UWI OUTREACH

Office of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education

Vol 1. No. 1 - November 1999

• Scholars and Artists in Residence
• UWI & The Changing World of Work
• Honorary Associates
• Revamping the UWI Alumni
• Membership of the Board for NCC&DE
• UWI New Appointments & Promotions

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It has long been the desire of Resident Tutors, prospective students, Alumni, and other stakeholders in the non-campus countries, and furthest parts of the campus countries to have a more timely and less erratic flow of information from the campuses and the central University administration in Jamaica. This newsletter represents one of several initiatives being undertaken by the Office of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education to meet this desire and, more generally, to forge closer ties between the University of the West Indies (UWI) and its non-campus stakeholders. This and subsequent issues will bring you current news of events, activities and new initiatives at the UWI, as well as examine some of the urgent issues and challenges being faced by the University and how it has been responding as it attempts to fulfill its developmental mandate in the region.

SCHOLARS AND ARTISTS IN-RESIDENCE IN NON-CAMPUS COUNTRIES

The University's Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education recently launched a programme of Scholars and Artists in residence in the non-campus countries. The programme, which has received funding from the Caribbean Development Bank, is designed to provide quality scholars and artists with the opportunity to reside and work for specified periods in a non-campus country (NCC) so that through workshops, seminars, lectures, discussions, exhibitions, or clinics, they can share their work with the residents of the territory. Scholars and artists in residence will therefore not only be given the opportunity to pursue their own intellectual and creative work, but more importantly they will be able to contribute to the intellectual life of the NCCs and increase the level of research conducted within them. At the same time, the programme will encourage and facilitate the spread of skills and knowledge across the region. Among the specific objectives of the programme are:

• To provide access by residents, students, artists and scholars in non-campus countries to counterparts, possible collaborators, and mentors, who would not otherwise be readily available.
• To contribute in a stimulating manner to intellectual, creative, and artistic activity in non-campus countries.
• To facilitate research on matters of relevance to non-campus countries
• To improve the quality and scope of the outreach programme of the UWI.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

Categories of persons who may apply or be proposed for the awards include: members of any academic institution; recognized scholars and creative artists, and; persons having special knowledge of importance to Caribbean life and culture.

The specific criteria for determining the awards will include:

• ability to undertake or contribute to new research in the country or countries concerned.
• ability to contribute to a programme of pubic education, social development, or instruction in a given non-campus country (or countries).
• appropriateness of the environment of the specific non-campus country to the development of the proposed work of the candidate.

Duration of Awards

The duration of an award as a scholar or artist in residence shall be determined in relation to the intended work and the availability of funds. Under normal circumstances appointments will be for one to three months.

For further details on the Scholars and Artists in Residence programme in Non-Campus Countries please contact the UWI Resident Tutor in your country. The programme will commence 1st January 2000.

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UWI & THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK: FINDINGS OF SURVEYS

Throughout the world universities and other tertiary education institutions are being challenged to produce graduates who can adjust and indeed make effective responses to the numerous challenges of a rapidly changing work environment. In order to assess how well the UWI was doing in meeting this challenge the Board for Undergraduate Studies in the academic year 1998/99 commissioned two studies to explore the issue of the graduate and the workplace.

One study which focused on how employers in the non-campus countries viewed the UWI graduates "aimed to determine how adequately the UWI on-campus experience prepared its graduates for the challenges of the modern labour market with respect to" (a) the breath and depth of knowledge base; (b) leadership capabilities; (c) collaborative and teamwork skills; (d) technical competencies; and (e) flexibility and adaptiveness. A number of strengths and weaknesses were identified and the employers also made a number of recommendations for improving the quality of the UWI graduate.

