Principal
Stafford Griffith Undertakes Courtesy Calls to Spread Awareness

The UWI Regional
Headquarters Jamaica. Friday,
December 20, 2019—Six
OECS countries have been beneficiaries of courtesy calls from
Professor Stafford A. Griffith, Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor and
Principal of the Five Islands Campus (FIC) of The University of the
West Indies (The UWI).
Over a three-week period ending on Tuesday, December 17, Montserrat,
Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
Grenada, and Saint Lucia were exposed to the educational
opportunities offered by The UWI’s recently established fifth
campus.

These
OECS visits came at the end of a successful first semester for the
campus which began its
operations in Antigua and Barbuda in August 2019.
The tour included meetings with Heads of State, Education Officials,
Permanent Secretaries and media stakeholders and aimed at
familiarising OECS nationals with the study disciplines and
opportunities currently present at the newest UWI campus.

As the
campus prepares for new intake of students for the January 2020
semester, the country visits led by Professor Griffith highlighted
the unique advantages of the Five Islands experience. Among them, the
competitive and affordable tuition fees for its range of degree and
certificate offerings available from three schools – Humanities and
Education, Health and Behavioural Sciences and Management, Science
and Technology. The commitment of the Government of Antigua and
Barbuda to offer specific tuition scholarships for OECS nationals was
another key talking point, ahead of the application deadline date of
December 20, for entry into programmes for next January. Professor
Griffith also discussed the plans for new programming offering in the
coming cycle, in areas such as disaster and risk management, relevant
to the OECS region, which has been most susceptible to the ravages of
tropical storms and hurricanes in recent past.

Speaking
of the outcome of the meetings, Professor Griffith says discussions
with decision makers including St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime
Minister Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonsalves,
newly elected Premier
of Montserrat Easton Taylor Farrell,
St. Lucia’s Minister
of Finance Hon. Guy Joseph
and others set a solid foundation from which to proceed. With access
to skill development and tertiary education now available
at the OECS member country of Antigua and Barbuda,
the nationals of these OECS states are in a prime position to see
acceleration in opportunities and growth. Professor Griffith added:
“The
education provided at the Five Islands Campus will have a sharper
focus on OECS issues. Lectures, tutorials and
required
research will address issues relevant to the development of the OECS
and graduates of this Campus will therefore be well prepared to
engage the challenges of development in the Eastern Caribbean.”

Full
information on the UWI Five Islands Campus, the application process,
and scholarships can be found at www.fiveislands.uwi.edu/apply.

END

About
The UWI

For
over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has
provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider
world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in
Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally
respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five
campuses: Mona
in Jamaica, St.
Augustine
in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave
Hill in
Barbados, Five Islands
in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust
globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with
universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa
including the State
University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and
Sustainable Development;
the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the
Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de
los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information
Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African
and Diaspora Studies and the
Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of
Johannesburg (UJ).
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and
postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering,
Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science &
Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the
region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective
is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The
world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times
Higher Education,
has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for
2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the
Caribbean for 2018 and 2019. The UWI has been the only
Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more,
visit www.uwi.edu.