One University – Four CampusesCAVE HILL MONA OPEN ST AUGUSTINE

The First Years of The UWI Open Campus

Progress, Leadership and Transformation

UWIOPEN CAMPUS

2008–2014

2008–2014The First Years of

The UWI Open CampusProgress, Leadership and

Transformation

One University – Four CampusesCAVE HILL MONA OPEN ST AUGUSTINE

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THE UWI OPEN CAMPUS STARTED OFF IN 2008 WITH A DREAM TOENSURE THAT ALL THE ORIGINAL OUTREACH AND SOCIALDEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTS OF THE UWI WOULD BE

CONSOLIDATED TO TAKE FURTHER ADVANTAGE OF DEVELOPINGTECHNOLOGIES AND ADVANCES IN PEDAGOGY AND ANDRAGOGY TO

BECOME ONE UWI ENTITY THAT WOULD BETTER SERVE MORERURAL AND UNDERSERVED AREAS OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY

On July 4, 2014, thenewest campus of the University of the West Indies(UWI), the Open Campus, turned six. It started offin 2008 with a dream to ensure that all the originaloutreach and social development departments of theUWI would be consolidated to take furtheradvantage of developing technologies and advancesin pedagogy and andragogy to become one UWIentity that would better serve more rural andunderserved areas of the Caribbean community,especially in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Belize,the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, CaymanIslands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts &Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

The UWI has focused on serving all member statesof the Caribbean Community since its 1948formation. In its quest to contribute to thedevelopment and empowerment of the people of theregion, it has consistently sought to reduce the ad hocoffering of adult, continuing and professionaleducation, distance education and communityresearch and development to the countries andcommunities within the Caribbean region beyondthe boundaries of the residential campuses inBarbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

As the twenty-first century approached, and afterconsiderable consultation with governments, NGOsand other groups, as well as research and policydevelopment throughout the University inpreparation for its institution-wide five-year strategic

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A Short History ofTHE UNIVERSITY OFTHE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS

plan 2007–2012, the UWI Open Campus wasconceptualised and launched in 2008 as a merger ofthe former outreach departments. A key driver ofthe initiative was that high-quality and technology-driven university education should be open andavailable to all people both inside and outside theCaribbean region who wished to access education toreach their full potential.

Subsequent to the approval of the formation of theOpen Campus by UWI Council in April 2007, theCampus was formally launched on July 4, 2008 atthe Council of the Caribbean Heads of Governmentannual meeting in Antigua & Barbuda. This was oneof the highlights of a year dedicated to celebrate the60th anniversary of the UWI in the Caribbeanregion.

At the 2008 launch, the UWI Vice-Chancellor,Professor E. Nigel Harris spoke to the developmentof the Open Campus as an essential strategicelement of the University’s then ongoing five-yearstrategic plan to transform its curricula andeducation systems, as well as to enhance itspostgraduate programmes and research productivity.

He stated that, “the Open Campus will insist onquality education relevant to the region, student-centredness, student-friendly services, and thecreation of knowledge and outreach to theCaribbean Community outside the walls of theUniversity, particularly in the Eastern Caribbean,Belize, the Cayman Islands and in rural areas incampus countries.”

Also speaking at the official launch was ProfessorHazel Simmons-McDonald, Pro Vice-Chancellorand Principal of the UWI Open Campus, whodubbed the new entity as “a campus for the times; acampus for the future” and noted that “it ispositioned to enable the University and itstraditional campuses to meet the demands foreducation and provide for the delivery ofprogrammes in more effective and efficient ways. As such, it seeks to continue to contribute to thedevelopment of human capital of the region and tothe positive transformation and enhancement ofCaribbean societies.”

The UWI Open Campus is now firmly rooted in thevision, mission and core values of the wider

University of the West Indies andit contributes to Caribbeandevelopment and growth.

We celebrate the significantdevelopments and contributionsof UWI Open Campus and itsefforts to collaborate with oursister campuses to bring theservices and products of theUniversity to the Caribbeanpeople and countries that supportthe UWI. We would like toacknowledge the outstandingcontribution of leaders anddiverse communities of policy-makers, administrators, scholars,students and other keystakeholders to our success.

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The Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Open Campus speak ata News Conference at the official launch of The UWI Open Campus in Antigua & Barbuda onJuly 4, 2008.

The UWI Open Campusis an amalgamation of the previous departments ofthe UWI, including: The Office of the Board forNon-Campus Countries & Distance Education(BNNCDE); the School of Continuing Studies(SCS); the UWI Distance Education Centre(UWIDEC), the Tertiary Level Institutions Unit(TLIU) and the Community Development andresearch Units that were linked to the SCS.

The purpose of the Open Campus was stated as thefourth aim of the UWI Strategic Plan (2007–2012):

To create an Open Campus to enable the University to expandthe scope, enhance the appeal and improve the efficiency of itsservice to the individuals, communities and countries which itserves (p.31)

The Open Campus offers multi-mode teaching andlearning services through virtual and physical sitelocations across the Caribbean region. There arecurrently 44 site locations of the Open Campus inthe region, serving 16 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. The Open Campus is guidedby the vision, mission and core values of the UWI.

UWI Vision

By 2017, the University will be globally recognisedas a regionally integrated, innovative, internationallycompetitive university, deeply rooted in all aspects ofCaribbean development and committed to servingthe diverse people of the region and beyond.

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About The UWIOpen Campus

T H E O P E N C A M P U S O f f E r S M U LT I - M O D E T E AC H I N G A N D L E A r N I N G S E rV I C E S

T H rO U G H V I rT UA L A N D P H y S I C A L S I T E L O C AT I O N S AC rO S S T H E C A r I B B E A N r E G I O N.

T H E r E A r E C U r r E N T Ly 4 4 S I T E L O C AT I O N S O f T H E O P E N C A M P U S I N T H E r E G I O N,

S E rV I N G 1 6 C O U N T r I E S I N T H E E N G L I S H - S P E A K I N G C A r I B B E A N.

UWI Mission

To advance education and create knowledge throughexcellence in teaching, research, innovation, publicservice, intellectual leadership and outreach in orderto support the inclusive (social, economic, political,cultural, environmental) development of theCaribbean region and beyond.

UWI Core Values

• Integrity • Intellectual freedom • Excellence • Civic responsibility • Accessibility • Diversity and • Equity

Guiding Principles of the Open Campus

The Open Campus of the University of the WestIndies is based on the idea that the high-qualityuniversity education, research and services availableat our institution should be openand available to all people whowish to reach their full potentialinside and outside of theCaribbean region.

The Open Campus adoptsquality teaching and learningexperiences, innovative pedagogicdesign, relevant research andcommunity partnerships todeliver face-to-face, blended andonline learning.

The Open Campus prides itselfon being an institution that is

• Student-Centred• Sgile• Accessible and• Enabling.

The Openness of the Open Campus

The Open Campus provides opportunities for thosewithout qualifications to access programmes that willprepare them for study at successively higher levels.To this end, the Campus is focusing on developing asuite of access or preparatory programmes that aredesigned to help learners build the skills andcompetencies that will prepare them for the world ofwork as well as to pursue higher levels of education,including UWI degree programmes. The Campusalso implements the UWI mature clause to acceptstudents into its degree programmes and, with theapproval of the Board for Undergraduate Studies(BUS) it also implements Prior Learning Assessment(PLA) for purposes of determining advancedstanding in degree programmes offered by the OpenCampus. This is an exciting and importantdevelopment which brings The UWI into line withmany other institutions internationally that areseeking to broaden access to their programmes tostudents from non-traditional backgrounds.Discussions are continuing about the use of PLA atUWI for matriculation purposes.

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The flexibility of entry requirements for students ofall ages positions the Open Campus at the centre ofopenness approaches used by Open and DistanceLearning providers internationally. The accesscourses, which we have referred to alternatively asscaffolding courses, enable students to be ready formore advanced programmes. The Open Campusconsiders the learning they come with and provides amenu of courses that allow them to build thecompetencies and master skills that are required forthe relevant certification at the end of the course.

The Mission and Purpose of the Open Campus

The Open Campus was formed to allow theUniversity to provide better educational programmesand services to the UWI-12 countries and under-served communities in countries with residentialcampuses. One of its main tasks was to consolidateUWI Distance Education services in the region andincrease access to UWI courses and programmes. As the campus designated to manage open andDistance learning (ODL) for UWI, the OpenCampus has as one of its main objectives the task ofproducing a one-look, one-feel, top quality onlineproduct for the University and deliver it to learnersin the region and beyond. To do so, collaborationbetween the residential campuses and the OpenCampus is essential as the Open Campus does nothave organised specialisation areas and it depends onfaculty from the established campuses to provide theexpertise and academic integrity for the coursesdelivered online.

The Open Campus provides expertise for (i)curriculum development; (ii) instructional design; (iii)training of course facilitators and e-tutors to manageand facilitate online instruction by providing anonline course of this title; (iv) e-tutor support andcourse delivery assistance; and (v) a 24/7 Help Deskservice to support learners. Through cross campus

collaboration that utilizes the best quality within theUniversity, the Open Campus promotes a UWIonline brand that is characterised by excellence andpresents the UWI as a leading provider of qualityonline programmes both regionally andinternationally.