Study 1: How Employers View UWI Graduates

The UWI graduates were perceived to have the following strengths:

• They possessed a strong desire to excel and displayed a high level of self-esteem and self-confidence. Employers discerned an undercurrent of empowerment among the graduates, having succeeded against many odds.
• They were genuinely dedicated to working in their respective countries and the region generally. Their UWI education made the graduates of Social Science, Arts and Education (in particular) acutely conscious of their political, economic and social past thus increasing their sense of Caribbean kinship'.
• They had a substantial knowledge base in their respective areas of specialization and most were familiar with their subject matter irrespective of faculty.
• They were conditioned to working in the Caribbean and the sometimes less than satisfactory conditions under which they studied prepared them for adjusting to the work place.
• They had good research skills and knew how or where to find information. They would often refer to the literature to back up their evaluations and judgments.
• There was a distinct West Indian outlook and cultural consciousness on the part of the UWI graduates which came from a sense of pride in having learned at an indigenous university.
• The UWI graduates apparently had good working relationships with colleagues especially other UWI graduates with whom they felt a common bond. This enhanced teamwork in the work place and was a plus for their respective organizations.
• There was a certain boldness on the part of some of the UWI graduates especially with regard to debating current issues and vexed social, political and economic questions. This perceived strength was more prevalent among the Social Science and Arts graduates.
• They seemed to possess a desire for self-improvement and education, both formally and informally.

The following summarize the weaknesses, and therefore unfulfilled expectations of employers:

• The UWI graduates lacked creativity, innovativeness and inventiveness. Their education had made them too rigid to be able to consider alternatives and other possibilities.
• They were fearful of taking risks and even the graduates in Management Studies did not possess that entrepreneurial spirit. The UWI graduates therefore eschewed self-employment.
• Given the fact that they were trained in the West Indies, it seemed rather ironic that they complained so much about the system without taking initiatives to cope with it. Ultimately, they were not driven to finding solutions.
• Their vocabulary sometimes betrayed their deficiencies in reading. In some cases, report writing was poor and many seemed unable to argue issues objectively. There were some who were too verbose, and this was actually a distinct disadvantage in certain professions like medicine.
• The absence of work attachments, co-op courses, internships, pre-service job training and placement courses as necessary components of the UWI programmes resulted in graduates who were inexperienced in the world of work.
• The UWI graduates were sometimes arrogant and intolerant of contending or alternative solutions or views. Such an attitude was sometimes displayed in their condescending attitude towards their non-graduate colleagues. On occasions it was unwitting since there was a thin line between the boastfulness and consistent voicing of extreme UWI pride and learning.
• There was a recognizable technical deficiency in the UWI graduates, especially with regard to the use of information technology in various areas. In the words of one employer, the UWI graduates suffered from technophobia and this fear cut across all faculties.
• Outside of their areas of specialization, the medical, law, engineering and natural science graduates in particular were not more knowledgeable about political, economic, and social issues than (say) the person without formal education. A related issue was the absence of business acumen in the UWI medical graduates. In this respect, whenever they sought to enter private practice, it seemed to them that they were thrown in at the deep end.
• Many UWI graduates appeared to lack the rudiments of interpersonal skills. They appeared not to be able to deal with others and could sometimes be abrasive. While the employers did not believe that the UWI might be responsible for this, they felt that failure to curb such interpersonal aspects especially in areas where they were important, could be seen as a failing on the UWI's part.
• The UWI graduates were seen as too theoretical and lacking the ability to apply their sound knowledge base to practical problems. This deficiency was particularly noticeable in the exact sciences such as engineering, some natural science subjects such as biology, as well as in some social science areas like accounting and management studies.
• The UWI graduates were not very community-oriented in so far as getting themselves involved in service clubs and the like was concerned. Employers noted in particular the relative absence of or otherwise inertia characteristic of a UWI guild of graduates or alumni association.

Included among the recommendations made by the NCC employers or gleaned from interview discussions with them were:

