Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs
The Office of Global Affairs (OGA), situated in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, is tasked with raising The UWI's international standing and strengthening and expanding The UWI's alliances with international universities, research institutions and other organizations.
From its inception in July 2016 to June 2020, the Office was led by Pro Vice-Chancellor, Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal. On his retirement from the post, he was succeeded on July 1, 2020 by Dr. Luz Longsworth, who in addition to becoming the new Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs, remains Principal of the Open Campus.
On June 30, 2020, Dr. Christine Marrett, Senior Programme Officer, who was with The UWI for 38 years, proceeded on pre-retirement leave and subsequently retired from the university at the end of September 2020. Dr. Marrett's storied attachment with The UWI saw her holding office in all previous incarnations of the OGA including The UWI Distance Teaching Experiment (UWIDITE), the Office of External Relations, Inter- and Intra-Institutional Collaboration (ERIIC), and the Central Office for Regional and International Affairs (CORIA).
The OGA has as part of its cluster: the Latin American-Caribbean Centre (LACC), headed by Ambassador Gillian Bristol; the Office of Online Learning, led by Mrs. Pauline Francis Cobley; and the Office of Global Partnerships and Sustainable Futures, whose Director is Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy. Size notwithstanding, the OGA has pursued its mandate with gusto and for the academic year 2019/2020 worked to initiate, support, monitor and facilitate The UWI's global engagement to advance The UWI Triple A Strategy.
One key aspect of The UWI's strategy for internationalisation is the establishment of a physical presence "on all the continents". In the furtherance of this goal, The UWI has entered partnerships with institutions across the globe. To date, agreements to establish or work toward the establishment of joint centres have been made with the State University of New York, University of Lagos, University of Johannesburg, Coventry University, Brock University, University of Glasgow, University of Havana and most recently, the European University Institute.
Seen as central to its mandate, the raising of the global profile of The UWI, the OGA in the year under review played a major role in organizing and executing the following public fora:
Professor Orlando Patterson Ian Forrest
As another central part of its mandate, the OGA continues to maintain a searchable database of some 450 campus and university-wide agreements. Working with the Office of the University Chief Information Officer (UCIO) an attempt has been underway to localize the database (formerly housed on the UCosmic platform) to make it more accessible to the wider UWI community.
In the OGA's efforts to garner support for and strengthen The UWI's international initiatives, the OGA met with the representatives of several resident diplomatic missions. Of those, the work done with the Canadian High Commission in Jamaica is deserving of special mention. The High Commission, through active engagement of the High Commissioner, Her Excellency Laurie Peters, lent much support to the founding and subsequent work of the UWI-Brock led Canada Caribbean Institute.
Close collaboration with Latin American embassies and other institutions in Latin America was continued through the Latin American and Caribbean Centre (LACC).
In response to the impact of the pandemic, the OGA with the Office of Online Learning met with representatives of edX, the global online learning juggernaut. This culminated in The UWI receiving and distributing some 5,000 free online courses to its students and staff. The courses were tenable at universities across the globe.
During the period under review, Pro Vice-Chancellor Bernal was also elected to the board of the Latin American Scholarship Program of American Universities (LASPAU).
The OGA continued to provide guidance to the Jamaica Defence Force in support of the MOU signed in 2019 to facilitate the building up of capacity at the Caribbean Military Academy.The OGA through Programme Officer, Mr. Ian Forrest, worked closely with Special Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Jeremy Collymore in the signing and management of the UNDP-UWI Resilient Recovery Services Agreement. The agreement facilitated the delivery of consultative services which produced a "Resilient Recovery Policy for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas", post-Hurricane Dorian. The UWI had been quick to demonstrate its support and solidarity with the people of the Bahamas in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Category 5 hurricane.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Bernal attended virtual meetings for the Barbados-sponsored Global Commission on Small Island Developing States — Trade Development Options 2020. Prime Minister, the Hon. Mia Mottley of Barbados, who invited PVC Bernal to be a commissioner, established the commission to examine issues critical to small island states ahead of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XV which was scheduled for October 18–23, 2020 in Barbados. As a Board member, Pro Vice-Chancellor Bernal attended meetings of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Economic Growth Council and the Coconut Industry Board.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Bernal was featured in "Who Wins and Who Loses? Jamaica on China's Belt and Road Initiative", aired on The National, the CBC's (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's) flagship nightly news programme (November 26, 2019). He also continued his regular weekly radio commentary on the global economy aired on Jamaican radio station, Power 106.
David Common (CBC) and Ambassador Bernal
Pro Vice-Chancellor Richard Bernal was a speaker at the "International Symposium on Migration", held at SALISES on August 13, 2019. He also spoke at the 2nd Tourism Resilience Summit of the Americas conference held at The UWI on October 9, 2019 which was attended by Programme Officer, Mr. Ian Forrest. Ambassador Bernal gave the keynote address at the Inaugural Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning and Practitioners Symposium held at The UWI Regional Headquarters from October 24–25, 2019.
Dr. David Smith, Dr. Stephen Flynn and Ambassador Bernal
Ambassador Bernal addressing Education Forum
The OGA lent support to the 23rd staging of the American Foundation of The University of the West Indies (AFUWI) Gala, with Programme Officer, Ian Forrest, being sent in advance of the event to provide needed assistance. Pro Vice-Chancellor and Mrs. Bernal attended as guests of the black-tie affair, which annually raises funds to provide scholarships for UWI students across the region.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Bernal also held meetings with UWI affiliates including the Sir Shridath Ramphal Centre, with which work was done to effect the signing of an MOU with the European University Institute.
The OGA continued to create opportunities for departments and the faculties to engage the region through the facilitation of franchise and articulation arrangements between The UWI and tertiary level institutions in the region. The OGA also worked to facilitate partnerships with international institutions to enable the development of dual degrees. The OGA worked with the Board for Undergraduate Studies and Board for Graduate Studies and Research to draft a policy that would be applicable to both graduate and undergraduate degrees and a template for the development of inter-institutional degrees.
BSA PRO Brittany Nairn, BSA President Tonia-Kaye Johnson, Dr. Barbara Carby and Ambassador Bernal
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