Meeting of the UWIDEC Academic Programme Committee held on Wednesday, October 27, 2004, at the St Augustine Campus: minutes

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Present:

By Invitation:

Apologies:

Absent:

1. Courtesies

1. The Chair welcomed new members of the Committee: Mrs Beckles and Mr Chatergoon, new members of staff in the DEC, Mr Derrick Thompson, Campus co-ordinator at Mona, and Drs Anthony Bowrin and Justin Robinson, representatives of the Faculty of Social Sciences from St Augustine and Cave Hill respectively. He also welcomed Mrs Jennifer Joseph, Deputy Librarian at St Augustine who had been invited to attend the meeting in the unavoidable absence of the new University Librarian, and Ms Karen Lequay, a Senior Librarian at St Augustine who had special responsibilities for IT matters.

2. Approval of Agenda

2. The meeting approved the draft Agenda, noting the absence of P. 7 and the addition of P. 8, a Proposal for eLearning, submitted by the University Director of IT.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of the Meeting of Friday, April 2, 2004, at the Mona Campus

3. The Minutes of the meeting of 2 April 2004 were accepted (Nicholson, seconded Thomas).

4. Chair's Report

Hurricane Ivan

4. The Chair reported on damage to the University Centres in Grenada and the Cayman Islands caused by Hurricane Ivan. While the Cayman Centre suffered in only minor respects, despite the extensive damage to the country, the Grenada Centre was significantly damaged, with continuing disruption of operations. Staff were also badly affected by the storm.
5. The Chair noted that the new Vice-Chancellor had appointed a task force to create an inventory of skills and resources available within UWI to support recovery efforts in the region. An offer was made to Grenada during a visit on the 7th and 8th October.
6. In addition the UWI has decided to waive tuition fees for Grenadian students; to give students in Grenada automatic deferral of commencement of studies for one semester without penalty, the situation to be reviewed at the end of semester 1 and if necessary a further deferral for the second semester to be given. UWI has also agreed to promote transfer to another site without penalty.
7. In discussion, Ms Bellot noted that members of staff have given aid to the Grenada Centre.

Staffing in the DEC

8. The Chair observed that Mrs Gillian Beckles had been appointed Assistant Registrar and Mr Anil Chatergoon Finance Officer. Vacancies remained for the Senior Assistant Registrar and a Programme Coordinator. He also reported that Dr Pedro Welch, Student Support Services Coordinator, had resigned. Discussions were proceeding with the Director on how best to meet the staffing needs of the DEC.

Accommodation at Cave Hill

9. The Chair expressed his pleasure that approval had now been given for an extension of the Outreach Building at Cave Hill to add space for the new staff recruited and those to come.

Regulations to enable new operations (#65)

10. The Chair reported that he had asked the University Registrar to modify the University's regulations so that the APC of the UWIDEC would have authority to conduct its business, including the registration of students and similar management of student affairs. He observed that it was not yet possible to specify a date when these registrarial and bursarial functions would be properly devolved to the DEC; issues were yet to be resolved with the campuses, and terms for access to databases were to be negotiated. This last issue was also complicated by recent unwelcome decisions, not yet formally communicated to the Chair, regarding the structure of the relevant Banner systems.

BUS/BGSR acceptance of proposals on email submission and provisional entry (#66-67)

11. The Chair observed that subsequent to the agreement by BUS and BGSR provisions have been formulated for the e-mail submission of assignments and for provisional entry for mature students who do not fulfil the matriculation requirements.

Library staff in the NCCs (#69)

12. The Chair reported that a position of Supervisor - Library has been established in the structure of staff in Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Antigua and St Kitts. The financial provisions allow appointment up to Grade 10. It was intended to offer incumbents opportunities to acquire appropriate librarianship qualifications.

CPA/CBA co-ordinators (#78)

13. The Chair noted that it was necessary to appoint co-ordinators for various subjects in the CPA and CBA to cater for those students still to complete these programmes.

Information to employers (#79)

14. The Chair observed that he had not yet formally approached the Principal, St Augustine, on the issue of informing employers of a student's status.

Credit exemption between certificates, diplomas, and degrees (#80)

15. The Chair reported that, despite the decisions of BUS on credit exemption and matriculation, incorrect information was still being supplied to students by Registries and Faculties. His Office was pursuing these matters as they arose and he intended to address them more aggressively to forestall further misinformation.
16. The Committee endorsed Ms McClenan's suggestion that the correct information on credit exemptions should also be included in the next revision of the DEC student handbook.

CUPIDE Project

17. The Chair indicated that the CUPIDE project had been interrupted for a review of its direction in the light of the reports by the consultants to the project and the increasingly imminent likelihood that the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN) project will offer relatively affordable access to Internet. Discussions had been held with UNESCO, and a revised project document was expected to be approved shortly.

