The UWI Open Campus to Host its 2023 Annual Business Meeting of Campus Council Virtually

Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Monday, March 20, 2023 ― The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Open Campus 2023 Annual Business Meeting of Council will be hosted virtually on Friday, March 24, 2023, at 10:00 am Eastern Caribbean time.

Ambassador Dr the Honourable June Soomer,
Chair of The UWI Open Campus Council

The meeting will be presided over by Ambassador Dr the Honourable June Soomer, Chair of The UWI Open Campus Council. Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Open Campus, Dr Francis O. Severin, the Deputy Principal, Dr Emily Dick-Forde, and other senior members of the Open Campus Executive Management Committee (OCEMC) will address the public session of the meeting.

Representatives from the ministries of education across the Region, The University of the West Indies, The UWI Alumni Association, and the Guild of Students, are expected to attend the Council meeting via the Zoom online platform.

The public session will be accessible to specially invited guests, the public and the Regional media, and will be broadcast live on UWItv and the Open Campus Facebook page.

The main presentation will be the Principal’s Annual Report, which will look at the Open Campus’ stewardship for the 2021/2022 Academic Year. The Report will be centred on the theme Launching into the Global Expanse. Dr Severin will highlight the accomplishments of the Campus and speak to how the Campus is repurposing for better service; rebranding of the Campus from Open to Global; the Financial Crisis currently being experienced by the Campus; and its Rightsizing Initiative to address the crisis.

The meeting will also receive and discuss the Audited Financial Statements, the Audit Committee Report, Student Guild Statement, and The UWI Open Campus Alumni Report. In addition, the meeting will discuss how the Campus is mobilising its resources to meet, inter alia, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4, that is the provision of Quality Education to better serve the people of the Caribbean Region and internationally as it advances inexorably towards Global.

Following the presentations, the Regional media will be invited to pose questions directly to the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal and other Campus executives.

About The University of the West Indies

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 for the past 75 years.

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.

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%.

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old). The UWI is also featured among the leading 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.

2023 marks The UWI’s 75th anniversary. The Diamond jubilee milestone themed “UWI at 75. Rooted. Ready. Rising.” features initiatives purposely designed and aligned to reflect on the past, confront the present, and articulate plans for the future of the regional University.

Learn more at www.uwi.edu.