THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
UWIDEC Academic Programme
Committee
Present:
Professor Lawrence Carrington Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Board for
Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education
Ms Edith Bellot Representative,
Resident Tutors (E Caribbean)
Dr Ann Marie Bissessar Representative, FSS St Augustine
Mr Tommy Chen Telecommunications
Manager
Dr Emily Dick-Forde Representative, FSS Cave Hill
Mrs Souzanne Fanovich Site Co-ordinator, UWIDEC, St. Augustine
(By invitation)
Ms Stephney Ferguson University Librarian
Mrs Erica Grainger Administrative Assistant, Finance
Professor Badri Koul Director, DEC
Dr Olabisi Kuboni Campus
Co-ordinator, St Augustine
Ms Christine Marrett Campus
Co-ordinator, Mona
Ms Vilma McClenan Academic
Programme Co-ordinator
Dr Majeed Mohammed Representative,
FANS
Ms Gloria Morgan Representative
FHE, Mona
Dr Krishna Murugan Curriculum
Development Specialist
Mrs Joy Pilgrim Deputy
University Registrar
Mr Carlton Samuels Director,
Information Technology
Professor W.H.E. Suite Representative, Faculty of Engineering
Dr Pedro Welch Student
Support Services Co-ordinator
Mr Matthew William Representative, Resident Tutors (NW
Caribbean)
Mr E.P. Brandon Secretary
In
attendance:
Ms Rosemary Jordan Administrative Assistant, OBNCCDE
Apologies:
Dr Lawrence Nicholson Representative, FSS Mona
1
The Chair
welcomed members to the inaugural meeting of the UWIDEC Academic Programme
Committee (APC). He noted in particular
the willingness of the University Librarian, the Director of Information
Technology, the Deputy University Registrar, and the Faculties that had been
invited as currently working with UWIDEC, to participate in a meeting that had
not been budgeted for.
2
The Chair explained
that the APC was a new entity, a kind of hybrid of a Faculty and an Academic
Board, subject to both the Board for Undergraduate Studies and the Board for
Graduate Studies and Research but a creature of the Board for Non-Campus
Countries and Distance Education. He
reported that he had conducted cordial discussions with the Chairs of both
these other Boards who understood the need for this new body to catalyse
significant improvements in our distance education, both academically and
administratively.
3
The Chair
encouraged members to take a positive view of the opportunities before the
APC. He went through the membership of
the Committee and explained that some persons had been nominated to serve in
positions which in future would be filled by elections among various
constituencies.
4
The agenda was
accepted.
UWIDEC ACADEMIC PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: GENESIS, COMPOSITION AND FUNCTION
5
The Chair invited
Professor Koul to lead the Committee through P. 1 which sketched the history
that had led to the creation of the APC, indicated its composition, and set out
its terms of reference.
6
Professor Koul
reported that while the budgetary proposals had not been accepted in full,
enough funding had been secured for the coming academic year to make it appropriate
to call this inaugural meeting of the APC, which formed an integral part of the
new system for distance education at the University. He noted that the terms of reference had been refined from what
had earlier been endorsed by the Board for NCC/DE in the light of discussion at
the Executive Management level.
7
With respect to
the composition of the APC it was noted that a mechanism would need to be found
to obtain a representative of the students and also a representative of the
local tutors.
8
In discussing the
terms of reference, an attempt was made to characterise the new relationship
between the DEC and the Faculties.
Where previously the DEC had been a delivery mechanism for programmes
initiated in the Faculties, it was now envisaged that the relationship would be
two-way: any one (Faculties, DEC, outside clients) might propose a programme;
the DEC would draw on whatever resources are available (pre-eminently the
Faculties) to cater to what it saw as priorities. These programmes would be University programmes in the same way
as any other programme in a Faculty. It
was conceded that the issue of “ownership” of these programmes was important
and would be addressed as programmes were formulated. There were various facets to be considered (quality, intellectual
property issues, etc.) and it was necessary to bear in mind that, whatever the
DEC did, it would need approval from the relevant Boards. It was also pointed out that equally complex
issues of ownership had already been settled in the case of the UWI/UTech joint
degree, so the means for resolution already existed.
9
The preferred
model for the DEC was of a “virtual” campus.
