APC P.18
2003/2004
UNIVERSITY
OF THE WEST INDIES
ACADEMIC
PROGRAMME COMMITTEE OF THE UWIDEC
From time to time the matter of student representation has
occupied the attention of the UWIDEC Administration. In particular we might note that one aspect of student
representation has been provided for in the establishment of the post of
Student Support Services Coordinator.
In the sense that the Student Support Services Coordinator articulates
student concerns for submission to relevant administrative bodies, and
co-ordinates various student support mechanisms, some representation of student
interests may be identified. However,
within recent times some student voices have been heard in support of the
formation of local Distance Students Associations (Guilds?), to better give a
collective voice to the concerns of Distance Students. It is in response to such calls that this
paper offers a brief look at the status of student representation in the UWIDEC
scheme of operations.
It is important to note that students registered in the
Distance Programmes of the UWI, no less than their face-to-face counterparts,
may already have a legally constituted body representing their interests. This much appears to be the understanding
that may be derived from a preliminary reading of the Constitution of the Guild
of Students at the UWI (Cave Hill) (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution). In that document, which is assumed to be
representative of the constitutions of the Guild of Students at the other
Campuses, it is stated inter alia that:
(i)
In pursuance of the Statute 38 and Ordinance No. 1
of the University’s Charter there shall be an association of the students of
the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill which shall be called the Guild of
Students.
(ii)
In accordance with the provisions of Ordinance No. 1,
the Guild Council shall be the recognized means of communication between the
students as a body and the authorities of the University.
Additionally, the Constitution asserts that its validity
derives from Statute 38(2) and Ordinance No. 1 of the Charter of the
University. In this context,
therefore, it seems that representation of students’ interests is vested,
legally in the body identified as the Guild of Students. The question, then, might be asked: How do the Distance Students fit into this
provision for student representation?
The answer appears to lie in a further reading of the Constitution. On the question of membership, it is stated
that full members are:
All
matriculated students of the University of the West Indies in good standing …
so long as they are
currently following a course of study approved by the Senate notwithstanding
that they may have become members of the Guild of Graduates.
Moreover, provision is made for Associate Membership in
cases where students may be members of organization “deemed by the Guild
Council as having fraternal ties with the Guild”.
Thus, it seems that Distance Students, as matriculated
students of the UWI, following programmes approved by senate, are full members
of the Guild of Students. In any case,
questions of their monetary contribution to guild fees apart, it seems that any
association of Distance Students, however organized, might also be considered
as Associate Members, having fraternal ties with the Guild of Students. These
issues have particular reference to the proposals for the reorganization of
Distance education at the UWI
Distance students do not pay the Guild fees required of
face-to-face students, a fact that does not seem to preclude their legal right
to be represented by the Guild of Students. However, some uncertainty as to
their status vis-à-vis the Guild has surfaced in some of the presentations on
the matter made by students. In one case, Distance students in Barbados,
registered at the Cave Hill campus, approached the Students Guild on the
question of representation. They were simply given some information by way of
documentation on the Guild and subsequently sought the advice of the Site
Coordinator on the steps to be taken in forming an Association. The latter
referred the question to the Student Support Services Coordinator who advised
that the question of full Guild representation needed further discussion and
that the students might be persuaded to look more closely at that option. Clearly, the role of the Guild in
representing Distance students will have to be addressed. In particular, those Distance Students who
are currently registered at the various Campuses of the UWI may need to press
the respective Guild of Students on the question of their representation. The Guilds might consider allocating a place
on the Guild Council to elected members drawn from the Distance Student
fraternity – although how an elective process might be developed to cater to
students scattered over a wide geographical area would have to be studied.
If, as it is envisaged, the Distance programme might be
organized in a virtual campus setting, then the discussions above might have to
be shelved in favour of an organization of a Guild of Distance Students on the
same basis as the campus-based Guilds.
The legal framework for the formation of such a body will already exist
in the various ordinances. In that
case the question of elections to choose Guild Officers would require extensive
discussion since insular sentiments and peculiarities might intervene. Perhaps, discussions on this might be led by
the students via the Teleconference mode.
In that context, also, the selection of a student representative on the
APC might have to await further clarification of the place of the Guilds of
Students in the representation of the Distance fraternity, with further
consideration of the formation of a Guild of Distance Students, if that is
mandated by the new structures.
March 16, 2004