The UWI leadership receives standing ovation at Budget Meeting.
The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Friday, February 22, 2019—For three gruelling days in Antigua and Barbuda, from February 20-22, 2019, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of CARICOM’s contributing countries to The University of the West Indies (UWI), interrogated the institution’s biennium budgets and requests for additional funding of its Triple A Strategy (strategic plan 2017-2022).
The TAC, constituted of permanent secretaries and technical experts in Education and Finance ministries of governments, received the 2018 reports of Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, and principals of the four campuses at Mona, St Augustine, Cave Hill, and the Open Campus.
Recognizing the serious fiscal challenges facing all countries, the Vice-Chancellor noted that the University has developed strategies to do better with less public funding, is now more financially efficient, and has been substantially reengineered as a global university rooted in the Caribbean.
The Vice-Chancellor reported on the operations of The UWI’s centres established in China, Nigeria, South Africa, and the USA, and noted that 2019 would see others being established in Latin America (Columbia), Canada, and the United Kingdom. He stated that, “the 20th Century UWI is now behind us, and the 21st university, ranked first in the Caribbean, and in the top 5% of the world’s best 28,000 universities, is now in a place unimagined a decade ago.” He went on to emphasize that,
“in a matrix of five pillars, The UWI received its highest ranking grade for its global agenda and internationalization." With applause from the meeting’s attendees, he concluded, “the reputation of The UWI, both at home and abroad, has never been higher in its 71 years.”
After detailed interrogation of The UWI’s budgets, achievements, and plans, the TAC, led by a technocrat in Jamaica’s Government, asked the Vice-Chancellor and his team of four principals, to remain in their seats to receive an ovation from the body for an excellent job done in leading the university expertly through very difficult times. The TAC commended the Vice-Chancellor for his visionary strategic leadership.
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Related News: Antiguan Government hosts UWI Budget Meetings
About The UWI
For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Asia, and Africa such as the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018, and was the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. 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.)