The APC lacked the disciplinary rootedness of a Faculty so the parallel
was closer with an Academic Board, recommending programmes to the appropriate
Boards. It should act as a broker,
operating within the University structure but able to call upon resources
wherever they were available. Mrs
Pilgrim noted that in moving in this direction it was necessary to work within and
around existing statutes and ordinances, but some crucial matters (such as
handling admissions) could be implemented on request to the appropriate bodies.
10
It was agreed
that the DEC should seek immediate authority from Senate to recommend
registrations, exemptions, and leave of absence without recourse to Faculty
sub-committees or Academic Boards.
11
It was agreed
also that the Chair would continue to consult face-to-face with the Chair of
the other two Boards to smooth a path for the swift implementation of the
activities set out in P. 1.
12
The Chair invited
Professor Koul to lead the Committee through P. 2, dealing with aspects of
pedagogy. Professor Koul emphasised
that students should complete their distance education studies with a positive
attitude towards the University. He
also underlined the fact that the University cannot move directly to “virtual”
education but must preserve its existing delivery mechanisms for a transitional
period. Similarly its function with
respect to distance education is presently extension of on-campus programmes
beyond the campuses; it will take time to move to a more independent role.
13
In discussion
various points were established:
·
There is no
obstacle to using non-UWI persons as examiners; it is necessary merely to have
them approved to play such a role.
·
The original
course development team or person would determine the number and nature of
coursework assignments for each course.
·
It was
recommended that the final examination should count for 80%, and not 60% as was
the norm on campus, to take care of worries about the security of less formal
procedures. The view was expressed that
it might be wise to reconsider this recommendation.
·
Examiners may be
given dead-lines for completing marking and may be sanctioned if they fail to
meet them.
·
Academic course
co-ordinators should place greater trust in local tutors, where these exist.
·
There was a need
for training and retraining of tutors and co-ordinators in several areas.
·
A public
relations exercise, especially among the students, would be required.
14
Professor Koul
noted that the University had done little so far to recognise the peculiarities
of distance education as far as its Quality Assurance work was concerned. Distance Education was much closer to the
industrial model than on-campus teaching.
He reported that the UWI had been invited to participate in an
international initiative, supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, to
work towards international agreements on quality in distance education.
15
Several members
spoke passionately on the “no double counting” rule as it applied to the
granting of exemptions when students with Certificates move on to degree
programmes. It was agreed that the
Chair should make yet another request to BUS to have good sense prevail.
16
While endorsing
the suggestion of accumulating credits, which could be “cashed” in terms of
various qualifications, it was also noted that degrees are themselves approved,
and not merely their constituent courses.
Attention was drawn to an earlier experiment with General Studies
degrees. The DEC would therefore need
to recommend new programmes if it wanted to expand the range of admissible
course combinations. It was noted that
in any such Programme the DEC should take careful note of what stakeholders
such as governments required; the Chair reported that there had already been
such dialogue on the Associate Degree in Public Management between the School
of Continuing Studies and the Government of Belize.
17
The Chair invited
Professor Koul to guide the Committee through P. 3 which described the
telecommunications network, set out some problems associated with it, and
proposed future scenarios.
18
Professor Koul
indicated that two recent developments — one involving the World Bank which was
keen to increase bandwidth for tertiary education in the region, and another
with the OAS which would provide various kinds of support, including a platform
for Internet delivery — gave hope for fairly rapid progress on this front. He and the Chair also made reference to the
proposal for a Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth,
openness to which was a guide for our plans for development.
19
In discussion the
question arose of whether it was intended to dispose of the audio network in
present use or of the unused VSAT capacity, acquired under the CDB Loan. It was noted that the University regards the
audio facility as important beyond its role in distance education. Mr Samuels also suggested that the crucial
consideration was to expand the bandwidth at the University’s disposal. If the networks could be used to this end it
might not be expedient to dispose of them.
He and Mr Chen reported on plans for further videoconferencing facilities
at Mona and St Augustine. The
importance of any such system being open to other networks was stressed. Ms Marrett suggested that one direction
seemed to be to take the technology out of UWIDEC; it was noted that this was
not the intention. Professor Koul
indicated that part of the OAS activity was a consultancy to assess what the
University has and how it might most effectively be utilised.
