The Chancellor’s review of UWI governance, initiated in 2004, has now reached the implementation stage, in that the agreed changes have been reconciled with the existing statutory regulations (in some instances, statutes and ordinances have been amended and in others, new text drafted to incorporate the decisions).
Major changes include the restructuring of the outreach sector, involving the establishment of a virtual ‘fourth’ campus, the The University of the West Indies Open Campus Open Campus; the restructuring of the governance of Graduate Studies and Research, involving abolishment of the title Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research and a more practical division of responsibilities between the PVC Graduate Studies and the PVC Research. Other changes, concerning rationalisation of the composition of the University Council and various other University Committees, will affect representation by staff on these bodies. For example, Academic Board Representatives on University Council have been reduced from four to two from each campus (including the new Open Campus). On the other hand, added to Council membership are the University Bursar, the University Librarian and Chair of the Committee of Deans.
With regard to the Campus Council, the Campus Bursar is now included as a full member as are one representative of the Senior Administrative or Professional staff and one member of the Administrative, Technical and Service staff. The Board for Undergraduate Studies will now include the Deputy Principal of each campus; two representatives of each Academic Board; the University Librarian or her nominee (the University Librarian will be a member of each of the Boards).
The designation ‘Dean of the School of Graduate Studies & Research’ has been discontinued. Rather than two co-Chairs of the Board for Graduate Studies and Research
there shall be only one Chair who will be appointed by the Vice-Chancellor. In addition to the University Librarian, new members of the Board will include the Chair of the Committee of Deans as well as representation by the Deans. A new Research Advisory Committee is to be established, chaired by the PVC Research and consisting largely of persons external to the UWI, with relevant industry and entrepreneurial interests. Given that Research is considered critical to the future development of the UWI, a thorough study, similar to the one done on Graduate Studies, is to be undertaken for Research, taking into account the goals enunciated in the Strategic Plan.
Consequent on the dismantling of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education and with the establishment of the UWI Open Campus and its Campus Council, major amendment and revision of the existing Statutes and Ordinances will be necessary.
The UWI Open Campus (UWIOC) will function as a network of real and virtual modes to deliver education and training to anyone with access to Internet facilities while deploying the technological and instructional design capabilities of the staff in the present UWI Distance Education Centre to permit the blending of online and face-to-face learning experiences and enrich the social aspects of learning in a collegial environment. It will build on the record and work of the TLIU to facilitate the interaction of the University with other tertiary education institutions and scholars as part of movement towards a seamlessly linked education system for the development of the Caribbean region. The Open Campus will continue and enhance the work that has characterised the School of Continuing Studies in responding to local needs and in fostering social and cultural development.
The Open Campus will be headed by a Principal at the level of Pro-Vice Chancellor (Prof Hazel Simmons-McDonald will assume this post in the in-coming academic year) and governed by a Campus Council in keeping with the statutes and ordinances of the UWI, adjusted to accommodate its virtual component. The Campus will draw its intellectual sustenance from the entire academic capacity of the University and, like the existing campuses, will also call upon external resources where necessary. Its organisation will be driven by the functions required for the effective delivery of its programmes of teaching, research and consultancy. Students of the Open Campus will enjoy the same quality of instruction and receive the same qualifications as students in other parts of the University even though the nature of instructional practice might entail differences in the management of their scholarly experience.
The creation of the campus will be the object of special funding. The operation will be designed for the recovery of costs and the generation of surpluses within a predetermined period. Of necessity, the staff of the Open Campus will be dispersed across the contributing countries with administrative headquarters eventually located in one of the UWI 12 countries, selected on the basis of criteria that can assure the effective and economical operation of the campus.
The University of the West Indies