The UWI Policy for Online, Distance and Multimode Learning

To facilitate collaboration between the Open andresidential Campuses for the purpose of developinga UWI brand of online programmes, a committeewas formed in 2007 to draft a UWI policy for online,distance and multimode learning. The objective ofthe policy was to facilitate a coordinated approachwithin the University for the expansion of Open andDistance Learning (ODL). The cross-campusworking group crafted procedures and guidelines foronline course/programme development and deliveryand the policy was approved by the University’sfinance and General Purposes Committee (f&GPC)in May 2008. However, acceptance and implement-ation of the policy became a challenge as somefaculties and departments were reluctant to give upthe online programmes they had already developedto the Open Campus platform for delivery and therewas also lack of consensus on the cost and incomesharing model that had been developed to guideinter-campus agreements.

A monitoring committee was established by theVice-Chancellor to oversee the implementation ofthe policy and ensure adherence to its guidelines butthere seemed to be a general lack of will for whatwas perceived to be a policing role to ensure campuscompliance. With the effort to implement the SingleVirtual University Space (SVUS) by the Centreadministration, a second committee was formed in2013 to revise the existing policy and draft guidelinesthat would allow for alignment of both entities. Thework on this initiative continues.

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As an Open entity theOpen Campus has some differences from its sistercampuses within the UWI institution. It has similargovernance structures and committees with oneexception – a small and focused financial committeeof Council which it uses instead of the largerfinance and General Purposes Committee thatexists on the other campuses. Like the othercampuses, it offers Bachelors and postgraduatedegrees, but it offers in addition a range of access(pre-university) courses and programmes that allowlearners to attain the certification they need formatriculation to degree programmes. In this regard,the Open Campus opens up opportunities for entryto the established campuses.

The main differences reside in the fact that the OpenCampus is organised by function rather than byareas of specialisation, as is the norm in the

residential campuses. It has Divisions instead offaculties and Directors instead of Deans, but thefunctions and status of the academic Directors (ofwhich there are three) are similar to those of theDeans of faculties and they sit on the sameUniversity committees. The Open Campus is alsowidely dispersed across the Caribbean region unlikethe residential campuses that are located in onecountry and the Open Campus has a differentfunding structure. Chart 1 shows the administrativestructure of the Open Campus, and Charts 2, 3 and4 show the structures for the Divisions responsiblefor teaching and learning, research and communityservice.

The Open Campus Structure

The original structure fashioned in 2007 has beensince refined to achieve efficiencies and maximizeresources. In 2012 the former TLIU, which in Open

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The Administrative and OperationalStructures of the

OPEN CAMPUS

Campus was named External relations andInter/Intra Institutional Collaboration Division(ErIIC), was dissolved with three members of staffassigned to the International Office at regionalCentre and the other three redeployed to otherdepartments in the Open Campus. There are threeacademic divisions, The Academic Programmingand Delivery Division (APAD); the Open CampusCountry Sites Division (OCCS) and the Consortiumfor Social Development and research (CSDr).While APAD is responsible for the planning,development and delivery of online programmes,the OCCS offer a broad suite of short, local,continuing and professional education courses faceto face at sites in the countries where they are locatedacross the region. The CSDr focuses on research ina range of areas of interest to the units within the

division. They also teach a range of courses andengage in community development work.

The Open Campus Library and InformationServices (LIS) is led by a Chief Librarian who isimplementing a library system to support theacademic programmes and provide services tostudents across the region through access to libraryonline services and also through hard stock availableat site libraries. The latter require considerablefurther development and service enhancements forwhich they are earmarked within the context of theredevelopment and upgrades planned for sites acrossthe region.

The Computing and Technology Services (CATS) ismanned by a small team of technical personnel whomanage the Open Campus Management System

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CHART 1: THE OPEN CAMPUS ADMINISTrATIVE STrUCTUrE

(OCMS), under the leadership of the ChiefInformation Officer. Through the LearningExchange – which is established on a MoodlePlatform, students access their courses online. CATSservices the 24/7 Help Desk Service the Campusprovides for students and it is working with otherdepartments on the Enterprise resource Planning(ErP) Project which the Campus is undertaking toenable it to upgrade its technological systems andallow for better integration of services across thevarious departments.

The registry is organised in much the same way ason the established campuses and there are four unitsthat oversee the needs of students: (i) recruitmentand Admissions (ii) Assessment, Awards and recordswhich deals with examination matters; (iii) StudentSupport Services and (iv) Campus SecretariatServices. Each unit is led by an Assistant registrar.

The other administrative departments comprise (i)the Office of the Campus Principal which includesthe Planning and Institutional research Department(PAIr); (ii) the Office of the Deputy Principal; (iii)the Office of finance; (iv) the Human resourcesDepartment. With the establishment by theUniversity of an Institutional AdvancementDepartment on each campus which will overseefundraising, marketing and alumni relations somereorganisation of the departments within the Officesof the Principal and Deputy Principal will berequired to provide better balance and oversight of critical portfolios within the campus.

The Academic Programming and Delivery Division

The Academic Programming and Delivery Structurewas reorganised from an academic level structure

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CHART 2: APAD OrGANISATIONAL CHArT

(pre-university; undergraduate and postgraduate) toa functional structure that emphasizes the primaryareas of responsibility and functions of the Division.APAD is responsible for the planning, developmentand online delivery of courses in the Open Campus.The work of APAD begins with the recognition thatmost Open Campus students are balancing theirstudies with other priorities, including family and jobresponsibilities. To reflect and support the needs ofOpen Campus students, APAD has been organisedaround three departments: Programme PlanningDepartment (PPD), Course Development Depart-ment (CDD) and Programme Delivery Department(PDD). Together, these departments ensure thecareful planning and development of ourprogrammes for online delivery while ensuring aCaribbean particularity. APAD constantly strives tooffer an excellent learner experience as well as allowaccessibility throughout the entire region. As adivision, APAD seeks always to be responsive to

students, ensuring that they are fully supported andassisted, thus affording them the opportunity todirect their energies fully toward their studies.

As do all the other Divisions of the Open Campus,APAD strives to uphold the UWIOC guidingprinciples and core values, which are based onquality, accessibility and service excellence. Muchthought goes into the process from programmeplanning, through development through delivery.Even as it seeks to develop and deliver programmesof the highest quality, it recognises the importance ofremaining agile so as to respond to the needs of itsclient base.

APAD uses Open Education resources (OErs) todevelop selected courses and in this way contributesto open sharing that expands access to knowledge. In 2011 the Campus signed the Cape TownDeclaration which was established to unlock thepromise the OErs.

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CHART 3: OCCS OrGANISATIONAL CHArT

The Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS)

The former Schools of Continuing Studies that wereincorporated into the Open Campus continued toexpand which made the original structuralarrangement untenable. There are forty-four sitesacross the region, twelve in Jamaica with anadditional one in development; eighteen in Trinidadand Tobago, two in Barbados and those in the UWI-12 plus a virtual operation in Bermuda. A change inthe original structure was undertaken and agreed inconsultation with Heads in 2013, to allow the sites tobe better integrated with other divisions in theCampus and shaped towards a more entrepreneurialapproach that would allow for increased productivity,better management and sustainability. The sitesrepresent the University in the communities in whichthey are located and one of their strengths is theirability to respond promptly to the needs ofgovernments, the private sector and the people in thecommunities across the region. The reorganisationwas designed to create a more tightly knit systemthat would result in a reconfiguration of sites intogroupings with management options suited to theirgrowth and development as well as to dovetail with a revised Open Campus business model thatwould constitute a more financially stable operationfor the OCCS, other divisions and the Campusgenerally.

The creation of three Deputy Director positions tobe filled internally and on rotation along lines thatgovern the appointment of Deans in faculty wasintroduced as a means of providing better oversightof the multiple sites to improve accountability andcreate opportunities for the generation of incomethrough (i) consolidation and expansion of theContinuing and Professional Education (CPE)programmes offered face-to-face locally and (ii)expansion and sharing across sites to provide thecommercial services offered to government andprivate sector companies locally. A third position for an SVUS Coordinator within the OCCS was

created in anticipation of the implementation of the SVUS centrally within the University and thedemand that this would place on the OCCS forcourse requests and scheduling delivery at OpenCampus sites whose technological facilities will beused for delivery of courses by residential campuses.This position will be filled (on the same terms as theother two) when the work on the organisation of the SVUS and its alignment with the Open Campushas been completed. These developments are allintended to improve the income streams of theOCCS and they have already begun to producepositive results.

While some governments have indicated that theyare not able to or will not support the OpenCampus, the University’s commitment tomaintaining a service in these countries requiresinnovative solutions and cost effective managementof resources. To this end, the Open Campus willconsolidate the management of sites by not fillingempty positions of heads in countries not providingsupport and will implement a group managementplan that will enable the sites to share and draw onthe common pool of resources to generate anincome base. Open Campus will be guided on futureactions based on periodic reviews of the perform-ance of the relevant sites.

The functions of the OCCS include but are notlimited to (i) provision of online support for APADdelivered programmes; (ii) commercial operations;(iii) continuing and professional education; (iv)community development services; (v) face-to-facecourse delivery; and (vi) representation of UWI on

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local committees and Boards. The expectation is thatthe reorganisation of the structure will provide amore robust platform that will enable staff toimplement innovations that will promote growth anddevelopment of Open Campus business in country.

The IT Academy

One of the changes in the reorganisation of theOCCS has been the location of the IT Academy inthat Division. The Academy is a Cisco-certifiedentity which provides IT training in various areas.The Academy makes its programmes available atOCCS in selected countries at present and this hasboosted the income generating capabilities of thesites in question. The Academy has been an activeparticipating member of the Cisco NetworkingAcademy for the past 10 years. It has receivedseveral awards, including a Commemorative Plaque;the Expert Level Instructor 2013 Award; theAdvanced Level Instructor 2013 award. It hasgenerated revenue of $400,000.00 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Open Campus has introduced Academies in St Lucia and Grand Cayman where revenues fromIT Courses have added to the income generation ofthese sites.

