ACCESS

Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS)

Open Campus Cayman Islands Partnership with HMCIPS

The Open Campus Cayman Islands renewed and extended the one-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service (HMCIPS) and the Open Campus for a period of five years until 2027. Under the revised MoU, there will be significant expansion of programme offerings both to the staff of the HMCIPS and inmates.

Over 80 inmates have received certificates for the successful completion of Continuing and Professional Education courses and fifteen HMCIPS staff members have completed CPE courses under the MoU.

Business Development Unit

The work of the Unit contributed to an increased offering in specialised areas, opening access to a diverse group of students and participants. One example for the academic year 2022/2023 includes the Organization of American States, which provided scholarships to students registered in the Certificate and BEd Early Childhood Education Programmes.

The BDU prepared a proposal for additional scholarships for which the OAS issued an initial scholarship agreement valued at US$90,000. Discussions continued among the BDU, the University Registrar’s Office and the OAS, resulting in an increase in the amount offered by the OAS.

THE UWI GOES FROM OPEN TO GLOBAL

The University Council approved the decision that the Open Campus be rebranded as the Global Campus, thus securing its tremendous legacy and the role it has for the future. This legacy, however, must be taken in the context of fundamental restructuring and reengineering.

One major initiative will be a for- profit entrepreneurial income-generating business school, the International School for Development Justice (ISDJ). Centred within the parameters of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will offer SDG- focused postgraduate academic programmes online.

Simultaneously, the rebranded Global Campus seeks to improve and extend its operations throughout the Caribbean region.

The Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS) continued its quest to increase students’ access to Senate- approved and continuing education programmes, thereby enhancing student enrolment across the region and beyond. To achieve this, the OCCS utilised various methods inclusive of programme development, partnerships and collaborations, and creative marketing and outreach strategies. Fourteen Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) courses were developed during the reporting period in six countries, on topics such as Introduction to Forensic Science; Sign Language Level III; Gender Budgeting; Gender Equality; Women and Girls’ Rights; Disaster Risk Financing; and CCRIF Parametric Insurance, among others.

In addition, the Continuing and Professional Education Centre (CPEC) developed eight new courses in collaboration with the Open Campus Country Sites and the Women and Development Unit branch of the Consortium for Social Development and Research.

Several other partnerships and collaborations were undertaken during the 2022/2023 academic year, resulting in the training of Cayman Islands’ Customs Border Control Officers, Grenada’s Ministry of Economic Development, Planning, Tourism, and Creative Economy employees, youth, women, and civil society leaders in Belize, as well as various public and private sector organisations in several countries which the OCCS serves.

Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate Programme

Collaboration with external subject matter professionals resulted in the development of an Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate programme. The goal of the certificate programme is to equip educators, caregivers, family members and paraprofessionals nterested in learning how to work with individuals on the autism spectrum with the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching and supporting children and youth on the autism spectrum. The first offering should commence in Semester I 2023/2024 and a cohort of 45 participants is expected, generating an estimated US$22,500.00.

Consortium for Social Development and Research (CSDR)

Social Work Training and Research Centre (SWTRC)

During the reporting period, the SWTRC offered five short courses and received Academic Board approval for the Mental Health First Responders course. Some of the courses offered include Grant Writing, Impact Assessment and Evaluation, Introduction to Play Therapy, Introductory Social Work and Mental Health First Responders. Many of these workshops and courses were attended by community leaders, counsellors and teachers across the region.

The SWTRC also continued to seek new partnerships with organisations to commit to the continuous training and development of their staff and other stakeholders within the private and public sectors, such as the partnership with Lawman Lynch Foundation (LLF). An agreement was also established with LLF for greater collaboration with scholarships for social work students and hosting seminars in the new academic year.

The Centre was also successful in bidding for the Caribbean Youth Fellowship II project through the International Republican Institute. This project seeks to build leadership and advocacy in youth aged 18–35 in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute (HSLSI)

The HSLSI has maintained partnership with Brock University (Canada), the Jamaica Employers’ Federation (JEF), the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) and The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). New partnerships were forged with Acorn Professional Group, Atlantic Council, Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), The Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PIOJ), The Transformation Implementation Unit and UN Women.

