Office of Planning

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During academic year 2020/2021, the UOP continued to provide technical and advisory support to the various units within the Vice-Chancellery and the other business units within the university system as they implemented strategic and operational initiatives to assist The UWI to fulfil its Triple A Strategic Plan 2017–2022, Mission and Vision.

The UOP organised its work around four non-mutually exclusive portfolios, namely: Strategic Planning, Business Intelligence/Institutional Research, Economic Engagement/Industry Partnerships and Business Process Re-engineering/Project Management. These units carried out technical as well as routine administrative work across seven broad portfolios:

• Survey design and implementation
• Policy research for the development of proposals for new business
• Strategic planning
• Development of ICT systems for monitoring and evaluation of major projects
• Execution of special projects that will enhance the work of the University
• Participation in university ranking exercises
• Proposal developments to enhance operational efficiency

These portfolios assist the various units within The UWI with the implementation of the strategic plan and general operational efficiency to drive organisational effectiveness.

ACCESS

Concept Papers and Reports

Some of the major papers and reports drafted and presented at various meetings by members of the UOP team over the course of the academic year:

• Concept paper for the “Young Scholars/Early Researchers Diaspora Doctoral Mentorship Programme” with Portsmouth Business School, UK, and Department of Management Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, St. Augustine Campus
• Statistical Digest 2015/2016 to 2019/2020
• Reports from the Student and Staff Satisfaction
Surveys 2021 (presented at the following University Meetings: Committee of Deans; Board of Undergraduate Studies and Board of Graduate Studies and Research over the period May 17–20, 2021)
• “Towards Metrics Centred Management at the UWI: Update on Progress”, prepared for the University Finance and General Purposes Committee Meeting, May 21, 2021
• Concept Paper: “Process for the Mapping of Ranking Variables into the One UWI BI System”
• Convening of workshops to better align the work of the campuses to the wider UWI system

The Office also developed a Model to Predict Student Retention and Dropout.

Survey Instruments Prepared

• The UWI Survey of Campus Visual Art Collections
• Student Survey on Perceptions of Gender and Gender-related Issues
• An Assessment of Interest in Online Courses at The University of the West Indies

Metrics Workshop

The first Metrics Workshop, was held over the period March 10–11, 2021, via Zoom, with key data owners and senior executives from the University. The aim was to identify a core set of metrics for systematically measuring and tracking operational performance starting academic year 2021/2022.

The second workshop was held on May 26, 2021, with the UOP and Campus Planning Officers via Zoom. The aim was to discuss and harmonise the key work elements of the institutional research and business intelligence portfolio of all entities.

UOP Bulletin

The UOP maintained its production of the UOP Bulletin. The bulletin, based on the STEEP Model (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental and Political), highlights major developments in the higher education sector that impact the strategic direction of The UWI. For the reporting period, the unit produced three issues of the Bulletin:

• Trends in Higher Education Vol. 3 Issue 1 – Political Trends (October 2020)
• Trends in Higher Education Vol. 3 Issue 2 – Social Trends (February 2021)
• Trends in Higher Education Vol. 3 Issue 3 – Technology Trends (May 2021)

The information from these bulletins help owners of strategic initiatives to better plan how best to execute on them, taking into account the changing dynamics of the environment in which the institution operates.

ALIGNMENT

• Draft Concept Note for a major conference on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Future of Caribbean Enterprises
• New Governance Model to establish a UWI Holding Company and Campus Corporate Companies to coordinate and structure UWI subsidiaries
• Best Practice International Universities Governance Models
• The UWI Guyana Strategy Proposal
• Caribbean Development Bank Digital Transformation Initiative

AGILITY

Quarterly reviews and virtual training on BSC system

With the assistance of the Strategy Steering Committee, which comprised all the strategy officers from the campuses and the University Centre, the UOP engaged in quarterly reviews of the progress and status of the initiatives put forward from each Campus and the Vice-Chancellery for the Triple A Plan 2017–2022. The UOP also continued to provide virtual training sessions to faculty and staff engaged in the monitoring and evaluation of the strategic plan, on how to navigate the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) System.

Strategic retreat

Following the launch of the inaugural annual Executive Management Retreat in 2019, the UOP convened its third instalment of the EMT Retreat on July 14, 2021, via Zoom, as the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow for face-to-face meetings of the executives. The aims of the retreat were to have an Executive Session to review the plans to close out Strategic Plan 2017–2022, and to commence plans for the preparation of the Strategic Plan 2022–2027. The participants at the retreat comprised members of the UWI EMT, Campus Bursars and Registrars, along with members of the University Office of Planning.

Business Intelligence System

The UOP worked closely with the Office of the University CIO to continue the build-out of the first Business Intelligence System for the institution. This system provides live and static data on key metrics that are used to track the operational performance of The UWI over time.

The UOP also engaged in the development of concept papers on a number of areas to drive greater efficiency in The UWI’s operations:

• Developed a Prototype for a Competitor Analysis
Database, which provides The UWI with a comprehensive set of information on all institutions that provide direct or indirect competition to it.
• Established a system to track and monitor The UWI’s cost saving and revenue generation initiative to rebalance its financial position—the “10 in 2” financial model tracking system.

Rankings

Besides the technical work on major projects, the UOP also led the coordination and submission of data to Times Higher Education for its University Rankings assessments.