The Academy has launched a basic ComputerLiteracy course covering basic Microsoft OfficeApplication Skills and Hardware knowledge with an introduction to the Internet throughout theregion. Over the last six years it has trained theOpen Campus Site Technicians remotely in bothCompTIA A+, and Cisco Network Entry LevelNetwork Technician (CCENT) IndustryCertifications. Many technicians successfullyattempted and obtained their Industry Certifications.

The Open Campus IT Academy has been aCompTIA Authorised Academy since 2013. Itintroduced a Voucher Discount program for students

who successfully completed their CompTia A+training to access a 50% discount on their IndustryCertification.

The Consortium for Social Developmentand Research

The Consortium for Social Development andresearch comprises three departments and twounits. The three departments: (i) the CaribbeanChild Development Centre; (ii) the Hugh LawsonShearer Trade Union Education Institute and (iii)the Social Welfare Training Centre are more fullystaffed than the units (i) Women and Development(WAND) which has a staff of two and the Human

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resource Development Unit (HrDU) which hadone member of staff. The latter Unit has been closedover the last six years and an effort was made torevive it since it had done significant developmentwork of benefit to individuals in communities, butthe funding crisis resulted in the cancellation of theappointment of a Coordinator to lead the project.The OC will periodically review the feasibility ofreopening the unit.

The CSDr departments generate funding byundertaking research work for governments andother agencies and they also offer courses in theirspecialised areas. Their services are sought after forthe good quality of research they undertake andtheir reports which assist government planning inspecific areas. The CSDr collectively has receivedover US$2.M for research and other services overthe last five years.

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CHART 4: CSDr OrGANISATIONAL CHArT

As is sometimes thecase with the establishment of entities that heraldchange, the Open Campus encountered somechallenges in its formative years. The following arethe four main challenges that the Campus hasworked to overcome:

(i) reshaping the outreach entities into one campuswith a UWI governance structure;

(ii) forging collaborative partnerships and gettingbuy in across all UWI;

(iii) resource constraints, both financial and human; (iv) managing government expectations for

improved facilities locally.

Reshaping Outreach Units

The outreach units that were brought together toform the Open Campus had existed for many yearsas individual entities that were loosely connected tothe UWI Centre and campuses. All of them haddeveloped a strong culture and a particular way ofoperating. There were tensions between a coupleunits who saw themselves as engaged in acompetitive enterprise. from its inception, the OpenCampus has worked to forge a team spirit among itsdivisions and departments within divisions. Severalretreats and staff engagement workshops andactivities have focused on building inter-divisionaland inter-departmental synergies. These efforts tobuild team spirit and engage staff continue, as muchof the success of the campus depends on its staffworking in concert with a common vision towards acommon goal.

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The UWI Open Campus

f rO M I T S I N C E P T I O N T H E O P E N C A M P U S H A S WO r K E D TO f O rG E A T E A M S P I r I T

A M O N G I T S D I V I S I O N S A N D D E PA rT M E N T S W I T H I N D I V I S I O N S.

OvercomingCHALLENGES

Forging Collaborative Partnerships

The primary mandate of the Open Campus which isto develop and present a top quality UWI brandedonline product to the world depends for its successon collaboration between the four campuses of theUniversity. The Open Campus relies on the facultyat the residential campuses to provide the contentexpertise for the development of the courses and theacademic integrity through their delivery. The OpenCampus provides technical expertise in the form ofcurriculum development specialists, instructionaldesigners, media experts, learning support specialists,course development assistants, the technologicalplatform and support, a range of course deliverytools and help desk resources for students. faculty oncampuses are given first offer to collaborate oncourse development and outside help is sought onlyif no one is available on the residential campuses.

During its first five years the campus was viewedwith some skepticism and, as sometimes happenswith families, the youngest sibling has to win over the older siblings even as it looks up to them fornurturing and support. The Open Campus tookseveral decisions to forge collaboration based on trustand mutual respect. first, it formed an overarchingCampus Programme Planning Committee withrepresentation from its academic divisions and

Chaired by the Campus Deputy Principal to ensureinternal alignment among the divisions in respect ofcourse development and to engage in a more pro-active way with faculties and departments to set anagenda for developing their courses for onlinedelivery. Second, it revamped the dynamic costingmodel that had been developed initially to demon-strate clearly the income generating possibilities thatexist for partners in collaboration to deliverprogrammes online. Both of these changes haveresulted in positive outcomes and the Open Campusis at present engaged in the collaborative developmentof selected Bachelors and Masters programmes withselected faculties on all three residential campuses.This has been a welcome development that paves theway for the UWI to achieve its mission of bringinghigher education to the people of the region andexpanding its footprint globally.

Resource Constraints

The Open Campus experienced resource challengesboth human and financial and these continue atpresent. The formation of an open campus requiresa well trained technical team to deliver on the coursedesign and development side as well as thetechnological aspect for managing the learningplatform, the online data bases and the toolsrequired to support a seamless delivery ofprogrammes. The most expansive of the outreachunits had a large staff cohort that lacked technicalexpertise for the most part. Many members of staffin one of the outreach sections had also been onsuccessive one year contracts for several years. TheOpen Campus had to resolve this anomaly, inconsultation with the relevant unions (the OpenCampus negotiates with thirteen Unions across thejurisdiction), and also find the technical staff neededfor the essential work of the campus. A decision wastaken to train and re-train staff members where thatwas possible but several new hires of skilledpersonnel were needed. The Open Campus hasbeen involved in streamlining its staff cohort by

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training and transfer across departments whereappropriate. However, with the undertaking of anEnterprise resource Planning Project to provide anadequate manage-ment system for the entirecampus, the need for highly skilled staff has becomea more pressing priority.

A strategy used by the Campus which has partiallyresolved this problem is hiring required staff on shortcontract to undertake specific tasks. The receipt ofgrant funds has helped to make this possible. Atpresent the Open Campus hires approximately fivehundred e-tutors on short contract to provideinstructional support to learners enrolled in onlineprogrammes. However, the demands of shifting to adifferent technological platform as determinedby the analysis conducted through the ErPproject will require specialised technical help,particularly in the implementation phase. The Open Campus is pursuing options ofredeployment within the Campus where this ispossible as well as one or two secondments fromthe technological units of residential campusesto facilitate the smooth implementation of thenew technological support system for thecampus.

The financial constraint – has proved to bethe single most daunting challenge the OpenCampus has faced in its years of existence. TheCampus was mandated by the University from itsinception to be self-sustaining but the investmentexpected from contributing governments forsupporting the work of the campus in each of theUWI-12 countries was not forthcoming because theeconomic crisis that affected the western world haddeleterious effects on the economies of Caribbeancountries as well. The result is that governmentshave not been able to pay the amounts approved forthe Open Campus budget and some governmentshave indicated that they are unable to pay to supportthe campus in the future. receivables in the form ofgovernment contributions and tuition fees are

considerable. In an attempt to mitigate the effects ofwithdrawal of support from governments, the OpenCampus in the last year has accelerated its coursedevelopment agenda to create a more varied slate ofofferings that are likely to have wide appeal toprospective students. Other cost cutting measuresacross the campus are also implemented to reduceexpenditure on a regular basis.

The Open Campus has also worked steadily toimprove its sustainability and to decrease itsdependence on government funding. Its record in sodoing is evident in the reversal of the governmentfunding to fee income ratio which Tables 1 and 2clearly demonstrate.

The orange bars show the approved governmentcontributions to the Open Campus budget and theblue bars show the sums actually received fromgovernments. The majenta-coloured bars in themiddle show the gradual increase of income fromtuition fees which now promise to provide thesustainability that the Open Campus needs.Increases in programme offerings with aconcomitant increase in student numbers is theformula that will allow the Open Campus tocontinue to move towards financial viability. Table 2shows more starkly the reversal over the years inrespect of the ratio of government contributions toincome from fees.

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Table 1: Government Contributions / fee income

Table 2: Tuition fee ration – based on budget

Year Government Contribution/Tuition Fee Ratio

2008–2009 63:37

2009–2010 60:40

2010–2011 46:54

2011–2012 46:54

2012–2013 46:54

2013–2014 39:61

Managing Government Expectations

One of the wishes that UWI-12 governmentsexpressed that contributed to the UWI’s decision toform an open campus was that they wished the UWIto have a bigger profile in their countries. They alsowished for bigger and more impressive facilitiessimilar to those on the residential campuses. Theexpectation was that the Open Campus would makethis possible. However, as a primarily virtual entityintended to deliver online programmes, the creationof expanded physical facilities would require theOpen Campus to invest in site redevelopment andexpansion while at the same time trying to build itstechnological capabilities to reach more people inmore remote places. A related complication was thatsome governments ceased to provide support to theOpen Campus while anticipating that theirexpectations for expansion would be fulfilled.

The other expectation for a broader suite ofprogrammes in demand in country has been easierfor the Open Campus to fulfill, and early on a needssurvey was undertaken across the region in2010–2011 to determine the needs of stakeholdersin the various countries. The results of that surveyare informing the planning of the campus andinfluencing the selection of programmes beingdeveloped for online delivery as well as theContinuing and Professional Education (CPE)

courses that are to be developed for delivery face-to-face locally. Strong emphasis is being placed on workforce programmes to meet the needs of developmentof the work force across the region.