The HSLSI conducted 27 workshops on various topics relevant to industrial relations and the broad area of labour studies. The workshops focused mainly on the application of labour laws and industrial relations best practices. Members of organisations such as the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), Jamaica Employers Federation, the Urban Development Corporation, and Government of Jamaica Ministries and Agencies were in attendance.

Student Experience Unit (SEU)

The SEU led a full investigative review of the Campus’ Prior Learning and Assessment process, which led to the establishment of a dedicated Applicant Advising Committee. This Committee currently channels previously overlooked applicants into CPE courses as well as through the Mature Entry process.

Student Support and Services Department

The Student Support and Services Department created the First Year Experience Programme to help new students navigate their first year of studies at The UWI. This is achieved by creating learning communities, using information and communication technologies that connect first year students to academic and student development support services. Several webinars were held under this initiative for both Semesters 1 and 2 on topics such as Visual, Aural, Read/Write Kinesthetic (VARK) Learning Styles; Efficient Ways to Improve Student Writing; Note Taking Strategies for Online Learning; Working in Groups; and Scheduling (Keeping Track of Your Learning Exchange Tasks).

Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division

The APAD Division utilised various methods to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, which include but are not limited to essential pedagogy training, revision of Senate-approved programmes, and the delivery of the online facilitation courses, among others. Of particular note is the implementation of The Virtual Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (vCETL), Open Campus. This Centre has a professional development function at The UWI and is crucial for the training and coaching of full-time staff and adjuncts. The Centre will prove an invaluable addition to the Open Campus in its ongoing quest to enhance the quality of teaching and learning provided, with plans to create a virtual training laboratory for faculty and adjuncts, develop and deliver a new certificate training programme and/or new CUTL module in online course design and development, and facilitate the delivery of the Research Supervisor Development course, among many others.

Other activities which APAD facilitated in an effort to enhance the quality of teaching and learning include conducting workshops for adjuncts during January and February 2023 on improving mark schemes and rubrics, the review and revision of various courses and programmes, and provided support to the Digital Pedagogies for Sustainable Development Conference offered by the Office of Online Learning. This two-day practical conference, held on May 25–26, 2023, enabled participants to learn new knowledge and skills in online teaching and learning as they explored topics in practical workshop sessions. The aim of the workshop was to develop solutions to problems in online learning to make their institutions more sustainable, effective, and efficient in executing their mission. Day 1 explored Online Teaching and Learning at the classroom level and Day 2 focused on Institutional Strategies for Online Education.

Continuing and Professional Education Centre

Adopting The UWI Course Experience Instrument for CPE Evaluations

While The UWI-wide Course Experience Review instrument is utilised by the Open Campus to gauge student satisfaction for Senate-approved courses, CPE courses and programmes utilised a different survey instrument. In the 2022/2023 academic year, the Continuing and Professional Education Centre submitted a proposal to adopt The UWI Course Experience Instrument for all CPE courses and programmes, which was approved by AQAC with implementation AY 2023/2024. This move will further unify the approach for quality operations across The UWI, streamlining the process for future tool improvements and enabling precise comparative analysis of results across all campuses as students from various campuses respond to the same evaluation questions.

School for Graduate Studies and Research

The Open Campus Research Strategy extended the reach of the Office of the Director of Graduate Studies and Research to include a focus on improving graduate education at the Campus level and institutionalising the processes and structures for such improvement. The Office took up its responsibility for defining and implementing the research agenda of the Campus and the concomitant facilitation, monitoring, evaluation and management of the Campus research strategy. The draft Open Campus Research Strategy was presented and approved by the Open Campus Executive Management Committee (OCEMC) on August 5, 2022. The three main initiatives of the Strategy include creating an enabling environment for development of the research culture, increasing grant funded research for revenue growth, and developing collaborative research that facilitates inter-departmental, cross-campus and graduate student research.

Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division

The implementation of CETL will contribute to the quality and quantity of high impact research through participation in local, regional, and international conferences, the production of research output/ publications in relevant areas and facilitating the establishment of an online journal or similar online publication.