20
The University
Librarian reported on the state of digital access at the campus libraries. All
three campuses now have commercial electronic databases, however Mona and St
Augustine offer a wider selection than that which is currently available at
Cave Hill. So far these are accessible
only on-campus. At Mona some other
students have been able to access using passwords, but a new system to be
installed soon should be able to provide easier access.
21
The Chair invited
Professor Koul to take the Committee through P. 4 that set out the principles
to govern the administrative operations of the DEC.
22
Professor Koul
began by reporting on the state of the budget.
He noted that the University Bursar had begun to examine the cost
elements in budgets submitted by the DEC.
At the last meeting of the TAC, it had been agreed to fund from August 2003
some of the basic posts needed to establish the DEC’s own student
administration system: a Registrar, Assistant Registrar, Finance Officer,
Programme Officer, and 6 clerical officers.
23
Professor Koul
made an addition to P. 4, on page 3 item 16: Time span allowed to complete a
programme will be twice the time allowed on campus for the same full-time
programme.
24
Various issues
were elucidated in discussion:
·
Dates of
examinations are set by the University Registry; the period proposed coincides
with on-campus examinations. It was
suggested that this might present problems of accommodating examinees.
·
It was proposed
to separate taking a course from offering oneself for examination. It was noted that the DEC would need to work
closely with the persons implementing the Banner system to ensure that students
would be treated appropriately.
·
The principle in
clause 19 seemed to conflict with an earlier commitment to letting students
pace themselves. The DEC would need to
fine-tune clause 19, among others.
·
It was also noted
that the DEC should dialogue with OBUS on the provisions of the new GPA scheme.
25
A question was
raised about possible uses of the summer period. It had so far proved difficult to offer courses at that time, so
the recommendation for now was to devote it mainly to supplemental
examinations.
26
The Chair invited
Professor Koul to present P. 5 which had been laid on the table. Professor Koul remarked that it was a work
in progress and he invited comments by the end of the month so that a revised
version could be prepared for submission to the next meeting of the Board.
27
The point was
made that off-campus site co-ordinators were a diverse group, particularly in
Jamaica where most of the sites were not on University property, so that more
than one job description might need to be constructed. Ms Marrett also remarked
that space was an issue for the off-campus sites in Jamaica located in
non-University property where the employment of a full time site coordinators
was envisaged.
28
The University
Librarian pointed to the absence of staff related to information support; she
also suggested that the allocation of responsibility for the Eastern Caribbean
within the University Libraries to the Cave Hill Library might need
reconsideration. The Chair explained
that the new budgets for the SCS now contained provision for Assistant
Librarians and that eventually all Centres would be staffed appropriately. This
was an area where he and the Director of the DEC were trying to maximise the
impact of resources assigned to different budgets.
29
The Chair also
reported on moves within the SCS, with entailments for the DEC, to shift all
staff in the non-campus Centres away from local government conditions of
service towards a unified University system.
An agreement to this effect had been signed in St Vincent and would be
used as a model elsewhere. It was noted
that there are also some difference between the campuses.
30
Professor Koul
indicated that he was working on a chart that would map existing staff, titles,
etc. and how they relate to the new system.
The Deputy University Registrar noted that any moves that impinged on
job descriptions should involve the personnel and human resource management
units.
31
It was agreed
that the DEC should continue working on the lines proposed, involving other
units as appropriate. Members of the
Committee were asked to submit any further comments by the end of March. It was
pointed out that dialogue with existing UWIDEC staff whose functions were
likely to be significantly changed needed to begin with minimum delay.
32
Ms Bellot
suggested that Resident Tutors and others would benefit from a resumption of
some sort of regular dialogue on the operation of the University’s distance
education programme. The Chair
undertook to propose a way forward.
33
Ms Bellot argued
for the need for detailed instructions on various matters relating to DE
students. Tracking of papers was a
particularly awkward issue. While various instructions had been distributed it
appeared that something more is required.
34
Mrs Grainger
remarked that systems for distributing materials also needed urgent attention.
35
The Chair noted
that another meeting would be due soon.
The question of who pays for attendance would also need to be sorted
out. He would communicate with members
of the Committee in due course.
The Meeting Ended.
Office of the Board for Non-Campus Countries
and Distance Education
26 March 2003, last revision 23rd
October 2003 incorporating corrections made at the APC meeting on the 22nd
October.
APCMinutes20030324.htm created 9th March
2004