Despite the shortfall in income resulting from thesubvention receivables, the Open Campus hascontinued to make every effort to improve itstechnological and physical facilities at its variouslocations across the region. These, as well as theinitiatives being taken in the areas of programming,staff development, research and innovation allcomprise the robust platform on which the fortunesof the Open Campus are predicated.

Celebrating the Achievements andAcknowledging the Promise

In an age of exponential technological development,Open and Distance Learning (ODL) provides thepromise of equity for access to education andupward social mobility for many. As the primaryagency for promoting ODL for the University, theOpen Campus has the responsibility for enhancingthe UWI’s capability for offering ODL opportunitiesin all possible modalities to the people of the regionand beyond. This entails paying due attention to thedevelopment and maintenance of all the resourcesunder its supervision. To this end the Open Campushas begun to implement an agenda to increase itsprogramme offerings, enhance its facilities:technological/virtual and physical and provide safftraining and development opportunities to ensurethe provision of service excellence in all aspects of itsendeavour. Despite the challenges outlined in theprevious section, it has made strides in this regard. Acursory review of some of the achievements over thelast six years will highlight the promise of success forthis relatively young campus.

Programming

A critical area of development for the Open Campusis the production and delivery of courses and

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programmes indemand for onlinedelivery and face-to-face locally in theOCCS. recently,APAD embarked ona bold mission toreach a much wideraudience than itcurrently does. Itrecognises that forthe Open Campus toachieve its mandateof providing highereducationopportunities to theregion’s underservedcommunities, it mustoffer programmesthat are outside thetraditional offerings. To this end, APAD has added toits offering, pre-university certificates to provide apathway for applicants who normally would notmatriculate, into full degree programmes. This planis broadly envisioned to capture not only theunemployed who lack qualifications or skills but alsothe employed who need to upgrade. This approachoffers a laddered pathway that starts at pre-universityand moves right through to graduate degrees withthe opportunity to exit at multiple points: pre-university certificates, undergraduate certificates,undergraduate diplomas, bachelor’s degrees, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees and doctoraldegrees. The following are some of the new andexciting programmes that are in the developmentphase:

• Pre-university Certificate in Early ChildhoodDevelopment and family Studies

• Pre-university Certificate in Social Work • Pre-university Certificate in ICT• BSc Customs Management

• BSc ICT• BSC Social Sciences (with several streams)• MSc Instructional Design and Technology• MSc Management Studies (with several streams)• MSc Public Sector Management

The Continuing and Professional Education unit inthe OCCS has embarked upon a task of reviewingthe over six hundred local and CPE courses that arebeing offered at various sites, scheduling them all forcurriculum review on a phased basis and takingthem through the rigorous quality assurance processand making them available in a repository so thatany site can have access to these courses if there is ademand for them at the various locations. Thisinitiative will avoid duplication and make it possiblefor small sites to source and offer courses andprogrammes already developed. The development ofsome CPE courses for online delivery will also makefor synergies between the APAD and OCCS foridentifying needs and developing these courses in themost appropriate modality or in blended format.

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In order to fulfil theexpectations of its various stakeholders, the newlyformed campus would require additional fundingand the Open Campus set out to source the financesit would need to build an operation that wouldaddress the needs of the region. The various planneddevelopments could not be financed from the feeincome in the first six years of operation. In order toprovide a catalyst for improvement in the face ofquestions by governments, primarily, as to what theUWI and Open Campus were doing to improveprovisions locally, the Open Campus wrote a seriesof proposals to solicit funding for programming andthe enhancement of capital works across thejurisdiction.

Funding from the Department of ForeignAffairs, Trade and Development (DFATD)

As early as 2008 the Open Campus decided toapproach Canadian International developmentAgency (CIDA) for an unsolicited loan and, withintroductions and arrangements made by thenProgramme Director, roger Powley, the Principalmet with senior officials of DfATD, formerly theCIDA, to discuss the prospects for an unsolicitedloan of approximately CDN$78m. CIDA agreedthat it would consider an unsolicited loan but a loanof such a large sum would need to be approved atthe highest level.

A carefully scripted proposal set out the various areasof the Open Campus that would benefit from thefunding. After four years of consultations withCIDA, the Agency recommended that the proposalbe separated into distinct parts, not exceedingCDN$20m each, to expedite approval at theMinisterial level. A proposal was redrafted to seekfunding for CDN$20m to cover (i) programmedevelopment; (ii) technological upgrades and (iii)

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Sourcing Funding forDEVELOPMENT

I N O r D E r TO f U L f I L T H E E x P E C TAT I O N S O f I T S VA r I O U S S TA K E H O L D E r S, T H E

N E W Ly f O r M E D C A M P U S WO U L D r E qU I r E A D D I T I O NA L f U N D I N G A N D T H E O P E N

C A M P U S S E T O U T TO S O U rC E T H E f I NA N C E S I T WO U L D N E E D TO BU I L D A N

O P E r AT I O N T H AT WO U L D A D D r E S S T H E N E E D S O f T H E r E G I O N.

institutional strengthening. A small portion ofCDN$1.2m was allocated to planning forinfrastructural development across the OpenCampus. On May 15, 2013 Hon. Diane Ablonczy,Minister of foreign Trade, announced formally inAntigua that the DfATD of the CanadianGovernment had awarded a grant of CDN$20m tothe UWI Open Campus for Strengthening DistanceEducation in the Caribbean (SDEC).

In his response to the Minister the Vice-Chancellorsaid:

All of us understand the considerable value of aneducation – all understand that social and economicdevelopment, democracy and stable governments arevitally dependent on an educated and productivepopulace. Our university cannot serve its mission, ifwe can do for some, but cannot afford access for all...The Open Campus is founded on the basic levels of“Openness” in terms of admission, and provision ofeducation at a distance. We want to reach a stagewhere most students will not need to travel toBarbados, Jamaica, Trinidad or elsewhere, but will beable to stay where they are andget a first class, Caribbeanrelevant education . . .

In the face of adversity, onecan roll over and die or stand-up and shake one’s fist at fateand fight. It is in this spirit thatour Open Campus Principal,Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald and her colleagueslooked for alternative means tomake our dream of providinga Tertiary Education to theEastern Caribbean and othercountries without campusespossible. She sallied forth tofind a Knight – and CIDAproved to be that Knight, onemight even argue a “Knight in

Shining Armor”. It took a few years to fashion thispartnership with CIDA, multiple iterations,submissions and re-submissions of the proposal —some among us despaired, but in the end, theCanadian Government and people have comethrough for us – I wish to say a special thank you notonly to you Minister but to the CIDA staff whoworked tirelessly with Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald to make this project a reality. My thankstoo to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who I believemay have helped to move this effort along in its finalstages.

The Open Campus has established the DfATD /SDEC Project Office and work has commenced onimplementing selected developments funded by thegrant.

Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Loan

In 2008, the Open Campus in collaboration with thePro Vice-Chancellor of Planning and Development,had explored the possibility of sourcing a soft loan tofund critical developments in the context of

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Canada’s Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas & Consular Affairs, the Honourable DianeAblonczy, shakes the hand of the UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris after the official ceremonyto signify the commitment of significant CIDA funding for the future development of the UWI Open Campus.Also celebrating the moment at the ceremony are (from left to right): High Commissioner to Barbados and theEastern Caribbean, Mr. Richard Hanley; Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, the Honourable BaldwinSpencer; Principal of the UWI Open Campus, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald; and Ms. LouiseClement, Senior Director of CIDA’s Caribbean Programme

uncertainty about the outcome of the application fora grant with CIDA. It would take four years for theproposal submitted by the Open Campus to be takento the Board for consideration and approval, and inearly 2014 the CDB approved a loan of US$13m forthe redevelopment of two large ageing sites (in St.Lucia and St. Vincent), with an allocation also tosupport the development of online programmes.The Open Campus had already begun preliminaryplanning work for the development of these two sitesand, with the completion of the requirements forfinalising the loan agreement and various approvalsobtained in 2014, turning of the sod at both sites tobegin construction is slated for January 2015. TheUniversity Project Office is providing the supportwork on project management for the redevelopmentof these sites.

It is expected that the improvements which willinclude significant upgrading of the computer

laboratories and technological tools; a modernlearning commons at which students will be able toaccess online library resources as well as hard stockreferences provided by the Open Campus LibraryInformation Services (LIS); various amenities thatcontribute to a learner friendly environmentconducive to learning, the sites will be able toincrease their income streams through expansion ofthe offering of local and CPE programmes as well asthrough rental of the facilities for various purposesby professional groups while at the same timeproviding an enhanced support service for thedelivery of the online programmes to studentslocated in these islands.

These and other Open Campus projects areconceptualised with environmentally friendlyfeatures that are intended to lower the cost ofutilities and maintenance.

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LEfT TO rIGHT: Architect’s impression of Open Campus Redeveloped Site in St. Vincent

LEfT TO rIGHT: Architect’s impression of Open Campus Redeveloped Site in St. Lucia

The United Service Fund (USF) Jamaica

A tour of Open Campus sites in Jamaica in 2008–2009revealed that the majority were in a state of disrepairand unsuited to the proper conduct of instructionalactivities. The Open Campus submitted a proposal tothe United Service fund (USf – formerly UnitedAccess fund – UAf) for support to upgrade thetechnological infrastructure at the site at Mandeville.With support from the USf and with Open Campussupplying funds for the civil works, the Mandevillesite was relocated and equipped with technologicalupgrades and enhanced computer laboratories andvideo conference facilities. The site was formallyopened by then Minister of Education on May 27,2010. Three other sites in rural Jamaica would alsobe refurbished and, in collaboration with the UWICentre Office, the Open Campus submitted aproposal to the United Service fund for the relocation/ redevelopment / upgrading of the technologicalinfrastructure of all sites in Jamaica. The USfawarded a considerable grant to the Open Campusfor this purpose with the understanding that theCampus would provide the funds for the civil works.