Consortium for Social Development and Research (CSDR)

Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute (HSLSI)

In the area of research, the HSLSI, in collaboration with Brock University, started a study entitled “Achieving Decent Work for Domestic Helpers in Jamaica”. The research and report were presented to the International Labour Organization at their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on July 12, 2023, and will be launched in Jamaica on October 12, 2023, at the headquarters of the Jamaica Household Workers Union (JHWU). A study entitled “Jamaica Public Sector Compensation Review 2022: Contextualizing Workers’ Perceptions” was submitted to SALISES Social and Economic Studies (SES) for review.

Women and Development (WAND) Unit

WAND was actively engaged in several research projects during the academic year. Concurrently, the Unit initiated preliminary work on the research project entitled “Femicide in the Region”. To support this research, an intern from the Give Back Programme in Barbados was assigned. The research programme is conducted in collaboration with the Canadian Observatory for Femicide Research and Equality Bahamas.

ALIGNMENT

Open Campus Grenada

A Reparations Forum was held on February 27, 2023 in Grenada. The Trevelyan Family made a formal apology to the people of Grenada for the ownership of six plantations and 1,200 enslaved in the eighteenth century. The family’s contribution to reparatory justice was US$127,000 to be used by The University of the West Indies Open Campus for bursaries to Grenadian students.

Special Initiatives Unit

During the review period the Unit was focused on seeking grant funding opportunities and funded projects to contribute to the revenue generation activities of the Campus. Among the proposals and Expressions of Interest submitted between January and March 2023, the Unit was successful in securing the OECS consultancy for the development and delivery of a course in Creative Arts Instruction for Primary School Teachers in Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This consultancy is ongoing with an expected end date of June 15, 2024.

Consortium for Social Development and Research (CSDR)

The Caribbean Child Development Centre successfully started a consultancy with a value of US$170,015 entitled “Develop a Positive Parenting Support Programme (PPSP)” on Saint Maarten, funded by the Dutch Committee for UNICEF. The scope of work included a formative assessment of parenting practices on Saint Maarten, the design of the programme, training of PPSP facilitators and master trainers, compilation of a compendium of parenting resources, and end of training evaluation. The consultancy, which started in January 2022 and was scheduled to end in December 2022, was extended until April 2023.

Office of Alumni Relations

Cognisant that building long-lasting relationships with the alumni starts with current students, the Open Campus Alumni Office worked closely with the Institutional Advancement Division to provide scholarships for students in need. Further, the alumni gave of their time and expertise to assist programmes that enhanced the student experience.

The Alumni Association utilised e-mentorship, the alumni engagement programme, the alumni outreach programme, and close engagement with students from the time of orientation to graduation and beyond, as means to foster relevant and value-added relationships. Towards the foregoing end, it also promoted the “One UWI, One Alumni Family” by training of the Five Islands Campus UWI STAT and revitalisation of Antigua and Barbuda Chapter.

All UWI Alumni Chapters continued to be active in their respective countries through constant recruitment and outreach projects. Their country-specific efforts, supported by Site Heads, were the building blocks to fostering long-lasting relationships with the alumni from all across the region. Two examples of country-specific efforts include the Pop-Up Raffle and Networking Fundraiser on April 14, 2023 in Anguilla to raise funds for the Julian R. Harrigan Memorial Scholarship, and the Pelican Saturday Market organised by The UWIAA Belize Chapter, which continues to be a successful alumni and wider community engagement programme, where vendors donate 5% of their sales to The UWI Open Giving Scholarship Fund.

Consortium for Social Development and Research (CSDR)

The CSDR was engaged in significant special project activities for the academic year. One such project was the UNICEF-MOHW Mental Health Chatline, which took place within the Caribbean Child Development Centre. Funded by UNICEF with a value of US$181,522, the goal of this project was to establish and operationalize a text-in mental health chat line to provide mental/emotional health services to adolescents and an uptake study of user feedback on the service provided. The project began in November 2020 and was scheduled to end in December 2022, but was extended to May 2024 with an additional US$105,859 in funding.

