Balanced Scorecard system that will be used to monitor and evaluate the effective implementation of the plan. The UOP also established a strategy steering committee that will meet fortnightly to review the progress and status of each campus and the Vice-Chancellery in the execution of their initiatives to fulfil the Mission and Vision of the plan.

The Triple A Strategy will provide the roadmap for The UWI over the next five years. It comprises 12 high-level strategic objectives, 18 high-level key performance indicators with their respective targets and 38 high- level initiatives to be executed over the medium-term of the next two years.

These are all captured in the University's and campuses' balanced scorecards, which will be reviewed annually but monitored quarterly. For effective implementation, the scorecard will be linked to the annual performance review of the initiative owners. The University and campus senior management teams will provide operational governance over the strategic plan to ensure its effectiveness. They will be supported by the committees and work groups that will be established to execute various initiatives. At the end of the planning cycle, The UWI should be more accessible, aligned and agile than it is today and will be able to deliver greater value to its students, alumni and stakeholders and support the revitalisation of Caribbean development.