• The UWI needed to leave the campuses and get into the factories, companies and institutions and dialogue with managers, directors, workers and other stakeholders to canvass information which can form a data base for informing its offerings.
• The trend of lecturers from various faculties of the UWI participating in public lectures, panel discussions and the like needed to be extended and even institutionalized as a form of informal public education. By extension, the UWI's School for Continuing Studies needed to become the leading fora in each country for looking critically at Caribbean and island issues.
• Business education at the UWI needed to place a greater emphasis on entrepreneurial ventures and move away from producing graduates who were mere workers or employees.
• Certain courses like primary health care and health systems management should either be made compulsory or extended as part of a core curriculum for medical students. As part of their education, doctors should be taught the skills of hospital administration, including hospital financial management.
• The UWI must find out what the world of work needs and requires through consultations with public, private and quasi-public stakeholders. The programmes should closely reflect these needs if it is the university's intention to cater to the needs and exigencies of the Caribbean.
• Some idea of career intentions and future job placements would help the university in planning appropriate attachments during the course of study there should be some requirement that students graduate only after having completed a specified period of practical experience in the Caribbean.
• The Alumni should be strengthened and become the UWI's contact on the ground. The Alumni would become a means through which graduates communicate what they have seen as their deficiencies as well as strengths in their education after putting into practice what they have learnt at the UWI.
• The UWI needed to cater to the financial and insurance institutions, for instance, in providing courses in banking, social security administration and the like. Although not expected to directly teach or initiate these, the UWI could act as a midwife to professional courses in banking, accounting and the like. More generally, it should maximize the monetary potential of conducting short term courses for specific purposes and target groups, for example, professional associations in banking, accounting and the like.
• There was a need for the UWI in collaboration with employers to put in place some feedback mechanism to ascertain the progress of its graduates.
• The UWI needed to be conscious of the fact that the Caribbean is in flux and that knowledge is constantly changing. To this end, it needed to offer professional refresher courses to its graduates as well as non-graduates through either the distance teaching facilities or visiting lecturers conducting summer classes.
• The School of Education should articulate its programmes in teacher education much more closely with national teacher training institutions and should also impress upon national governments to make the Diploma in Education or Certificate in Education compulsory for those who are to be employed in teaching.
• The UWI needed to market itself more aggressively in light of challenges from other educational institutions, as well as the possibilities opened up by the information superhighway. It must begin this process within the secondary schools and Parent Teachers Associations.

Study 2: Graduates' Perceptions

The second study looked at UWI graduates' perceptions of their experience in the university with particular emphasis on: (a) Academic content of the degree; (b) Learning experiences within the degree and; (c) Aspects that were conducive to learning.

The study revealed that:

• A majority of the graduates interviewed in the ten non-campus countries had strong positive comments about the Academic Content. However, there was some dissatisfaction about the lack of Caribbean focus in general and inadequate practical orientation in the Computer Sciences.
• With respect to Learning Experiences some graduates admitted that the strong cultural dynamism and pluralism was as a result of the inevitable integration in the Halls of Residence and on the campuses themselves, and not as a result of a deliberate plan carried out by the administration. Many graduates also spoke of an insensitivity towards foreign students by the academic and administrative staff on the three campuses.
• Graduates identified the lack of state-of-the-art computer facilities, the unavailability of updated books, lack of professionalism and efficiency among sections of the administrative staff as some of the aspects that were not conducive to learning.
• It was also pointed out that the incoming students were not furnished with adequate information about the university's academic programmes.
• One other outstanding factor recognized by the student representatives was the lack of guidance on how to correlate degree programmes with career opportunities.

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HONORARY ASSOCIATES

In an effort to forge closer ties between the university and the non-campus countries, as well as more effectively exploit the human resource potential of the region the University has established a scheme of Honorary Associates. These Honorary Associates are expected to perform the following functions:

• Serve as advisors on local needs for research, application of research findings, and training at various levels.
• Serve as facilitators of faculty outreach initiatives.
• Serve as local tutors or identify individuals who are qualified to serve as local tutors in the university's various training programmes.
• Liaise with government ministries and tertiary level institutions.

The first group of Honorary Associates to be appointed include:

• Dr Keith Archibald (St Kitts/Nevis)
• Mrs Patricia Charles (St Lucia)
• Mr Leton Thomas (St Lucia)
• Mr Everton Ambrose (St Lucia)
• Dr Michael Gilkes (St Lucia)
• Mr David Demacque (St Lucia)
• Dr Keva Bethel (The Bahamas)
• Dr Hayden Thomas (Antigua)
• Mr Colin Bully (Dominica)
• Dr Tom Henderson (Dominica)
• Mrs Sonia Magloire-Akpa (Dominica)
• Dr Bernard Yankey (Dominica)
• Mr Kenneth Buckmire (Grenada)
• Dr Reginald Pierre (Grenada)

Honorary Associates will be appointed in the other non-campus countries.

