Regional
Headquarters Jamaica. Saturday, May 02, 2020.
The senior executive leadership of The University of the West Indies
(The UWI)—the Vice-Chancellor, Campus Principals, Pro
Vice-Chancellors, University Bursar and University Registrar—have
all committed to allocating a percentage of their salaries for the
next three months towards a student hardship fund. The aim of the
fund is to promote equity of access for all students as well as
provide much needed additional counselling services during this time.

The
executive leadership of the regional university has recognised that
the rapid transition to emergency online teaching in response to the
regional spread of COVID-19 has exposed the enormity of challenges
facing financially and socially marginalised students. With a student
body of close to 50,000, at least 10,000 of them are believed to be
functioning in a social circumstance that makes it excessively
difficult to participate equally and equitably in this moment of
digital intensification.

The
principals across The UWI’s five campuses stepped up in developing
remedial projects to confront this reality and to restore the level
playing field provided by the physical classroom culture. The UWI
alumni have been called upon to participate in fundraising and
philanthropists have also responded by donating hundreds of tablets.

The
offer of a salary-source contribution from the executive leadership
to enhance student wellbeing “is another part of the UWI CARES
project, designed to empower any excluded element of the student
body,” says Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles. He
explained, “This is a justice gesture to further illustrate our
commitment. We are here to serve and support them in their quest to
succeed.”

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, Africa and Europe including the State
University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and
Sustainable Development;
the Canada-Caribbean 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; the Institute for Global African Affairs with the
University of Johannesburg (UJ); The UWI-University of Havana Centre
for Sustainable Development; The UWI-Coventry Institute for
Industry-Academic Partnership with the University of Coventry and the
Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research with the University
of Glasgow.

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.

 (Please
note that the proper name of the university is The University of the
West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)