UWI celebrates 70 years with ambitious plans

A centre of learning, a hub for advocacy, a think tank for policy makers — The University of the West Indies (UWI) celebrated its 70th anniversary last year and in those seven decades has played a central role in the life of the region. “There is no area of the regional imagination that has not benefitted from our intervention, contribution and future-gazing. Our existence is a reflection of our imagining and there is great pride in this,” said UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.

Marking its milestone anniversary, The UWI has its sights firmly set on the future with a new campus, new facilities and a new Strategic Plan.

Expansion & strategy

Headquartered in Jamaica, The UWI is the Caribbean’s top ranked university and has produced an impressive alumni that includes government leaders, Nobel Prize winners and Rhodes Scholars. Saint Lucia’s own Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright Derek Walcott attended, as did former Prime Minister Kenny Anthony. 

“The UWI has an exceptional record of producing leaders in the Caribbean and wider world. No other grouping in the Caribbean comprises as many diverse thinkers and technical people, working assiduously on positive action to address the challenges of our island states,” according to the University.

While countless Caribbean students have passed through The UWI’s four campuses (in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and online) over the years, the University did not have a direct foothold in the Eastern Caribbean until very recently. Its newest hub, the Five Island Campus in Antigua & Barbuda, will allow The UWI to better serve the approximately 600,000 citizens of the Eastern Caribbean while also deepening links with the OECS.

 “The OECS records the lowest rates of youth tertiary education enrollment in the Caribbean, and indeed the hemisphere. This circumstance is reflected in some of the highest youth unemployment rates in the region,” said Professor Sir Hilary Beckles. “The Five Island Campus will provide a hub to enable the greater participation by The UWI in the development agendas of the OECS.”

Extending its influence is part of The UWI’s 2017-2022 Strategic Plan, which focuses on transformation – both social and economic. “The Strategic Plan is more than a framework. It is the core component of a development paradigm that seeks to energise the region and use its reputation as a tool for inspiring,” explained Professor Sir Beckles. “Economic growth and social growth are two sides of the same coin.”

The next 70 years

The UWI was established in 1948 as a subsidiary of the University of London but became wholly independent in 1962. Since then, the Caribbean has become an entirely different region, moving from colonial outposts to independent states. “The University was established to serve and lead the development interests of the Caribbean people. A principal remit was to facilitate the transformative process of detaching the region from the colonial scaffold. Advancing the movement to sovereignty and independence in order to indigenize sustainable nation building was a top priority,” explained the Vice-Chancellor.

As the geopolitical lines have changed, so too have the challenges. The UWI is continuing its mandate as both activist and advocate with its work around climate concerns, launching the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator last year, contributing to United Nation’s scientific literature on the issue and hosting the first ever meeting of the Commonwealth Climate Resilience Network in July 2019. 

According to the University: “Facing the challenge of climate change is imperative, especially in the context of hurricanes and other devastating events that have brought hardship, economic deprivation and even loss of life to so many in the Caribbean region.”

Another imperative for The UWI heading into its next few decades is embracing emerging technology. The University has partnered with the Global Institute of Software Engineering in China to launch the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, and is also increasing technological capacity across all campuses. 

“Taking responsibility for the technological revolution that features robotics and artificial intelligence is a logical assumption, hence the decisions taken by all campuses to drive the ‘smart’ culture as a private, as well as public, sector experience,” said the Vice-Chancellor. “The digital transformation of The UWI will increase access, service and development in each contributing country and subscribing community.”

As it focuses on better serving the region, The UWI is hoping to unlock more funding through a diversified revenue stream. In 2017 a special task force was convened to examine how to encourage governments to clear their debts to The UWI and sustain the cost-sharing model whereby both students and regional governments contribute. Many governments responded by pledging physical assets such as Grenada’s donation of 90 acres and Jamaica’s commitment to building Technology Parks.

The UWI has also set up a Global Giving scheme to allow alumni, well-wishers and partners to donate online, and is seeking to capitalise on its broad volume of research by building a profitable Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem. The University has fostered many unique innovations over the years, one of the most recent examples being a new fingerprinting technology, and hopes bringing these to market will strengthen its finances.

Money worries aren’t just an internal matter though. The University is very focused on addressing current obstacles in the regional economy. According to the Vice-Chancellor: “The UWI has its sleeves rolled up and is in the trenches with the entrepreneurial community in the effort to push our economies onto the highway of sustainable economic growth.”