Another notable project was the Caribbean Youth Fellowship Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Component, which took place within the Social Work Training Research Centre. This project, valued at US$70,000, began in April 2023 and ended in November 2023. The focus of this project was to prepare 100 youths from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago for effective leadership through training and exposure to policy development and advocacy; governance structures and analysis; and community engagement initiatives. The programme monitoring and evaluation activities include the development of quantitative and qualitative instruments, collection and analysis of data such as base, mid and end line assessments, course feedback forms, interviews, and preparation of reports for the funder, the International Republican Institute.

AGILITY

New externally funded special projects

As the Campus focused on the second phase of The UWI Triple A Strategy, it has continued to seek opportunities to use IT technology, online courses, training workshops and other methods of producing revenue in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of the Revenue Revolution.

During the period August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023, eleven new externally financed projects with a total value of US$4,000,448 were supervised by twelve staff members under the auspices of the divisions (BDU, CPEC, APAD, OCCS, CCDC, CATS, WAND, etc.), all of which were actively engaged in revenue-generating activities.

Consortium for Social Development and Research (CSDR)

The Human Resources Department

During the academic year the Campus moved with alacrity to fulfil the requirements of the Caribbean Development Bank in order to acquire a grant to aid in the proposed Rightsizing Strategy as mandated by The UF&GPC. While the Campus completed its requirements in a timely manner, the processes within the CDB moved slowly and as a result, the Open Campus at the end of the academic year was still awaiting final approval and sign-off from the Bank.

In the interim, the HR Department met with the leadership and staff of various departments such as APAD, CSDR, GSR, OCLIS, Registry, Office of the Principal and the Office of Finance to sensitise and assist them in preparing for the commencement of the consultancy, particularly in relation to the identification of excess resources/staff.

Open Campus Country Sites

Although CPE programme and course enrolment dropped by 8% when compared to the 2021/2022 performance, revenue increased by approximately 7%. One example of how this revenue increase occurred was that in Semester I 2022/2023, Open Campus Antigua and Barbuda staff registered 449 applicants into 20 CPE course offerings, generating revenue of approximately US$92,016.64. Open Campus Belize registered 169 students into 10 CPE courses which earned approximately USD$22,488.11. In addition, Open Campus Saint Lucia registered 363 students for 15 CPE courses, earning revenue in the sum of US$102,571.00. Additional income was generated by the Sites by the proctoring of examinations and renting classroom space to government and non-government institutions. The proctoring of the ACCA examinations, hosted on the behalf of The British Council, generated approximately US$40,000.00.

The Open Campus Country Sites also implemented several cost cutting measures, such as the closure of two Sites in Jamaica on July 31, 2023, a reduction in security expenses and redistribution of tasks, which led to a cost reduction at the Saint Lucia Site in the amount US$70,248.63.

Continuing and Professional Education Centre (CPEC)

Two virtual Training of Trainer cohorts were conducted via the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Microsoft Teams platform. These sessions welcomed participants from nine member states of the CDB. The initial cohort included 44 participants, while the second cohort comprised 49 participants. The final phase, involving the development of a self-paced training video knowledge product, is currently in progress, with The UWI Open Campus managing the recording and preparation for distribution. The total budget for the entire project is valued at US$53,500.00.

Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division

APAD Revision of the Teaching Model

At the start of academic year 2022/2023 the Open Campus revised its teaching model in Undergraduate programmes. This revision allowed the Campus to save a considerable amount of funds related to the adjunct wage bill.

The financial challenges brought about, in part, by the lingering impact of COVID-19, made it imperative to re-examine The UWI Open Campus’ approach to online teaching and learning and its use of human resources and pedagogical practices in the delivery of online instruction. A review of the Campus’ resource- intensive instructional model revealed one that required more than one thousand course facilitators (i.e., course coordinators, instructors, e-tutors, group facilitators, practicum supervisors and second examiners) being contracted each semester.

Examination of the research literature as well as the global higher education online learning landscape reveals that there were more sustainable, cost-effective models that could be employed without sacrificing the quality of the learner experience. Consequently, some of the revisions which were made involved: all courses having three substantive graded assignments (one group and two individual); continuation of 100% continuous assessment in lieu of final examinations for courses offered in the 2022/2023 academic year; subsuming all teaching roles under one title, i.e., course instructor, discontinuing e-tutor and course coordinator roles, contracting markers to mark non-automated assignments and contracting teaching assistants to support course instructors where needed.