The Open Campus could not honour thecommitment for the civil works upgrades with thetimelines stipulated by the USf because of ashortfall in funding as approved subventions had notbeen received. In 2014 the Open Campus heldmeetings with Hon. ronald Thwaites, Minister ofEducation, and the Permanent Secretary of theMinistry of Education to discuss services to beoffered by the Campus in Jamaica. The Ministryoffered a grant of US$2m to meet the cost of thecivil works of all remaining sites in Jamaica. Work on these projects will resume when the funding hasbeen received. The enrolment in CPE and localprogrammes at the four sites that were upgradedincreased when the Open Campus opened the doorsof these sites at the new locations. With a slate ofCPE and local programmes designed to help developskills and competencies the OC will contribute in asignificant way to the development of the workforcein communities in Jamaica.

The images below show some of the upgraded /relocated Open Campus sites in Jamaica.

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LEfT TO rIGHT: Refurbished computer lab in MandevilleReading room in Savanna-La-Mar.Tele/videoconference Room at the Open Campus Mandeville siteRefurbished Computer Laboratory at Camp Road siteStudents participating in videoconference studio at new Mandeville siteComputer laboratory and tele/videoconference studio at new Port Antonio site

Trinidad and Tobago

The largest of Open Campus commercial operationsis in Trinidad and Tobago where the Open Campushas seventeen sites. Through considerable supportfrom and in collaboration with the Government ofTrinidad and Tobago, the Open Campus is re-engineering its operations in Trinidad and Tobago toinclude offerings in some technical vocational areasand in skills training. The Government has leased(on long term) ten acres of land in Chaguanas at theformer Caroni Estate, to the University of the WestIndies for the construction of a facility that will allowthe Open Campus to consolidate its operations byclosing several small sites in Central Trinidad andoffering expanded programmes at the new facility. Ata Turning-of-the-Sod Ceremony in April 2014, theintention of naming the site the Esmond D. ramesarCentre was announced. The plans for this newcomplex which is adjacent to the site for the Ministryof Tertiary Education and Skills Training Complexwere unveiled.

The new facility will house the Open LearningCentre of the Open Campus which is currentlylocated in an older building at the St. AugustineCampus; the Computing and Technology Services(CATS) laboratories and offices, the Library andInformation Services (LIS) hub; classrooms for theexpansive slate of local and CPE courses offered inTrinidad and Tobago as well as conference andsporting facilities. The facility will be constructed inphases and through the generosity of the Govern-ment which has allocated TT$57m for the construct-ion of the first phase (Phase A). Work has begun onthe latter and it is expected to be completed by mid2015, while completion of the final Phase D isanticipated in 2017. Students who are now beingaccommodated at small sites in various locations willattend at the Centre in Chaguanas. However, theOpen Campus will continue to support its large sitesas well as satellite sites in critical locations to makeaccess possible to its programmes offered in variousmodalities, including online at its laboratories forthose who may not have access to the Internetotherwise.

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LEfT: The refurbished Open Campus Centre in Tobago

rIGHT: (l-r) Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald, standswith Senator, the Honourable Fazal Karim and ProfessorAlvin Wint at the site for the MSTTE Complex and TheUWI Open Campus, Chaguanas Trinidad -2012 – ceremonyto announce allocation to the UWI Open Campus.

BOTTOM: Principals of the St. Augustine Campus and theOpen Campus, the Permanent Secretary and Minister ofMEST with The Vice-Chancellor and members of the familyof Esmond D. Ramesar at the turning of the Sod ceremony inApril 2014.

Grenada

The Open Campus has also been a beneficiary ofproperty from the Government of Grenada whoallocated approximately 89 acres of land to theOpen Campus for the relocation of its site in St.Georges and the phased expansion of Universityservices over time, in collaboration with sistercampuses. The Prime Minister and the Minister ofEducation have endorsed the preliminary plans forthe Open Campus facility at Hope Estate, the newlocation. The Open Campus will retain its presenceat Marryshow House as a satellite site, and continueits preservation as a heritage site. Open Campus willcontinue to offer cultural programmes, trainingsessions and workshops at Marryshow House tofacilitate attendance and access to programmes afterhours. The new site at Hope Estate will be designedwith several commercial ventures for important andrelevant services which will contribute to the incomestream of the site. In the absence of dedicatedfunding for this project, the Open Campus willconsider development on a lease to own option.However, with a proposal being developed for thesecond DfATD grant which is earmarked primarilyfor infrastructural development, the Open Campuswill be considering the best options based on theimperatives of agreed timelines for developmentwith the Government of Grenada.

St. Kitts and Nevis

The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis hasindicated its intention to contribute to theredevelopment and upgrading of the Open Campussite in St. Kitts. At the request of the Governmentthe Head Open Campus, St. Kitts, in consultationwith senior officers of the Open Campus hassubmitted preliminary proposals for the scope ofworks to be undertaken at the site. The OpenCampus continues its consultations with theGovernment of St. Kitts and also with the Premierof Nevis to further improve its services for thedevelopment of the people of the twin island state.

Other Open Campus PlannedDevelopments

In addition to the sites in the UWI-12 that havealready been earmarked for upgrading throughfunding received from various sources, the OpenCampus is planning to upgrade its physical plant inother locations on a phased basis. The OpenLearning Centres (OLCs) on the three establishedcampuses are critical for the ongoing work of thecampus, and while the computer laboratories, andvideoconferencing studios have been refurbished atthe Open Learning Centre at Cave Hill, the OLCsat Mona and St. Augustine both need upgrading.Completion of the facilities at Chaguanas willprovide state-of-the art laboratories andvideoconference facilities for the use of staff andstudents while at least one studio will be maintainedin the building jointly owned by the St. Augustineand Open Campuses to facilitate access from thatlocation.

The Open Campus continues to consult with theadministration at Mona to acquire space adjacent toits offices on Gibraltar Camp road for purposes ofconsolidating its operations there. The GibraltarCamp road complex also houses the Hugh LawsonShearer Trade Union Education Institute and the

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The sign at Hope Estate marking the gift of land by the Government andPeople of Grenada to the University of the West Indies Open Campus.

Social Welfare Training Centre which, in addition toits teaching and other training programmes, operatesa hostel for students. The CSDr has submitted plansfor the upgrade of the facilities at Gibraltar Camproad, and with allocation of a small area of land,the Open Campus will be able to accommodate itsvarious offices (registry, finance and others) whichare now located in various places on the MonaCampus.

Plans have already been designed for the expansionof the OLC at Cave Hill and the Cave Hill Principalvery early agreed these. It is expected that thesenecessary developments will be funded by grantsfrom agencies to which the Open Campus issubmitting proposals.

Delivering to Students with State of the Art Technological Tools

In addition to the upgrading that has already beendone at selected sites to computer laboratories andtele/videoconferencing facilities, the Open CampusCATS team keeps abreast of developments in thefield to access and make available the tools that willensure delivery of online courses to students withefficiency and clarity and in a cost effective way.Some courses are delivered using the videoconferencing facilities but this is a more expensivemedium for this purpose. However, it is useful fordemonstrations of complex procedures, whichstudents can see in real time and participate in themoment of delivery.

CATS has continually upgraded delivery tools. Toaugment the polycom system which had begun toshow signs of wear, CATS contracted with BluejeansNetworks, a cloud solution of videoconferencing

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Snapshots of the new computer laboratory andvideoconferencing studios at the Open Campus,Open Learning Centre at Cave Hill.

which allows participants to join a videoconference,using a computer web browser, or a mobilesmartphone or tablet over the Internet. Morerecently, the services of another system whichperforms the same functions as Bluejeans but is morecost effective have been contracted for use.

The CATS team built and has maintained the OpenCampus Student Management System (OCMS)which houses the information on Open Campusstudents and from which their records are alsomanaged. The system had been developed primarilyfor those registered for online programmes but in theinterest of hosting all its students on one system, the

Open Campus has been searching for a system thatwould be adequate. Over the last two years CATShas led the search for an Enterprise resourcePlanning (ErP) System to replace the Open CampusManagement System (OCMS). The firm CollegiateProject Services (CPS) was hired as consultants forthe requirements gathering and analysis phase of theproject. The company recommended EllucianBanner ErP in a context in which the othercampuses within the University use Banner. Bannerfinance is also used by the Open Campus. TheUniversity announced its intent to continue to use

that system and in the interest of fosteringintegration as far as possible, a decision was taken toexplore Ellucian Banner. Much work continues onthis initiative with a test bed currently beingundertaken and preparatory work being done for theimplementation of the system. All majordepartments of the Open Campus are involved inthis project and CATS is providing support for theregistry and others to facilitate the transition to thenew system.

CATS also upgraded the online student learningenvironment to Moodle version 2.3 and Maharaversion 1.5. Part of the maintenance schedule of thetechnical support team is dedicated to the continuingupgrade of these products. Open Campus has alsowidely used Blackboard Collaborate as a tool formeetings and delivery and in 2013 the productenabled support for Android devices in addition tothe support for the Apple iPhone, iPod and iPadpreviously.

It is expected that the implementation of a newsystem will allow for better management of studentrecords as well as better integration of relevant inter-departmental operations.

