THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS ANNUAL REVIEW Strategic Plan Implementation August 17-19,2009

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIESOPEN CAMPUS


ANNUAL REVIEW Strategic Plan Implementation

August 17-19,2009

The Open Campus Perspective (Principal, Open Campus)


Focus of the presentation• Status – Strategic Aim 4 – Establish and

Operationalise the Open Campus – August 1, 2008 – July 31 – 2009.

• Harmonisation, integration and rationalisation across campuses and within OC.

• Progress and Challenges in specific areas

• Outlook and projections


Implementation 2008-20092008-2009 – in many ways still a transition year but with progress

made in several areas. Much attention paid to • carving a space for OC in architecture of UWI.• convincing others of the right of OC to occupy

that space• sharing information about the

benefits to UWI from a collaboration between campuses.

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Open Campus support structure

4


Support in Establishment year

• OC dependent on support from several entities:

- Registries and HR Departments in physical campuses

- Bursaries of physical campuses- Centre Registry and Financial offices.- Campus Libraries.- For which we say


Executing Mission & Vision Internal (OC) Challenges

• Streamlining a burgeoning staff cohort; ensuring that individuals with the technical competence and skills are hired & others are trained to deliver required services.

• Developing an identity and service- oriented culture – Effecting the desired culture change has not been possible in one year.


Arrangements - Centre Strategic activities Existing Outcomes

Creation of policies for OC establishment e.g. DE/Online Policy

UWI-wide monitoring committee introduced

Follow-through actions are needed to ensure information sharing and compliance across UWI

Forum for interaction between OC and other UWI entities

Periodic engagements with direct Centre involvement - too few

Interventions in several respects were reactive rather than proactiveMisperceptions of UWI Mission and modus operandi.

OC need for innovative business models for operational success

Established UWI financial model in use

• Some financial instability • Resistance of governments to meet financial commitments to OC. • Perpetuating over-reliance on governmental support & increased indebtedness to campuses.


Arrangements - CampusesStrategic activities Existing OutcomesCollaboration for course design and delivery.

Formal arrangements to guide collaboration.

Dynamic costing and income-sharing model developed.

• Older modus operandi in effect in some instances.

• Negotiation and MOAs to be produced (agreements in progress with Social Sciences, Engineering, Nursing and Education)

• Several overtures from OC to Faculties and vice versa.

• Tardy responses to students – late grades and results still the norm in several instances

• Tardiness in the provision of information required to effect business arrangements.

• Delays in producing MOAs.

•Campus Principals to agree on MOAs.

• More exposure to costing model required and arrangements to be pursued with individual Faculties.

Resource sharing -Expertise for course development – 1st offer to UWI faculty

-Expertise for course delivery - Selection of personnel by Faculty-Training provided by OC.

• Some very positive outcomes at present (OC offering slate of online staff development courses to campuses free of cost.

• Workshops with cross campus representation organised by UWI Open and establishing avenues for collaboration.


Arrangements – Campuses - Jurisdiction• Other Matters: Jurisdiction – remains an issue in an economic climate in

which governments have cut subventions in most cases and campuses are concerned about their sustainability in the future.

Some issues that merit further discussion: • how our actions affect the Strategic Aim dealing with regionality of UWI• the specific mandate set for the Open Campus and how OC will navigate

given recent proposals and changes with respect to how UWI expands its services

• the importance of having a unified UWI response to the challenges of providing access to higher education in our communities

• implications for achieving a better balance between undergraduate and postgraduate enrolments


Partnership challenges- Governments • Ongoing consultations with governments to promote OC

operations. Some promising results for OC development.• Governments promoting national universities but in some ways

ambivalent about UWI involvement in process – some overtures through OC for UWI involvement in this process.

• Competitive challenges emerging from Governments allowing foreign institutions & & providing incentives for same


Partnerships with other institutions • Promoted partnerships with colleges through

articulation agreements including 2 + 2 arrangements for 4 year degrees

• Promoted partnerships with reputed international institutions for provision of goods and services.


Specific initiatives • Developed processes for inter/intra institutional

relationships:(a)Reviewed franchise management of UWI Programmes(b)Prepared new proposal for enhancing the human resource &

institutional capacity of TLI sector in the region(c)Continued discussions with regional colleges(d)Initiated discussions with international institutions(e)Partnership with the CARICOM-Canadian Virtual University

(CVU) Scholarship programme for Caribbean nationals (a consortium of 10 universities: Athabasca; Laurentian; Memorial of Newfoundland; Nippissing; Royal Military College of Canada; Thompson Rivers; Univ. Of Manitoba; Univ of New Brunswick;

TELUO Université a Distance Quebec at Montreal )


Specific Initiatives (cont’d)

• Introduced mandatory staff development courses online for all e-tutors & coordinators

• All other staff encouraged to take courses

• Full slate of courses made available to all staff across the University.


Specific initiatives (cont’d)• Campus librarian working on integrating OC

libraries • OC building special collections working to

preserve cultural heritage in the OECS.

(The Roderick Walcott collection; Pat Ismond collection- St. Lucia site; Files of

Alistair Hughes’s Newsletter – Grenada site). This work will continue and each site will be made

uniquely important for its specialised collections.


