Welcome to The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Global Campus Institutional Accreditation webpages.
In 2010, when the then The UWI Open Campus first commenced its institutional accreditation journey, we understood the significance of its attainment for the future of our beloved Campus. We appreciated then, as we do now, that maintaining our accreditation had implications, not merely for our University as an educational institution, but more fundamentally, even if obvious, for our raison d'être - our students. Now, 15 years later, as we revisit the re-accreditation process for the second time, we are even more keenly aware of its importance, and we are committed to actively pursue its accomplishment. It is in this spirit and tenor that I am happy to welcome you, as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, to our Institutional Accreditation Webpages which will provide information, and opportunities, for you to engage with us as we journey through this process.
The Open Campus, rebranded Global Campus, conceptualised in 2007, and officially launched in 2008, is the Campus with special responsibilities to increase access to higher education through online offerings. We are also tasked with meeting the educational needs, via continuing and professional education through to doctoral studies, and all levels in between, of the underserved countries, cities, towns, hamlets and communities within the Caribbean. With such a weighty, consequential and yet awesome responsibility, and with the ever-increasing need for accountability as well as our own desire to showcase our quality management systems and integrity, we have again voluntarily submitted ourselves to the scrutiny of external peer review through the institutional accreditation mechanism. We take this task seriously.
Our current institutional accreditation status, which was granted for the maximum period, is scheduled to expire on 17 June 2026, and to support the re-accreditation visit which is scheduled for March 2026, we have started the self-evaluation process. This self-reflective process, measured against the Institutional Accreditation Standards and the Code of Practice for the Assurance of Educational Quality and Standards in Distance Education authored by the Barbados Accreditation Council, will help us as a Campus to critically consider the effectiveness of our processes and systems against the internationally benchmarked requirements of the Barbados Accreditation Council. This will ultimately allow us to make changes to enhance the quality of our service to our internal and external stakeholders.
Further, the self-assessment process will highlight our many strengths and opportunities. The intention is to formulate mechanisms to enhance our strengths and opportunities, whilst mitigating and/or minimising threats. To this end, we have instituted an institutional accreditation governance structure which includes a Steering Committee and five (5) sub-committees that have standard specific responsibilities. These teams are representative of the various sections within the Global Campus, as we believe that it is important that our self-study be reflective of the views of our entire Campus. My staff and I, and I hasten to add, our students, are excited by the opportunity that this self-reflective process will provide for the Campus and the improvements that will be achieved as a result.
It is a pleasure for me, not only to endorse this activity but to participate actively in the institutional accreditation effort as we seek to illustrate our theme “Regionally Rooted, Globally Relevant”. I am even more pleased to receive your comments, feedback and contributions via this website, email (quality@open.uwi.edu) and other media. I thank everyone in our Campus Community, for your continued support in our quest to retain our accredited institutional status.
Francis O. Severin, Ph.D.
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal