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Schedule of preliminary tasks undertaken on the ERP Project in 2013

Through funding forinstitutional strengthening, the Open Campus hasorganised a series of workshops, initially, for OpenCampus staff in Trinidad and Tobago. Theprogramme, which is facilitated by Sutherland andAssociates, focused on customer service training,executive coaching, and strategies for interdepart-mental collaboration among others. Staff in thevarious divisions in Trinidad and Tobagoparticipated in this initial exercise. A continuingprogramme to build staff engagement, excellentcustomer service and executive coaching will bescheduled on an annual basis. In addition to thecurrent series, the Open Campus organised fourmain staff retreats as well as an executive coachingprogramme between 2008 and 2014. Such staff

development initiatives will continue to feature inOpen Campus programme of activities.

Early Childhood Centres

At present there are four Early Childhood Centres,called early childhood institutions (ECIs): one eachin Jamaica and Antigua, and two in Trinidad. TheseECIs operate with different models, curricula andstandards, and have varying levels of integrationwith other OC operations. A recent review of theECIs in 2010–11, followed by a detailed NeedsAssessment in late 2012, both undertaken by theCaribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC) ofthe CSDr led to recommendations that the ECIs becoordinated and streamlined with the overarchingmanagement by the OC, bringing the facilities andmanagement up to a very high standard using bestpractices for curricula and programmes, withreporting to a single Board, and ensuring that thequality of services offered is in keeping with the highstandards of UWI.

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InstitutionalSTRENGTHENING

In the proposed structure, the ECIs will beconfigured as laboratory schools closely linked to theUniversity. They will provide day care services foryoung children of staff, students and the surroundingcommunities, as well as a learning environment forpracticum students in early childhood education andother programmes, and research capacity for staffand students in developmental psychology, earlychildhood education, social work, paediatrics, publichealth, nutrition, and other disciplines. Theprovision of these model ECIs will allow for theestablishment of best practices in early childhoodcare and development, and training sites forprospective caregivers and others working in theearly childhood environment.

As a university laboratory school, the Open CampusECIs will have the unique opportunity to promotediversity through the children who attend the centre(which will include children of university staffmembers as well as community members), staffmembers and pre-service teachers who work at thecentre. In-service teachers will be able to visit thecentre where they will not only observedevelopmentally appropriate teaching and learningpractices but they will also learn how to implementthese practices in their own learning environments.The concept, which has been developed by ProfessorJulie Meeks-Gardner, Head of CCDC and Mrs.Ceceile Minott, is being implemented carefully andthe first Board meeting is due to be convened in July2014.

Accreditation

Monday July 8, 2013 was an important day in thehistory of the Open Campus. On that day theBarbados Accreditation Council (BAC) bestowedinstitutional accreditation status on the OpenCampus for six years from 2013 to 2019. In heropening remarks the Chairperson of the BAC stated“institutional accreditation by an authorised agencysuch as the BAC will give learners and the widercommunity greater confidence in the quality of theoverall operations of your Open Campus.” Theaccreditation exercise was carried out by a team ofinternational assessors and the entire Open Campuswas involved and kept abreast of the process byquality Assurance Officer, Ms. Pamela Dottin. Thereport, which was submitted to the UWI OpenCampus, noted:

The commitment to quality was clear from all ofthose the team met, from the design and deliveryteams in APAD to the online and face-to-face tutors.There are effective systems of monitoring and reviewof programmes and appropriate internationalbenchmarking of standards. The quality AssuranceUnit provides an appropriate and high quality serviceto the Open Campus.

In responding, Principal of the Open Campus,Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald expressed herdeep appreciation to the BAC for the signal honourof being the first institution to achieve accreditationfrom the BAC. The Principal revealed that the roadto achieving accreditation had not been clear-cutbecause of the dispersion of the Open Campusacross the region, but she gave much credit to MsPamela Dottin and the staff of the Open Campuswho all worked assiduously to ensure that the self-study process and the accreditation visit weresuccessful. The Principal also emphasised that:

the achievement of institutional accreditation for sixyears, after only five years of operation as a campus isa major endorsement of the quality of ourprogramme offerings and services to our students and

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Entrance to the Open Campus Caribbean Child Development Centre atthe playing fields, Mona, Jamaica

it validates the University’s decision in 2007 toestablish an Open Campus. Ours is indeed a Campusfor the times, a Campus for the future!

On Thursday, July 10, 2014, the AccreditationCouncil of Trinidad and Tobago awarded the UWIOpen Campus a certification of recognition of theaccreditation awarded by the BAC. At a ceremony at the Ministry of Tertiary Education and SkillsTraining in Trinidad, Minister fazal Karim notedthe significance of the occasion. He stated thatrecognition by ACTT signified the confidence of theCouncil and the Government in the Open Campusand it also was an endorsement of the quality of theprogrammes and services offered by the OpenCampus.

Expanding the UWI / Open CampusFootprint Globally

The Open Campus receives on a daily basis requestsfrom students across the world for information aboutits entry requirements. As an open campus, the UWIinstitution facilitates entry through the provision ofaccess or readiness courses that are designed to help

individuals build multiple literacy skills that willprepare them for higher study. In addition to suchrequests, interest from people of Caribbean descentin other parts of the world has been high. In Newyork, where there is a significant Caribbeanpopulation, the idea for a centre that will allow theUniversity to establish itself in an internationallocation was made and, with the help and advocacyof former Chancellor of the New york CityDepartment of Education, the University, throughits Open Campus is establishing a small but wellequipped site that will provide the means forprospective students to learn more about the UWIand the Open Campus, to access programmes thatmay be offered via the Single Virtual UniversitySpace, to enrol in and receive support as needed foronline programmes offered by the UWI OpenCampus.

This is the first important imprint on the globalstage. There is interest in the quality programmesthat are offered by the UWI and the Open Campushas subsequently received additional expressions ofinterest for presence – not just virtual but real –elsewhere.

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Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald receiving the certificateof Institutional Accreditation from the Chairperson of the Barbados Accreditation Council Ms.Yvonne Walkes. Also shown in the photograph are Ms. Valda Alleyne (extreme left), ExecutiveDirector, BAC and Professor Vivienne Roberts (extreme right) Deputy Principal, Open Campus

On Thursday, July 10, 2014, the Trinidad &Tobago Minister of Tertiary Education andSkills Training, Senator, the Hon. Fazal Karim,presented the Open Campus Principal with aCertificate of Mutual Recognition.

The ScholarShip Cruise and LearnAdventure

The Open Campus continued its tradition of linkingthe Caribbean through innovative activities in highereducation with its second ‘ScholarShip’ Cruise andLearn Adventure series. The second cruise tookplace from April 6 to 17, 2014 aboard the CoralPrincess from the elegant Princess Cruises Line.Originating from fort Lauderdale in florida, portsof call included: Ocho rios in Jamaica; Limon inCosta rica; the Panama Canal & Colon in Panama;Cartagena in Colombia; and Aruba.

This event was designed to make deeper inroads intothe UWI alumni market through making significantconnections, generating goodwill for the UWI acrossthe Caribbean region and the diaspora, buildingstrong family and friendship memories and forging aunique and intriguing Caribbean experience amongfellow passengers.

The main goal has always been to promoteCaribbean research, education and knowledge, andto present our regional heritage and culture in aunique way. Apart from providing a relaxing retreat,the cruise is also designed to raise funds to providemore scholarship opportunities and bursaries forneedy UWI Open Campus students.

The UWI Open Campus ventured into the world oftravel through this sea adventure in order to offer abroad educational experience of the Caribbean. The cruise was designed to bring more focus onCaribbean education and history and the UWI’scontribution to the growth and development of theregion, by featuring the best of what the UWI has tooffer through lectures by its on-board and on-siteresearchers, historians, linguists, archeologists,naturalists, and other specialised academic areas.

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Innovations andMILESTONES

Both ScholarShip Cruise and Learn Adventures(2011 & 2014) were successful. Many friends fromthe UWI were reunited after several years apart,reconnected with families, learned about theirCaribbean neighbours and established strongnetwork connections on the cruise.

The programme in 2014 included a briefing on thehistorical, cultural, maritime and geo-politicalfeatures of each port and the bio-diversity linking the Caribbean and Central and South America. withspeakers and facilitators from the University of theWest Indies. The 11-day cruise also featured in-country visits to several interesting sites.

Joan ArmatradingConcerts

UWI Honorary Graduate,Ms Joan Armatrading,has offered to give aconcert or two in supportof the Open Campus.The concerts will be partof her last solo worldtour and proceeds will bedonated to the OpenCampus. The concert to support the Open Campusis expected to be staged in early 2015.

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Mr. Steve Imperato (second left), of FutureFunds Ltd., Advancement Consultant to the University of the West Indies (UWI), hands over a cheque forUS$500 to Po Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UWI Open Campus, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald (third left) in support of the UWI’ssecond ScholarShip Cruise and Learn Adventure scheduled for April 6 to 17, 2014. The fund-raising cheque was presented on Wednesday, January 7,2014 at the Principal’s Office in Barbados as FutureFund’s support and commitment to this fundraising initiative of The UWI and the OpenCampus. This welcome financial support for a key initiative of the university illustrates how prospective donors and alumni or anyone can be involvedand engaged with the institution even if they are unable to participate in activities. Others in the picture, from left are: Dr. Joel Warrican, Planning andDevelopment Officer, UWI Open Campus; Miss Minna Isreal, Special Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor on Resource Development; and ProfessorVivienne Roberts, Deputy Principal, UWI Open Campus.