5. Issues for consideration and endorsement

Student Representation on the APC

18. The Chair invited Mr Brandon to present P. 1, a suggestion for identifying a student representative to sit on the Committee.
19. The Paper presented a two-tiered approach, first identifying a spokesperson at each DEC site, and then proposing various methods of selecting one of these to attend the APC. The proposal envisaged that students and their spokespersons would network prior to meetings of the Committee so that issues of importance to any student could be aired by the representative.
20. In discussion, it was observed that attempts had repeatedly been made to encourage students to identify site representatives but with very little success. It was suggested that the chance of attending a meeting might motivate some students to take this matter more seriously. It was agreed that any system should be publicised at the start of the academic year, and that the DEC should provide electronic means for students to network. It would also be necessary to consider the responsibilities of the Student Support Services Co-ordinator in facilitating student participation. Consideration should also be given to the introduction of a fee analogous to the Guild fee paid by on-campus students. In the interests of getting a system up and running, it was agreed that, for 2005/06, students should be asked to identify site spokespersons and that a lottery would be used to choose the particular person to attend APC meetings, depending on the campus where it would be held.

Membership of the APC

21. The Chair invited Mr Brandon to present P. 2, proposing a resolution of issues concerning the membership of the APC.
22. Mr Brandon noted that Paper 2 proposed a conservative strategy of implementing more closely the ideas guiding the original formulation of the Committee. In particular, it assumed that representation of staff in the DEC would be open to all senior staff, and that representation of the Faculties would be guided by the functional requirements for the Committee's effective action.
23. The Committee agreed that with respect to the DEC, functional considerations should also be paramount, recognising that this depended upon the existence and effective operation of mechanisms below the Committee level. It was also generally agreed that Faculty representation should be functionally defined, but again the point was emphasised that for this to yield the expected fruit, it required lower-level and more extensive networking with Faculties, and in particular with those members with special responsibilities for outreach. It was agreed that representation from off-campus sites be widened to allow for developing relationships, but with selection rather than election of such representatives. It was also suggested that Faculty involvement might be rotated around the campuses, in the interest of economy.
24. The Committee agreed that a statement of membership, constructed on these principles, be submitted to F&GPC for approval.

Future Directions for the APC

25. The Chair invited Professor Marshall to present P. 3, a theoretical framework for action within the DEC and P. 4, a project for Blended Learning/Asynchronous Delivery.
26. The Committee endorsed the general approach advocated in P. 3. It noted that some opportunities for expanding coverage already existed, given that virtually all the Level II courses in the BSc Accounting were currently available as part of the Management Studies programme. Other overlaps existed between Management Studies and Engineering. It was agreed that the DEC should move swiftly to negotiate these issues with the relevant Faculties.
27. Professor Marshall observed that much good work was being done within the DEC, but it needed to be generalised to the system. He agreed with Ms Bellot that inquiries into the "needs" of the region should not defer entirely to expressed preferences, since the University might well be better placed to judge some such needs.
28. The Committee also endorsed the blended learning project presented in P. 4.
29. It was observed by Ms Lequay that, at the moment, Open Access was not sufficient for the needs of DEC programmes or of the wider University; much vital material remained in expensive data archives. She noted that the University's access to Jstor had been abandoned because of what two campuses considered excessive costs. She also observed that the campus IT infrastructure was inadequate. Professor Marshall endorsed these comments and noted that it had proven impossible to host a new open access journal (IJEDICT: URL = http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu) at any of the campuses, so it was now resident on the DEC's own server, because of obstructive policies and other access problems. He also remarked that, as far as reading material was concerned, DEC students needed to be able to access it through non-UWI sites.
30. Ms Lequay also stressed that attention must be paid to copyright issues, especially since recent legislation was making the copying of electronic material more difficult. Dr Robinson noted that his Department's use of Harvard Business School material had been made easier because it was password protected.
31. Dr Robinson also noted that his Department had already implemented many of the measures described in P. 4 as part of its support for programmes taught at ASC.
32. Mr Thompson stressed the need to replicate course websites on a CD, since it was easy to overestimate access to the Internet. While not denying the validity of his point, the Chair indicated that his Office was now in possession of some research work on the extent of Internet access among potential students.
33. Ms Bellot reminded the Committee that it was imperative to give students fair warning of proposed changes in their ways of working. Given our present schedules, this meant that information on the new Internet packaging would need to be distributed within a couple of months. Professor Marshall accepted that he may have overlooked the urgency of this matter, since the idea of requiring applications so many months before the programme started seemed bizarre. The Chair noted that it was certainly intended to change this way of working, but that it was part of the switch to DEC control that was still in train. Mrs Grainger observed that there were materials on Internet-based learning in the Libraries and elsewhere that students could be advised to consult. Mrs Fanovich reported how well students had coped with an on-line assessment in a Sociology course, after some back-up work provided at the site.
34. Dr Nicholson stressed the increasing need for standardisation across the campuses and the avoidance of duplication; Dr Bowrin suggested that these matters were being taken forward, encouraged to some extent by the shift to Banner. He also expressed the view that commitment to the importance of DE work within the University, especially with respect to promotion, remained ambivalent. The Chair assured him that such work is taken seriously at the highest levels, though there remained some problems of documentation and quality control.
35. The Chair noted also that, given the ambitious proposals for a new packaging of material, the DEC would have to review the fees it charged, as had already been agreed with the University. He made the point, however, that changes in fees would have to be realistic, not only in terms of actual cost but also in terms of market conditions.

