Principal's Report - Cave Hill Campus

Professor The Most Hon. V. Eudine Barriteau

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal

During the academic year 2019/2020. the Cave Hill Campus, once again demonstrated resilience in its effective and innovative responses, though faced with sustained financial challenges, coupled with the social, administrative, and other operational challenges unleashed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

With The UWI Triple A Strategic Plan as its compass, the Campus worked to improve Access through designing new programmes and improving the quality of teaching, learning and student development. It promoted Alignment through pursuing greater academic activism and public advocacy, while strengthening and improving its academic/industry/government research partnerships. Many of its greatest gains occurred in achieving Agility, through initiatives designed to improve process efficiency, cost reduction, service delivery, communication, and leverage technology to introduce new pedagogical approaches aimed at improving student success.

The Campus continued to pursue the strategic goals of Access, Alignment and Agility, during the year under review, with Internationalisation and the Smart Campus Initiative as its overarching strategies.

Access

  • Enrolment Snapshot
    Total Student Enrolment: 6,668 – up 8.2%
    Undergraduate Enrolment: 5,655
    Postgraduate Enrolment: 1,013
  • The Centre for Biosecurity Studies, the first and sole entity in the Caribbean, explicitly devoted to confronting multidimensional biosecurity issues was operationalized on August 1, 2019.
  • The School of Governance and Public Policy was launched on February 25, 2020. Preceding the Launch, the Campus signed an MOU with the Government of Barbados on November 20, 2019 to provide public sector employees with additional opportunities for self- improvement and career advancement.
  • The Centre for Professional Development and Lifelong Learning (CPDLL)'s enrolment increased by 127%, compared to the previous year.
    • In response to the needs of governments and other organisations to retrain and upskill their employees, the Centre developed new short courses in Digital Transformation, Cybersecurity and Risk Management, e-Logistics, Data Analytics for Decision Making, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Electronic Records Management, and other key areas.
  • The CPDLL signed an agreement with the Learning and Development Directorate, Ministry of the Public Service to facilitate the delivery of language training in Chinese for Business and Portuguese for Business for the Public Service of Barbados.
  • Following the national lockdown, the Centre offered a series of free webinars to the public to continuously engage prospective delegates and external stakeholders. The webinars explored various topics, including: Digital Business; Workplace Health and Wellness: Open for Business during COVID-19; Auditing Analytics; and Introduction to Cybersecurity.
  • On August 1, 2020, the Campus launched its seventh Faculty, the Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts (FCCPA), envisioned to support the Orange economy and the creative industries in Barbados and the Caribbean.
  • The previously articulated joint degree in Preclinical Sciences between The UWI, Cave Hill Campus and the University of Ghana received the approval of the National Council for Tertiary Education of the Republic of Ghana during the academic year 2019/2020.
  • The Student Enrolment and Retention Unit (SERU) blazed the internationalisation trail, expanding its efforts to increase brand recognition for the Campus in targeted countries, while seeking to consolidate recruitment from traditionally strong source markets.
  • The Centre for English Language Learning (CELL) mounted several face-to face courses and transitioned to online offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period January 6-17, 2020, the Centre welcomed seven professional interpreters from various parts of North America and Europe to the English in the Caribbean for Interpreters programme.
  • Given the protocols instituted by the Government of Barbados on the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, all English as a Second Language (ESL) Programmes courses were expeditiously migrated online, and the CELL's website (www.cavehill.uwi. edu/cell) went live.
  • In August 2019, the Government of Barbados hosted the President of Kenya, His Excellency the Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, in an effort to strengthen bilateral relations in areas of mutual interest between Barbados and the Republic of Kenya. Then in January 2020 a delegation of the Cave Hill Campus, headed by Professor the Most Honourable Eudine Barriteau visited the Republic of Kenya which led to the signing of two MOUs with the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University.