Screening of Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution

The UWI Open Campus has been hosting thescreening of the Bruce Paddington documentary,Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution, at selectedUWI Open Campus locations across the region. The first two screenings in St. Kitts and Jamaicarespectively were very well attended as were those inSt. Lucia and Barbados in July 2014. Screenings areplanned for other countries served by the UWI laterin the year. Surplus funds from this initiative arebeing donated to charities supported by the UWIOpen Campus.

The UWI Open Campus By The Numbers – 2012/2013

• Caribbean Countries Served – 17• Locations in Caribbean Countries – 44• Total Student Enrollment – 19,918• Online Student Enrollment – 6,783

(Semester 1, 2013/2014)• face-to-face Student Enrollment – 15,710• Total Student Graduates – 643• first Class Honours Undergraduate Students – 78• Postgraduate Degrees Awarded – 81• Average Age of Most Graduates – 25–44• Academic & Administrative Staff – 400• Student Guild Chapters – 34 • Donor funds – US$1.3 million from external

donors and CD$19.2 million from DfATD(formerly CIDA)

• research funds – US$2.5m

More UWI Open Campus SignificantMilestones

• The Open Campus gained membership in theInternational Council for Open and DistanceEducation (ICDE) at the 23rd International World

Conference in 2009. The ICDE is a membershiporganisation of over 150 institutions andorganisations responsible for educating between 5 and 10% of the world’s post-secondary studentpopulation through open, distance, flexible andonline learning, including e-learning.

• The Principal of the Open Campus has been amember of the ICDE Standing Conference ofPresidents from 2009.

• The inaugural Open Campus GraduationCeremony was held in Saint Lucia on October 17,2009.

• Over 3,500 students from across the region havegraduated from The UWI Open Campus since itheld its first official UWI Graduation Ceremonyin 2009.

Honorary Graduates

• 2009 – Peggy Anthrobus (and Dunstan St. Omer(St. Lucia)

• 2010 – Beverley Steele (Grenada) and CarylPhillips (St. Kitts & Nevis)

• 2011 – Pearlette Louisy (St. Lucia) and AlwynBully (Dominica)

• 2012 – Lennox Honychurch (Dominica) andAdrian Augier (St. Lucia)

• 2013 – Joan Armatrading (London) and robertMathavious (British Virgin Islands)

Valedictorians

• 2009 – Denise Gordon, Montserrat • 2010 – Daren Pinard, Dominica• 2011 – Deanne francis-Thomas, Grenada• 2012 – Krissa Johnny, St. Lucia• 2013 – Nikishia Greenidge, Trinidad & Tobago

Student Enrollment

• 2008/2009 – 5,616 (online) 20,944 (face-to-face)• 2009/2010 – 4,545 (online) 19,655 (face-to-face)

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• 2010/2011 – 6,181 (online) 19,156 (face-to-face)• 2011/2012 – 6.499 (online) 17,848 (face-to-face)• 2012/2013 – 4,198 (online) 15,1729 (face-to-face)

Graduates

• 2009/2010 – 631• 2010/2011 – 620• 2011/2012 – 742• 2012/2013 – 643

The UWI Open Campus Participates in its First Ever UWI Staff Games

The 13th Biennial Staff Inter Campus Games washeld in 2012 at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbadosfrom August 1–17. The UWI Open Campus werefirst time participants as a full campus. Although

the Open Campus had the smallest contingent at theUWI Staff Games, the support received from hersister campuses was strong and supportive. The senseof accomplishment and joy was reflected on thefaces of all Open Campus participants andsupporters as the team showed much tenacity andbig hearts throughout the games. The OpenCampus sports team was made up of players fromJamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Kitts & Nevis,Dominica and St. Vincent & the Grenadines andwas truly an historic moment for the UWI OpenCampus.

In May 2014, the Open Campus football team at St. Augustine won the overall tournament. It was atime of celebration for all OC staff who attended.The team received tributes and congratulations fromseveral quarters for their determination to win. Andthey certainly did in convincing fashion.

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UWI Open Campus staff at 2012 UWI Staff Games

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UWI Open Campus Council2012/2013

CHAIR

SIR K. DWIGHT VENNER

VICE-CHANCELLOR

PROFESSOR E. NIGEL HARRIS

PRO VICE-CHANCELLOR AND

PRINCIPAL

PROFESSOR HAZEL SIMMONS-MCDONALD

DEPUTY CAMPUS PRINCIPAL

PROFESSOR VIVIENNE ROBERTS

CAMPUS REGISTRAR

MRS KAREN FORD-WARNER

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

MS SHERYL WHITEHALL

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

GOVERNMENTS

DR DURANDA GREENEBERMUDA

HON. PETTER ST JEANDOMINICA

APPOINTED BY THE CHANCELLOR

PROFESSOR SIR HOWARD FERGUSMonterrat

DR DIDACUS JULESBarbados

SR. MARIA CARITAS LAWRENCEBelize

DR LENNOX HONYCHURCH

Dominica

MR ANDY DELMARBarbados

DIRECTORS OF THE UWI OPEN

CAMPUS

DR FRANCIS SEVERINDirector, Open Campus Country Sites,Head, Open Campus Dominica

DR GARY HEPBURN

APADTrinidad & Tobago

MR LINCOLN WILLIAMS

Consortium for Social Development and ResearchJamaica

MR TOMMY CHENChief Information OfficerTrinidad & Tobago

MRS KAREN LEQUAYCampus LibrarianTrinidad & Tobago

REPRESENTATIVES OF

ACADEMIC BOARDS

MR ROBERT GEOFROYOpen Campus, Non-ProfessorialAcademic Board RepresentativeCayman Islands

MRS SARAH SUSAN OWENOpen Campus, Non-ProfessorialAcademic Board RepresentativeSt Kitts/Nevis

DR WENDY GRENADECave Hill Academic Board RepresentativeBarbados

DR JOANNA BENNETTMona Academic Board RepresentativeJamaica

PROFESSOR JUNE GEORGESt Augustine Academic Board RepresentativeTrinidad & Tobago

REPRESENTATIVES OF TERTIARY

LEVEL INSTITUTIONS

DR ANGELA SAMUELS-HARRIS

Association of Caribbean TertiaryInstitutions (ACTI)

MR PERRY GEORGEAssociation of Caribbean TertiaryInstitutions (ACTI)

GUILD OF STUDENTS

REPRESENTATIVES

MRS RUTHLYN MATTHIAS

Undergraduate Representative

NON-ACADEMIC STAFF

REPRESENTATIVES

MRS CHERYL SLOLEYSenior Administrative/ProfessionalStaff Representative, Jamaica

MRS BERYL CUNNINGHAMAdministrative, Technical & Support Staff Representative, Jamaica

ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVE

NELSON PIERREAlumni Representative of the DominicaChapter Dominica

BY INVITATION:

MR FELIX WILSON

Acting Head, Open Campus, Dominica

MR C. WILLIAM ITONUniversity Registrar

DR ANDREW DOWNESPVC Planning & Development

MR ARCHIBALD CAMPBELLUniversity Bursar

IN ATTENDANCE:

MRS SOUZANNE FANOVICHAssistant Registrar, Secretariat (Recording Secretary)

UWI Open Campus Management

Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonaldPro Vice-Chancellor & Principal

Professor Vivienne RobertsDeputy Principal

Mrs Karen Ford-WarnerCampus Registrar

Ms Sheryl WhitehallChief Financial Officer

Dr Francis SeverinDirector, Open Campus

Country Sites

Dr Joel WarricanDirector, Academic

Programming & Delivery

Mr Tommy ChenChief Information Officer

Ms Karen LequayCampus Librarian

Mr Lincoln WilliamsDirector, Consortium for Social

Development & Research

Mr Eric BaronDirector of Human Resources

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Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of theUniversity of the West Indies (UWI) OpenCampus, Professor Hazel Simmons-

McDonald, will demit office as Principal on July 31,2014, after serving in this position from August 2007.She was given the task of merging the formeroutreach sectors of the Tertiary Level InstitutionsUnit (TLIU), the UWI Distance Education Centre

(UWIDEC) and the Schools of Continuing Studieswith research Units into one Open Campus underthe governance structure of the University of theWest Indies. As she steps down, she leaves a well-established campus that is positioned to be the leaderin Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in theCaribbean.

During her career with the regional university,Professor Simmons-McDonald served in a numberof capacities at The UWI, including Acting residentTutor, School of Continuing Studies, St. Lucia;Head, Department of Linguistics, Head,Department of Language, Linguistics andLiterature, Deputy Dean, Outreach, Deputy Dean,Planning and Dean of the faculty of Humanitiesand Education at the Cave Hill Campus. Sheprovided leadership on many campus committeesand participated in several University Committeesincluding service as the Coordinator of The UWICultural Studies Initiative and representing the CaveHill Campus as one of the UWI Co-Chairs of thecommittee for Cultural Studies from 2000 to 2008).Her achievements as a scholar, administrator andleader within the Academy have been recorded inthe most recent Annual report and other documentsof the Open Campus.

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The First Pro Vice-Chancellor andPrincipal of The UWI Open Campus

Bids Farewell after Seven Years at the Helm

Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald recentlyreceived an award for “Outstanding Contribution toEducation” from the Global Distance LearningCongress at the World Corporate UniversitiesCongress in June 2014, in India. The award wasgiven in honour of her leadership and contributionto the field of education and it came fairly close onthe heels of her being awarded the OBE in 2011 forher outstanding contribution to higher education.

