Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Tuesday, August 10, 2021 — Dr Veronica Simon has been appointed Head, Student Experience at The UWI Open Campus effective August 1, 2021. She has been assigned the task of conceptualising and implementing the operations of the new Student Virtual Concierge Unit (SVCSU), located in the Office of the Principal. She has served The UWI in her substantive role as Head of The UWI Open Campus, Saint Lucia from 2007 and as Deputy Director (Ag) of the Open Campus Country Sites from 2019 to 2020.
During her tenure, Dr Simon can be said to have significantly expanded the operations of the Open Campus in Saint Lucia, by (among other initiatives) introducing new Certificate programmes in Theatre Arts and Creative Writing; instituting annual and other regular public lectures, e.g. The Annual Patricia Charles Memorial Lecture and the regular community lecture series; securing a UNESCO grant for the establishment of the Roderick Walcott Special Collection at the Site library; taking the Site’s offerings to locations in Vieux Fort and Soufriere and creating strategic alliances with the Saint Lucia Folk Research Centre, the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Monroe College, the Global Environment Fund (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) in order to preserve the biennial Country Conferences. A native of Saint Lucia, she feels strongly that the presence and contribution of The UWI should be palpable in every aspect of the society.
Prior to her administrative service to The UWI, Dr Simon held the position of Coordinator of the Department of Continuing Education at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) in Saint Lucia from 2003 to 2007. Here she also held responsibility for the two extension branches of the College in the South and the West of the island. During her leadership of this department, in addition to expanding the College’s Associate Degree programme offerings to mature students, she spearheaded the development of: Saint Lucia’s first National Defensive Driving course, first certified National Tour Guide Training programme, first National taxi Drivers Training programme and first National Volunteer Training programme. She was also a member of the SALCC’s Management and Finance Committee, and its Academic Board.
Before becoming a member of the SALCC’s senior administration, Dr Simon was a Lecturer at the Division of Arts and General Studies (DASGS) and the Division of Teacher Education and Educational Administration (DTEEA) at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) in Saint Lucia, for 14 years. During this time, she was a lecturer in the English Literature and Language Communication Departments, as well as in the SALCC/UWI’s Bachelor of Arts franchise programme at the DASGS.
When she moved to the Teacher Education programme at the DTEEA, where she trained teachers in Language Arts Methodology and served as the Head of the Language Arts Department, she simultaneously served as a part-time Tutor of Language and Communication for The UWI School of Continuing Studies.
A multiple graduate of The UWI, Dr Simon holds a BA (Hons) degree in English from the Mona Campus, an MPhil degree in Education, and a PG Diploma in Education from the St. Augustine Campus. She also holds a PhD in Education from The University of Sheffield. Her first foray into the field of Education began in 1976 when she taught for one year at the St. Joseph’s Convent Secondary School in Saint Lucia, at a very young age, immediately on completion of her ‘A’ Levels at the then Saint Lucia A Level College (now part of the SALCC). However, her actual career can be said to have begun after graduating with her first degree in 1980, when she taught Literature and served for seven years as Sixth Form Dean at the St. Joseph’s Convent in San Fernando, Trinidad.
Dr Simon’s service to the Caribbean region, particularly the OECS, is extensive. She has served as a curriculum consultant to the OECS, pilot testing the OECS Harmonised Language Arts Curriculum in Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and St. Vincent and leading the related joint Infant and Primary Textbook Review exercise. At the invitation of the Ambassador of Finland to the OECS, she led a delegation of OECS education officials on a Study Tour of Finland in 2013, leading to recommendations for changes in the approach to pedagogy in the sub-region. Two years earlier, she had been selected by the Governor General of Saint Lucia to accompany Her Excellency’s official delegation to Taiwan as the education expert in the group. Regionally, she has served the Caribbean Examinations Council in various capacities including Syllabus Development Panel member and Chief Examiner of the CAPE Communication Studies. She has made other major contributions to the region via her roles as Language Arts Consultant to the CARICOM/OAS/CIDA Project on Achievement Norms and Curriculum Developer in the creation of modules for the UWI/TLIU/EDF Secondary Teacher Certification Project.
In addition to several conference presentations, public speeches and workshops, Dr Simon has designed learning materials for all age groups from primary to tertiary level; has co-authored textbooks in Communications Studies and Language Arts and edited two Anthologies for children (Macmillan). She has served as Chair of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme National Steering Committee in Saint Lucia and a member of the Regional Advisory Group of the OECS/USAID Early Learners Programme, in addition to volunteering her service and skills to several national bodies. In 2018, she received the UWIAA Pelican Award for her sterling contribution to education in Saint Lucia.
Commenting on Dr Simon’s appointment, Dr Francis O. Severin, Principal (ad interim) of the Open Campus, who is also Lead Culture Steward, disclosed, “In light of her well-known care and advocacy for students, and her years of experience as a genuine educator and trained teacher, Dr Simon is eminently qualified to lead this transformational student experience and thrust which are central to our philosophy of the student as the raison d'être of our Campus. In accord with the ‘You said, We did’ concept, I am absolutely pleased that we have a practical response to enhancing the learner ecology – and all that it entails”.
The UWI Open Campus extends congratulations to Dr Simon on her appointment and wishes her success in this new role.
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Photo Caption:
Dr Veronica Simon, Head, Student Experience
Student Virtual Concierge Services Unit, The UWI Open Campus
About The UWI
The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.
From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.
Ranked among the top universities in the world, by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. In 2020, it earned ‘Triple 1st’ rankings—topping the Caribbean; and in the top in the tables for Latin America and the Caribbean, and global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old). The UWI is also featured among the top universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.
For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)