Alignment

  • An MOU between BITT Digital Inc and The UWI, Cave Hill Campus signed on August 20, 2019 provides for the Campus to be registered as a merchant on the mMoney Merchant Solution through the equipping of the Campus' money collection points with Android or iOS SIM card enabled devices, meeting the minimum mMoney merchant specifications communicated by BITT. The support provided by BITT enables the Campus' access to its mMoney Merchant Solution in support of the Campus' Smart Campus Initiative.
  • On December 4, 2019, the Campus renewed its MOU with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), which formally confirmed the QEH, the Geriatric and Psychiatric Hospitals, and the local Polyclinics as clinical training sites of The UWI. Lieutenant Colonel the Honorable Jeffrey Bostic, MP, Minister of Health and Wellness on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Wellness during his remarks at the Signing Ceremony, described The UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences as the bedrock of the healthcare system in Barbados.
  • An MOU between the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and The UWI, Cave Hill Campus through the Shridath Ramphal Centre (SRC) was signed on January 23, 2020 which provides for the SRC to conduct training on behalf of OECS member states through the offering of various postgraduate and certificate courses, with the aim of increasing knowledge capacity in Trade Policy Formulation, and creating an evidenced-based approach to Trade Policy Formulation and Negotiation in both the public and private sectors.
  • As the Campus continued to strengthen its research agenda, many Faculties, Departments and Centres successfully pursued grant funding, and were major contributors to this agenda. Examples include:
  • George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA- CDRC)
    • Intervention Co-creation to Improve Community-based Food Production and Household Nutrition in Small Island Developing States (Total grant funding of GBP 990,806, with GBP 206,672 coming to The UWI).
    • Strengthening capacity to tackle Non- Communicable Disease (NCD) in the Caribbean (CAD 298,000)
  • Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES)
    • Adapting to a New Reality: Managing Responses to Influxes of Sargassum Seaweed in the Eastern Caribbean as Ecosystem Hazards and Opportunities (USD 981,393)
    • Climate Change and Poverty Nexus for Enhancing Resilient Fisheries Livelihoods and Food Security in Barbados, Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis (BBD 265,896)
    • Services Towards Regional Implementation of the Climate Change Adaptation of the Fisheries Sector in the Eastern Caribbean Project (BBD 293,976)
    • The Nature Conservancy: Conservation Partnership Agreement (USD 494,500)

Agility

  • The sustained efforts of the Smart Campus Initiative proved invaluable in the year under review. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of 2020 set the stage for the Cave Hill Campus to respond with resilience to the pending challenges. The sound foundation of that response was already laid, and the Campus ensured that its modern ICT systems were implemented. These systems and their use were exemplified by effective use of the Microsoft Office 365 platform to create a virtual work environment to allow the administration of the Campus to continue functioning even during the island-wide lockdown, as part of Government's response to the threat of COVID-19. Some key examples of Office 365 applications used included:
    • Teams to create virtual spaces for business meetings and meetings with students
    • SharePoint and OneDrive to provide secure access to required documents
    • Forms to collect feedback from students and staff
    • Bookings to facilitate the scheduling of meetings with students
    • Power Apps to create custom applications, such as an application to collect COVID-19 contact tracing information as required in the fight against the spread of the virus
  • With the shift to emergency remote course delivery and assessment in the second semester, the Campus' learning management systems, Moodle and Blackboard Collaborate were tailored to accommodate the much higher demand for online delivery that was expected of the systems.
  • Staff across the Campus were trained to ensure that they could effectively execute their roles, given the restrictions in place to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. This critical aspect of the performance of the Campus through trying times exemplifies a Smart Campus – one that balances the deployment of technology with improving the skillsets of its human resources needed to maximise its use to guarantee the survival of the Campus.
  • Progress was also made during the year in the development of key systems designed to improve their respective processes. These included:
    • Human Resources Performance Management System
    • Enhanced Postgraduate Admission Process o Health and Safety Information Management System
    • Shuttle Management System
  • A significant new initiative was the expansion of the Faculty of Law's LLM programme with the commencement of its double degree programme with the University of Leuphana, based in Lüneburg, Germany.
  • A new Executive MBA in Health Care Management programme was developed by the Faculty of Medical Sciences in collaboration with the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, through which the programme will be administered. The fully online programme geared towards health professionals wishing to develop leadership and management skills received Board for Graduate Studies and Research (BGSR) approval in May 2020, for a January 2021 intake.
  • The Faculty of Law celebrated the golden anniversary of its establishment at the Cave Hill Campus in 1970. It marked several milestones of its 50-year journey and embarked on new initiatives.
  • The iconic four-storey administration building was renamed in honour of Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), President of Universities Caribbean, and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.