Principal's Report - Open Campus

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The 2019/2020 annual year will forever be memorable as it was swiftly and sharply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, as the leader in online education in the Caribbean, the Open Campus was perfectly positioned to respond to the challenges which the fight against a global pandemic quickly created. In addition to swiftly responding to the unprecedented challenges which arose from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Open Campus continued to work dedicatedly towards achieving the goals set out in The UWI Triple A Strategic Plan.

Access

• Enrolment Snapshot
  Total student enrolment: 7,956 – up 24%
  Undergraduate enrolment: 6,411 – up 16%
  Enrolment in Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) increased by 38.6% over the strategic objective set, and an 18% growth over the previous year.
• The effects of COVID-19 in March 2020 were preceded by Hurricane Dorian, which battered The Bahamas in September 2019. These events and their widespread implications brought to the fore the importance of the Open Campus' hybrid online and face-to-face offerings, the technological capacity to fully support online learning, and the facility to access the learning exchange via the Moodle App that allows students to download online material with mobile devices.
• The swift move from face-to-face to online teaching of CPE courses was achieved via a CPE Learning Exchange hosted on the Moodle platform to facilitate virtual delivery and assessment. Teaching was conducted predominantly via Blackboard (BBC) and Zoom. Tutors were trained for the effective use of Moodle and Blackboard Collaborate. Learners received similar instructions during specially-scheduled orientation sessions.
• Collaboration with the Eastern Caribbean Joint Board of Teacher Education (ECJBTE) to provide support to academic staff at community colleges, primary and secondary school teachers and ministries of education staff to quickly move to online modes for completion of teaching and learning activities in the school year cycle.
  • Six hours of professional development training for stakeholders in Anguilla, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Three online webinars were delivered:
    • Using A Web Conferencing Tool To Facilitate Online Delivery Of Content
    • Basics For Use Of The Moodle Learning Management System
    • How To Engage Students In The Online Environment.
  • Design, development, and delivery of an eight-week certified online train-the-trainer programme entitled Designing and Delivering Engaging Online Learning Experiences for the Ministry of Education, Youth, and • Information, Jamaica, equipped participants with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver training to teachers in online pedagogy and design. Two courses:
    • "Developing Learning Materials for the Inclusive Online Classroom"
    • "Tools and Techniques for Teaching Online"
      120 senior education officers, school administrators, teacher-educators, technology coordinators and other experts participated in the training.
  • Development and delivery of the UNESCO "Distance Education Teachers' Training Initiative" valued at US$10,000.00, prepared teachers in Jamaica and select countries in the OECS to facilitate learning online as a rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prepared a cohort of 80 teachers and master teachers with the competencies, up-to-date tools, and resources to apply innovative teaching practices or pedagogies, to strengthen teacher capacity to respond to the current crises, as well as build resilience for future shocks in education.
  • Collaboration with the Office of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the implementation of a Parliamentary Academy as part of the Parliament's Comprehensive Strategic Development Plan for institutional capacity building to plan, develop and deliver a combination of seven courses and senior-level workshops to build the capacity and professional skills of 30 of its Members of Parliament (MPs). The Office of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is committed to funding this project to a total of TT$1,447,452.00.
  • An agreement with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) for the delivery of Post Graduate Diplomas in Junior Command and Staff Leadership was negotiated. The Open Campus anticipates a sum of US$72,987.50 for the first delivery of the Post Graduate Diploma.
  • The UWI and Countrystyle Community Tourism Network (CCTN) entered into a second MOU with shared professional development goals and training to advance community-based tourism in the region. This partnership seeks to advance community-based tourism as a strategy for sustainable development and an academic discipline, and to deliver an online Study Tour Workshop, which will provide participants with real-life experiences in executing community-based tourism activities.
  • A successful three-part webinar entitled "Navigating the Pandemic, Re-inventing the Business of Tourism" was executed.
  • The webinars achieved overall viewership above 2000 views on Facebook and cumulatively over 200 participants.
• The Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division participated in cross campus training online workshops to assist with moving classes online. This training, led by the Learning Support Supervisor, was conducted in March 2020 and covered 962 participants across all five UWI campuses.
• Twenty-five Open Campus full-time staff were among the trainees (inclusive of Site Technicians) as the Division built capacity for roll-out of further training and ensuring the technical support required would be available.
• To ensure that the Continuing and Professional Education face-to-face classes could continue following the lockdowns across countries in the region, the training team also worked with the CPE facilitators across Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS) to ready the Sites for the transition to teaching and learning in the virtual environment. The online training sessions were conducted in March 2020. Notably, one week post the start of training, ably supported by the Site Technicians who were themselves trained the week prior, the virtual classes began at some Sites.
• During the academic year, in preparation for a possible move toward online proctoring of final examinations, given the challenges associated with the spread of COVID-19, the Director APAD co-led a cross departmental team with the Senior Assistant Registrar, Assessment, Awards and Records (AAR) that piloted online proctoring systems Respondus and PSI Bridge RPNow. The reports on the administration of the examinations using Respondus and RPNow were presented at the meeting of the Board for Undergraduate Studies (BUS), and the Board for Graduate Studies (BGSR) in September/ October.
• The Guild of Students responded to the global COVID-19 pandemic and provided COVID-19 Relief Grants to support a total of 61 students during the crisis, amounting to US$18,245.
• In 2019/2020, the Caribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC) continued the implementation of two major projects:
  • The Transitional Living Programme for Children in State Care (TLP-CSC) project in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPSFA)
  • Justice Undertakings for Social Transformation - Social Order Component (JUST-SOC), sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• The Women and Development Unit (WAND) also began the Caribbean Abortion Access Research Project.