The theme of the World Corporate UniversitiesCongress is, Building a Global Future through Research and Innovative Practices in Open and Distance Learning.Professor Simmons-McDonald spoke on the topic“Open and Distance Education: a Pathway to theDevelopment and Prosperity of Small States in aDispersed Environment.” Other 2014 awardeesincluded, Professor Emeritus Anwar Ali of the Open University of Malaysia and Professor DeniseKirkpatrick, Pro Vice-Chancellor (StudentExperience) of the University of Adelaide.

Professor Simmons-McDonald sought and gainedmembership for the Open Campus in theInternational Council for Open and DistanceEducation (ICDE) at the 23rd International WorldConference in 2009. The ICDE is a membershiporganisation of over 150 institutions and

organisations responsible for educating between 5and 10% of the world’s post-secondary studentpopulation through open, distance, flexible andonline learning, including e-learning.

from 2008 to 2014, Professor Simmons-McDonaldrepresented the UWI Open Campus on the ICDE.She is a member of the Standing Conference ofPresidents (ICDE-SCOP) and she has participated inconsultations of the group for which she facilitated aworkshop for presidents on “Employability andLifelong Learning” (2009) and participated in otherworkshops for presidents. She contributed to thecurrent strategic plan of the Council.

Professor Simmons-McDonald serves as anHonorary Advisor to the Commonwealth ofLearning (COL) and she has been a member of theAdvisory Team for Catholic Schools in Barbadosfrom 2012. She accepted invitations to serve as anAdvisor to the Global Congress for DistanceEducation as well as membership on the Board ofDirectors of the Ursuline Convent Schools.

As Principal, she led the expansion of the OpenCampus in fulfilling its “online, onsite on demand”objectives by facilitating the implementation of anEnterprise resource Planning Project for the

provision of an adequatetechnological platform for theintegration and improvement ofsystems and services within thecampus; the introduction of a phasedproject for the redevelopment andenhancement of Open Campusphysical facilities across thejurisdiction and the expansion of theglobal footprint through the provisionof services in New york; and accessingfunding for the acceleration ofprogramming in demand by countrieswhich the UWI Open Campus serves.The Open Campus wishes her well asshe demits office in July 2014.

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Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald receives her award for “Outstanding Contribution toEducation” from the Global Distance Learning Congress at the World CorporateUniversities Congress in June 2014 in India.

The University of the West Indies is pleasedto announce Professor Eudine Barriteau asthe incoming principal of The University’s

Open Campus. Professor Barriteau’s nominationwas approved with acclaim by The UniversityCouncil at its Annual Business Meeting in April.She will succeed Pro Vice-Chancellor ProfessorHazel Simmons-McDonald who retires as principalin on July 31, 2014.

Grenadian by birth, with a distinguished record as aCaribbean scholar and administrator, ProfessorBarriteau has served in various roles at TheUniversity of the West Indies for more than 30 years.She holds a PhD in Political Science from HowardUniversity, an MPA in Public Sector financialManagement from New york University and a BSc,Upper Second Honours in Public Administrationand Accounting from The University of the WestIndies. She also holds a professional certificate inediting and scholarly publishing from theInternational rice research Institute in Los Baños,the Philippines.

In 1993 Professor Barriteau assumed the Headshipof the Centre for Gender and Development Studiesat The UWI; a position she held or fifteen years. In2004, she added first female Campus Coordinator ofthe School for Graduate Studies and research to herportfolio, and served for four years until becomingthe second female to be appointed Deputy Principalat the Cave Hill Campus, in 2008. In that role, twoof her major accomplishments were serving as Chairof the Cave Hill Campus Institutional AccreditationExercise, which resulted in full accreditation of theCampus for six years and serving as Chair of the

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Welcoming The New OpenCampus Principal

Professor Eudine Violet Barriteau

2011 UWI Games Organising Committee.

Professor Barriteau has received a number ofnational, regional and international awards andrecognitions. In celebration of Barbados’ 47thAnniversary of Independence in 2013, the BarbadosGovernment awarded her the Gold Crown of Merit,the country’s third highest honour in recognition ofher invaluable contribution to gender anddevelopment. In July 2011, she was bestowed the10th CArICOM Triennial Award for Women at theOpening Ceremony of the 32nd regular Meeting ofthe Conference of Heads of Government ofCArICOM in St. Kitts. Professor Barriteau servedas the President of the International Association forfeminist Economics (IAffE) from 2009 to 2010. Shewas an inaugural International research fellow atthe Centre for Excellence in Gender research,GExCEL, Orebro, Sweden in April 2008, andreturned in November 2010 and March 2013 byspecial invitation. In 1997 she had the honour ofbeing the Inaugural fellow of the Dame Nita

Barrow Distinguished Women in DevelopmentVisitor Programme at the University of Toronto. She was awarded a Howard University Doctoralfellowship in 1992 and was a LASPAU/fellowshipscholar at New york University 1982–1984. In 1992,she became a Scholar of the American Associationof University Women and prior to that, the firstCaribbean scholar to be awarded the MargaretMcNamara Memorial fund Scholarship in 1991.

Professor Barriteau will build on the platformestablished by outgoing Pro-Vice-Chancellor andPrincipal, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald andher imperatives will include overseeing the expansionof on-line, distance education, particularly thoselinked to programmes provided by residentialcampuses, garnering solid links with The UWI’sSingle Virtual University Space System andbroadening the delivery of face to face, professionalprogrammes at The University’s more than 46 OpenCampus sites. She assumes office on August 1, 2014– the start of the new academic year.

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To All Our Friends and Supporters!

In the spirit of commemoration of the past and incelebration of the future, we thank our Caribbeanand international friends and supporters and callupon them to continue striving with us to create abetter Caribbean region through higher andcontinuing education based on our tagline – online,on site, on demand. Thank you for letting us be apart of your lives!

To all Open Campus Staff

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor HazelSimmons-McDonald expresses sincere thanks tomembers of the Open Campus Senior Management

team for their commitment and service to the OpenCampus and for working assiduously to assure itsestablishment as an open and flexible institution.The University and Campus are indebted to all whoserved at this level, including those who leftprematurely but who also played an important rolein building the foundation for the Open Campus.The Principal has stated that every member of staffin the Open Campus who believes in its mission hasalso played an important role in its establishmentand she thanks each one sincerely for the dedicationand service given to the UWI Open Campus. Shehas asked specifically that as the Open Campuscontinues on its journey the path we follow must be“Onward and Upwards Always!”

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A SpecialTHANK YOU

“Onward and Upwards Always!”

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Historical Highlights ofThe UWI Open Campus –

Est. 2008

The Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice- Chancellor and Principal of The UWIOpen Campus speak at a news Conference at the official launch of TheUWI Open Campus in Antigua & Barbuda on July 4, 2008

Sir K Dwight Venner, the late Professor Rex Nettleford and Professor HazelSimmons- McDonald at the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting inAntigua & Barbuda after the official launch of The UWI Open Campuson July 4, 2008.

The Inaugural Campus Council Meeting of The UWI Open Campus in Bassetere, St. Kitts & Nevis on March 3, 2008.

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Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Sir George Alleyne, at theofficial Induction Ceremony of the first Pro Vice- Chancellor and Principalof The UWI Open Campus, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald onOctober 16, 2009, Government House, Saint Lucia.

The first Graduation Ceremony of the new UWI Open Campus, held inSaint Lucia on October 17, 2009.

The first Valedictorian of the UWI Open Campus, Miss Denise Gordon ofMontserrat, addresses the company at the Graduation Ceremony in October2009.

The Principal and Deputy Principal of the UWI Open Campus pose withthe official delegation from the Anton de Kom University in Suriname inMay 2009 to explore collaboration between both institutions.

The UWI Open Campus Principal makes her presentation at ICDEConference in 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. The UWI Open Campus gainedmembership in the International Council for Open and Distance Education(ICDE) at the 23rd International World Conference in 2009.

UWI Chancellor and Lady Alleyne enjoy Saint Lucia culture with thePrincipal and staff of the UWI Open Campus on a one-day stop in April2011 on the first UWI ScholarShip educational cruise.

The official slogan of the UWI Open Campus wasselected in 2008 to reflect the main objectives of thenew Campus and the needs of its primary clients.“Online, On site, On demand”, indicated that thenew Campus always intended to be new, different,virtual, flexible, accessible and student-centred as itgrew. The design of the orange circle with the nameof the new Campus and its slogan was originallyconceptualised to encompass the integration of theUWI’s new online and blended offerings across the Caribbean region. The shape of the circle alsoechoed the ‘O’ in Open Campus, which was aboutopen and accessible education for all.

All of The UWI’s Campus’s and the Vice-Chancellery have their own identifiable maincolours. Cave Hill uses yellow; Mona usesred/burgundy; St. Augustine uses a dark blue; andthe Vice-Chancellery uses green. In 2008, the colour

choice validation of a burnt orange colour for TheUWI Open Campus, stemmed from our personaland cultural associations and experiences with warmCaribbean colours, mainly associated with the heatof sun, life and fire. The use of a warmer colour wasseen to be effective in the brand positioning of theOpen Campus as being user-friendly, welcoming andvibrant.

However, the original design for our sub-brand wasoutside of the new standard UWI Brand IdentityGuidelines, once these were established in 2011.Since then, the use of the orange circle brand hasbeen slowly reduced by the Campus and staff wereadvised to cease and desist from using the image onproducts and in communications at the beginning ofacademic year 2012/2013. The approved sub-brandof the UWI Open Campus is now in line with TheUWI’s approved brand identity.

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About The UWI OpenCampus Sub-Brand

The former UWI Open Campus logo