Careful piloting and post-implementation engagement with students and course instructors were conducted, with feedback being taken into account at various stages of implementation in order to best meet the needs of students. While there was a period of adjustment for students who had started their programmes prior to the implementation of the revised teaching model, students adjusted quickly and no major differences were observed in student satisfaction data.

Preparations for the rebranding/renaming of The UWI Open Campus to The UWI Global Campus

In November 2022, University Council approved the decision to rebrand The UWI Open Campus to The UWI Global Campus, effective August 01, 2023. This rebranding is due to the University’s desire to enter the global online education market, offering its sterling academic standing across the globe and ultimately assisting in financing its annual operational budget. The shift from Open to Global will symbolise the new focus and strategic direction of the University.

In advance of the rebranding, several preparations had to be made. In January 2023, the Campus Principal convened a meeting with University Marketing and Communications to discuss the process for the renaming and rebranding exercise from Open to Global.

The Global Campus Rebranding/Renaming Committee (RRC) was formed to manage the exercise at the Campus level and to engage with the University Director, Marketing and Communications. Three meetings of the RRC were held between March and May 2023 and a clear path to guide the process was outlined. It was decided that the exercise would be carried out in three phases as follows: pre-sensitisation and renaming of Campus assets, the official launch of the Global Campus, and awareness building of the new entity post-launch. As work continues in the rebranding exercise, the focus will remain on advancing learning, creating knowledge and fostering innovation for the positive transformation of the Caribbean and the wider world.

Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division

The role and function of the Virtual Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (vCETL) support the CAMP strategic objective in several ways, such as establishing and maintaining an online Community of Practice hub for facilitators; establishing an online newsletter for teaching staff to keep them updated on latest events, developments, issues, and trends in teaching, learning and assessment; conducting a virtual teaching and learning retreat week; establishing a commendation system for faculty and adjuncts who go beyond the call of duty and who demonstrate excellence in teaching; and facilitating the hosting of a Virtual Awards Ceremony for Excellence in University Teaching.

The Online Programming and Delivery Department (OPPD) also contributed to the CAMP initiative by conducting Moodle Books workshop training (follow-up session) with the Production Assistants and Curriculum Development Specialists in APAD.

The Enterprise Resource Planning Unit conducted Banner module specific refresher training for end users as requested or where required. They also completed the transformation of CSDR Department’s manual processes for short courses to operate in the Banner system, and captured the current scholarship process, identifying gaps and design process improvement changes.

Office of Finance

The Office of Finance engaged departments of the Campus in developing and implementing measures to improve economies of scale for the Campus. These include arrangements for procurement, shared services, more efficient use of resources across the Campus, and merging of processes thus reducing duplication and overlaps and furthering cost containment.

Paymaster

The Open Campus engaged Paymaster in April 2021 to partner with the institution to provide collection services for the students located in Jamaica. The need arose due to the cessation of walk-in customer/student services by the National Commercial Bank in Jamaica.

As a result, the Campus had to provide an alternative option to the online payment services.

A pilot project was implemented between August and November 2021 which was successful. Payments have been received from January 2022 to present as part of the ongoing relationship and students’ accounts have been updated successfully with the help of our Information Technology Team. The contract for service was signed by the Open Campus in July 2022 and the Paymaster payment option officially became available for the academic year beginning Semester I 2022/2023 in the first instance.

Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division

In pursuit of achieving greater efficiency in operational processes and improving service delivery, APAD began an AI Integration Pilot Project using current staff resources and the AI assistant in place of Course Instructors and Course Coordinators for 30 courses. As a result of the AI integration, APAD was able to: assess the responsiveness of students to the AI assistant; evaluate feedback on students regarding their social presence, instructor presence, and cognitive presence in courses; compare grades with instructor-led and AI assisted courses; evaluate the reports of analytics generated during the semester; document lessons learned from all stakeholders; and evaluate the viability of using an AI assistant in undersubscribed courses.