Specific initiatives – External Projects• ACP Consortium• Consortiuum developed in 2007 to include former

UWIDEC & European Profiles plus various organisations in Europe, Kenya, Mauritius, Swaziland, Tanzania, Fiji and Papua New Guinea;

• Each tender application comprises 2 or 3 partners;• 3 of the Caribbean tenders in which we have been

involved have been shortlisted.


Specific initiatives - External Funded Projects

16

OAS• Democracy in the classroom;• Professional Development programs.

UNESCO• CARIMAC Programs;• E-Governance.

COL• Various initiatives, including special deliveries of

Managing & Facilitating Online Learning (MFOI) course.


Specific initiatives - EDULINK

• Currently one EDULINK Project in partnership with the University of Mauritius, the University of South Pacific, the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute (UHI) Scotland, and the Open University UK (lead partner).

• Topic of the Project is the use of open educational resources in course development.

• Our major commitment is to create a Research Network for ACP countries on open educational resources. And also during November 16-20th we are running a workshop for the partners in Jamaica.


Assessment of Open Campus Coverage by Country - All programmes (Online and Continuing Education)

Country Population OC student Enrolment OC Coverage Rank

Anguilla 14,100 110 1: 128 4

Antigua & Barbuda 84,500 490 1: 172 8

Bahamas 305,700 100 1: 3,057 15

Barbados 282,000 1090 1: 259 10

Belize 301,300 310 1: 972 13

British Virgin Islands 24,000 90 1: 267 11

Cayman Islands 47,900 20 1: 2,395 14

Dominica 73,500 550 1: 134 5

Grenada 90,300 590 1: 153 6

Jamaica 2,804,300 4820 1: 582 12

Montserrat 9,500 100 1: 95 2

St. Kitts & Nevis 40,100 350 1: 115 3

St. Lucia 158,700 900 1: 176 9

St. Vincent & the Grenadines 121,000 710 1: 170 7

Trinidad & Tobago 1,047,400 13,490 1: 78 1

TOTAL 5,404,300 23,720 1: 227

++

*

UWI OC Enrollment/population


Financing the Open Campus Enterprise (1)• One of the most – if not the most – significant challenge

for 2008-2009. • OC goal is to establish a viable, sustainable and

successful Open Campus.• Develop a business model and function as a successful and efficient business enterprise.• Decrease dependence on government contributions and increase income generation.


Desirable balance between Govt. Contributions & Fee Income

28.831.5

21.717.8

26.5

38.9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011

Gov. Con

Fee inc


The Challenge of creating a good fit!

I want to enhance our sites and technological infrastructure

Can you do it with $2 dollars? That’s all the governments will give

We can do it if we rely less on them and introduce a different model . We need another approach.

They’re used to our way of doing things. It’s tried and true. Why not stick with it?


Financing the Open Campus Enterprise (2)• OC implemented with difficultly due to cash constraints. The

OC operated at about 75% of budget in most areas in 08/09.• At present OC is costing inefficiencies in its operations with a

view to reducing these in the future.• Urgent need to reconsider (1) supposition that reliance on government funding is likely to

decline in the short-term; (2) the way that funding is provided.


Leadership and Managerial • Keeping informed of progress on aims indicated in the strategic plan through

a strategic planning monitoring committee.• Divisional &Departmental group meetings on a regular basis to discuss

progress and issues – existence of “steering committees” in some cases to focus discussion, responses to problems and to propose solutions.

• A campus management committee which meets regularly to address issues.• Business planning workshop to review OC systems, identify inefficiencies in operation, determine actual cost of operating (every Division and segment) and measuring that against initiatives for income generation to inform our business development and our pricing strategies.


Financial strategies• Critical strategies to address financial problem: (i) develop an alternate methodology for soliciting government

contributions given the business model OC needs for OC operation;

(ii)seek external funding for major capital works and technological upgrades at all locations.

(iia) in the very short term – negotiate a line of credit to meet shortfall from governments.

(iii)accelerate production of unique slate of courses to attract more students and increase fee income.


Key strategic objectives • Continue to develop slate of programmes in response to demand in

the region. Significant thrust in development of new programmes in areas not hitherto undertaken by UWI.

• Improve service at Learning Centres on campuses in all areas to facilitate better collaboration for delivery and better communication across all jurisdictions.

• Develop writing laboratory online with slate of courses at all levels to enable academic writing – primarily. (with assistance of Fulbright Fellow attached to OC in 2009)

• Continue to use the costing model to negotiate terms

with Faculties and Departments on the campuses.


Key strategic objectives for 2010 and beyond• Complete current grant proposal cycle and implement planned

developments:- Improve technological enhancement of Open Learning Centres on physical

campuses and other sites- Integrate Open Campus Libraries and provide online access to resources – in collaboration with established libraries- Increase community based cultural activities in countries served by OC.- Improve learning and teaching environment throughout OC.- Improve systems that will result in a high level of

student satisfaction with their learning experience.- solicit donations, grants and bequests (fortunate have

received one bequest of £64,378.92 for developments at the Antigua site (Donor: Dr. Carleen O’Loughlin)


Oriens Ex Occidente Lux “A Light rising from the West”

Documents

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS ANNUAL REVIEW Strategic Plan Implementation August 17-19,2009