Alignment

• The UWI Open Campus through the Caribbean Child Development Centre and the Business Development Unit, partnered with the United Nations Children's Education Fund for the Eastern Caribbean Area (UNICEF ECA) to undertake the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Child Justice Project, research that would provide information about the current status of children and adolescents and inform the development of academic programmes in Child Rights Safety and Justice (CRSJ). The Open Campus Antigua and Barbuda worked closely with colleagues on the launch of the Five Islands Campus in Antigua in July 2019. The various events and activities associated with establishing the Five Islands Campus presented the opportunity for Open Campus Antigua to demonstrate collegiality, support and the importance of a One University image to the Antiguan public.
• Subsequent to the Five Islands Campus launch, Open Campus Antigua and Barbuda hosted the 2019 Open Campus Graduation Ceremony. The Pelican Awards and the Alumni Retreat coincided with the Graduation 2019 activities. A national \church service, island tour, stakeholder conference, and numerous press appearances formed part of the alumni experience and encouraged alumni engagement in Antigua.

Agility

• The OCCS pursued innovative funding sources to finance programmes and initiatives and to generate income, a sensibility that existed prior to the advent of COVID-19. For instance, to increase its revenue earning performance, Sites utilized their resources to develop, market and implement new CPE programmes to influence learner participation.
• At the Open Campus Dominica, the total number of CPE learners for the academic year 2018/2019 represented a 180% increase in CPE learner participation over the academic year 2017/2018. In 2019/2020, a further 23% increase in enrolment was recorded.
• Additionally, The Open Campus Jamaica Western successfully applied for exemption from Government Consumption Tax payment to reduce the cost of electricity.
• Arrangements were made for the relocation of the Bloom Trinidad and Tobago Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) necessitated by a facilities rationalization project that considered rent cost versus the maximization of use of available space within the Trinidad and Tobago sites. This translated to a significant cost saving per annum.
• The Open Campus transitioned all CPE learners from face-to-face to online delivery. This led to the creation of nearly 200 courses on the Learning Exchange (LE) by APAD as well as training for tutors and learners.
• A number of new courses were approved for offer during the 2019/2020 Academic Year. Some of these include:
  • Adolescent Health and Wellness: course development funded by the Pan American Health Organisation at US$15,750.00 (BB $31,500.00).
  • Exploring Nevisian History: developed for delivery by the OCCS in Saint Kitts and Nevis as a complement to an existing course entitled Exploring Kittitian History. The projected income from the first cohort is BB $3,673.00.
  • Intermediate Conversational Kwèyòl: developed by the OCCS in Dominica in response to demand emerging from the success of the course entitled Fundamentals of Conversational Kwèyòl approved in 2019. The projected income from the first cohort is BB $3,342.43.
  • Sports Coaching Psychology: developed to meet a specific need identified by the Dominica Olympic Committee, which sponsored the first cohort of participants. The projected income from the first cohort is BB $13,558.74.
  • Fundamentals of Disaster Risk Financing for Advancing Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States: developed with funding from CCRIF SPC and includes 10 scholarships provided by CCRIF SPC.
• Several workshops and webinars were offered:
  • CCRIF Train the Trainer Workshop: a fully funded workshop offered weekly for a total of five days over a period of five weeks designed to build the capacity of UWI Faculty to deliver the Fundamentals of Disaster Risk Financing for Advancing Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States course.
  • CCRIF Summer Programme – a fully funded workshop offered by CCRIF SPC through The UWI Open Campus in place of its usual summer internship programme.
  • SUMMER PASS – a collaborative OCCS and CPEC initiative to test cross-site operations for CPE delivery and to expand access to training at a low cost during the difficult economic times brought on by COVD-19. The gross revenue gained through this pilot initiative was BB $15,000.00.
  • Sports Broadcasting – a collaborative OCAS, CPEC and Faculty of Sport initiative that brought in 25 participants at US $750 per person for a five-day workshop spread across five weeks. This workshop was tremendously successful and attracted Olympians, professional cricketers, seasoned broadcasters and novices.
• Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Human Resource department, through collaboration with its internal stakeholders, expanded the existing Home Based Work Arrangement (HBWA) to include all staff across its jurisdictions. The HBWA allowed the Open Campus to continue functioning and maintaining its customary high service to stakeholders, notwithstanding the national shutdowns across the region. To appreciate how the staff was responding to the HBWA, the HR department, with the support of the Planning and Institutional Research (PAIR) Unit, circulated a survey to staff. The responses were instructive and allowed the department to expand and enhance its training/development programmes and counselling services for staff so that they may be better able to cope with working during the pandemic and beyond.
• 2019/2020 saw movement of the Cross-Campus Moodle (CCM) platform to an Amazon Web Services cloud hosted solution and managed the cross- campus migration.
• The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a decision to move the MBBS Final examination to delivery on the Cross-Campus Moodle (CCM) system—the University's virtual learning management system hosted by the Open Campus for delivery of cross- campus course materials for students who are registered at different UWI Campuses.
• COVID-19 and the various lockdowns which ensued increased the dependence on technology to such a degree that it was found that many individuals did not possess the requisite skills to manage the new demands. This was a catalyst for the planning of a free webinar entitled "Technology for Everyday Tasks" for prospective students as well as the public which provided training on the use of technology for online banking and bill payment. This community outreach initiative by Open Campus Jamaica Eastern provided a platform to highlight Open Campus programmes and courses.
• The Sites' technicians were tasked with monitoring online teaching sessions for CPE learners to ensure the effective delivery of teaching. By the summer of 2019/20, course participants were able to apply online to select from an offering of eight courses delivered over a 5-7-week period. A digitization project was also implemented to convert printed forms to electronic forms that were completed and submitted electronically.