Page 405 - Self-Study Report for Institutional Accreditation

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As such, CPE at the Open Campus, “
The UWI has traditionally practised different forms of recognition of prior learning including challenge examinations, where learners would take an examination without being part of the traditional teaching and learning process. Once successful, the learners gained credit for the course. However, in an effort to formalise and standardise the PLA process, the Open Campus proposed and the Board for Undergraduate Studies approved a PLA Policy which provided opportunities for advanced placement and matriculation in The UWI. Through this foresight by the Open Campus, greater access has been created for potential learners to acquire a university degree, as well as to fast-track their completion time. Additionally, through the mandatory PLA course, learners are exposed to the rudiments of portfolio creation, a skill that they can use outside of the academy. The Campus is currently reviewing alternative PLA models with a view to enhancing its offerings and extending its reach to potential learners.
In the 2012 SAR, the Open Campus noted that it was:
“... actively pursuing ... \[a\] transformation agenda and envisages that in
another five to ten years it will be a Campus which is more streamlined in
structure and better aligned in its processes, more integrated in its functions
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the second strand in the continuing education paradigm. It constitutes a systematized and codified set of activities that are directly related to the continuing professional development of members of a community of practice.... (p. 2).
... includes Continuing Education and Continuing Professional Education and in so doing responds to the training needs...” (p. 3) of the region. Therefore, this extensive definition of CPE which includes continuing education and continuing professional education is inclusive and addresses a cross-section of potential leaders with varying academic achievements
and requirements.
Prior Learning Assessment
Streamlining the Operations