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REVAMPING THE UWI ALUMNI

The UWI Alumni is now being revitalized and afforded the opportunity to play their part in the development of the university and the region. Coming out of last year's 50th anniversary celebrations, is a new commitment and initiative on the part of the UWI to rebuild the alumni chapters in the region and overseas. The Office of Administration and Special Initiatives (OASIs) headed by Pro- Vice Chancellor Professor Marlene Hamilton has been assigned responsibility for reinvigorating the Guilds. OASIs has proposed the establishment of Alumni offices on the three campuses which will be managed by dedicated staff and committed to providing excellent service to the various alumni branches in the region, as well as those in the UK, USA, and Canada. Plans are also being made to:

• develop a Guild constitution
• create a well maintained Alumni database
• create an Alumni Webpage
• arrange annual teleconferences among the guild branches, and;
• organize visits by the Vice Chancellor and other UWI officials to Guild branches.

UWI Officials and staff from OASIs including Pro Vice-Chancellor Marlene Hamilton and Pro Vice-Chancellor Woodville Marshall and Principal Compton Bourne, have already made visits to the regional Alumni chapters in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, and Dominica, as well as to extra-regional alumni branches in London, Toronto, Washington, New York, and Miami. Discussions with these alumni chapters focused on developing new structures for the alumni, the distribution of Alumni newsletters, the role and function of the Guild, and the extra-regional alumni branches also made pledges of fund-raising.

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MEMBERSHIP OF THE BOARD FOR NCC & DE

The current members of the Board for Non-campus Countries and Distance Education are as follows:

Pro Vice-Chancellor Woodville Marshall, Chairman

Pro Vice-Chancellor Marlene Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor's Nominee

Professor Lawrence Carrington, Director, School for Continuing Studies

Professor Badri Koul, Director of Distance Education Centre

Dr Bevis Peters, Director of Tertiary Level Institutions Unit

Mrs Joy Pilgrim, Secretary--Deputy University Registrar

Campus Principals or Nominee:

• Professor George Mathison, Cave Hill
• Dr Neville McMorris, Mona
• Dr Patrick Watson, St. Augustine

Reps. of Governments of NCCs:

• The Hon. Dame Dr. Ivy Dumont, Bahamas
• The Hon. Augustine John, Grenada
• The Hon Alpian Allen, St. Vincent

Reps. of Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions (ACTI):

• Mrs Norma Holder, Barbados Community College
• Mr Lincoln Morgan,T M Marryshow Community College

Reps. of Academic Boards:

• Dr Lawrence Nurse, Cave Hill
• Professor Barry Chevannes, Mona
• Mr Lennox Bernard, St. Augustine

Resident Representatives:

• Mrs Beverly Steele, Grenada
• Mr Ian Austin, British Virgin Islands

Outreach News would like to especially welcome the new members of the Board and thank those who served on the Board previously.

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UWI New Appointments & Promotions

The following persons were recently promoted to professorships:

• Dr Winston King, Faculty of Humanities, Cave Hill
• Dr Paul Levett, School of Clinical Medicine & Research, Cave Hill.
• Dr Mark McWatt, Faculty of Humanities, Cave Hill.
• Dr Peter Roberts, Faculty of Humanities, Cave Hill.
• Dr Marlene Hamilton, formerly of the Faculty of Arts & Education, and now Pro-Vice-Chancellor,
• Office of Administration and Special Initiatives, Mona.
• Dr Susan Walker, Tropical Metabolism Research Institute.
• Dr Rainford Wilks, Tropical Metabolism Research Institute.

Among the new appointments which are of special relevance to the non-campus countries is that of Ms. Simone Augier as Project Officer in the Office of the Director in the School of Continuing Studies, at the Mona campus. The post of Project Officer was created to strengthen the SCS's ability to effectively mobilize and implement a number of new initiatives which have been formulated. Ms Augier, who has a Master's degree in Human Resources Management, will assist with coordinating the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of several special programmes and projects designed to strengthen and broaden the work of the SCS in the non-campus countries.

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To communicate with the editor please send e-mail to Dr Howe.

HTML version created December 13th, 1999.

URL: http://www.uwichill.edu.bb/bnccde/docs/out1.htm

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