6. Matters from other Boards

36. The Chair invited the Committee to take note of P. 5, matters from the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education.

7. Updates

Report from the DEC

37. The Chair invited Professor Marshall to introduce P. 6, a Report from the DEC. The committee noted the contents of Part I of the Paper and discussed the issues identified in Part II as for action.

Late arrival of materials

38. It was observed that there are now problems with customs, particularly in Antigua and Jamaica. The Chair observed that with the move to putting material on the server, these problems should be resolved.

Inaccurate financial records

39. It was noted that this was worse this year because of action at Mona. It was agreed that students who had been mistakenly penalised should receive an apology.

Marketing of the DEC

40. While acknowledging the general need to improve the standard of the DEC product, it was pointed out that there were lost opportunities for selling DEC course materials for on-campus students, and for having on-campus students take DEC courses as electives. It was agreed that these matters should be followed up by the DEC.
41. Dr Robinson drew attention to the difference between a Faculty where laxity with respect to examining duties was now followed up by persons with authority with the situation pertaining in the DEC. The Chair agreed that it was necessary to strengthen the DEC's hand in dealing with these matters.
42. Professor Suite noted the delays in exam results being distributed to students that occurred in the Registries.

Banner changes

43. Professor Marshall and the Chair emphasised the problems that were likely, given what was believed to be a decision to have three campus databases for the Banner systems. A way that the DEC can keep track of these databases, almost in real time, must be devised. It was noted that Mrs Beckles had replaced Dr Welch as the DEC representative on the committee overseeing Banner.

A Proposal for eLearning

44. In the absence of Mr Samuels, the Chair asked Professor Marshall to guide the Committee through P. 8, a Proposal for eLearning, which had been prepared originally for the Mona Academic Board. Professor Marshall suggested that the basic thrust of the document was not dissimilar to that of his own P. 4. The Chair noted that all the Principals were calling for the development of online courses, but that the main responses so far had been from the IT professionals rather than the Faculties. The Committee agreed that there was a danger of academic and educational expertise being swamped by technical wizardry; we should look to the experience of the Libraries in keeping technology in its rightful place as a service and contributor rather than governor. It was observed that much of what was being proposed for the MITS replicated what the DEC was intending to do (as in P. 4 and elsewhere). One response was to ensure that the DEC's work should be distinct because of its better quality, but given the obvious convergence of aim, the Committee strongly endorsed Dr Nicholson's call for the Chair to insist at the highest levels on the need for co-operation and collaboration in moving forward, rather than competition.
45. The Chair observed that the University was at a change point, with a new Vice-Chancellor and extensive changes elsewhere in its management. It was an opportune time to press for desirable changes in the way it organised its business. He had for long been pressing, for instance, for a revision to the budgets for the SCS and DEC. They should be unified, rather than scattered among the campuses and Centre. In general, a new funding formula needed to be negotiated with the contributing countries.

8. Matters arising from the Minutes not otherwise taken

46. There were no items to be taken here.

9. Arrangements for the next meeting

47. The Chair indicated that the next face-to-face meeting should be held at Cave Hill in April or May, but he had consulted with Professor Marshall and was proposing that the Committee demonstrate the potentialities of an e-Meeting, using such technology as is currently available within the DEC, at some time before that, so that at least the membership could be given routine updates in a shorter time.
48. Dr Nicholson pointed out that he may no longer be representing the Mona Faculty, since he had been seconded to the Mona School of Business.

10. Any Other Business

Procedural errors

49. Ms Bellot, noting that there had not yet been a meeting of site co-ordinators during this academic year, drew the Committee's attention to problems of mis-information to students by tutors. She highlighted the case of GT11A where students were informed that they would be having a multiple-choice test and then were given a short answer/essay type test.
50. She also noted that the tone of correspondence to local tutors was condescending.
51. She further drew the Committee's attention to responses to applications for the BEd, where in one case a student was rejected because she did not have a UWI certificate, when in fact she was still awaiting results from 1996! In another case, an applicant with a Special Education qualification from Mico was rejected. She was asked to pass on the details of these cases to Mrs Beckles.

Contracts for e-tutors

52. Ms Bellot indicated the need for contracts for people now being employed as e-tutors.

Results from Campus Registries

53. Ms Bellot reported that the campus registries were sending results in different formats, and were in some cases sending material directly to the students, with the result that the University Centre no longer had full records.
54. It was agreed that the DEC should investigate and make representations to the Campus Registrars.

Procedures for co-ordinators

55. The Committee endorsed Dr Nicholson's suggestion that the duties and procedures applicable to course co-ordinators and other academics engaged by the DEC should be documented in the interest of continuity within faculties and departments.

The Meeting ended

Office of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education
9 November 2004, corrected 9 May 2005