BVI Hosts Meeting Of UWI Board Responsible For Non-Campus Countries & District Education
Four officials from the University of the West Indies met in the BVI November 24th with authorities from the UWI School of Continuing Studies, the Ministry of Education and the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) to discuss matters affecting Non Campus Countries (NCC) and Distance Education. The officials included Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington, who has the portfolio for NCC and Distance Education; Dr. Bevis Peters, Director of the Tertiary-level Institution Unit; Professor Badri Koul, Director of Distance Education and Mr. Ed Brandon from the Office of the NCC and Distance Education. The Board has been making the rounds of the Caribbean Non Campus Countries. Dr. Peters explained that the Tertiary-level Institutions Unit is a Department of the University that was set up to improve linkages between Community Colleges and the University. There are 130 Community Colleges/State Colleges/National Colleges or Polytechnics across the region. The University’s role is to try and develop a network of these colleges and to create partnerships and a relationship that would ensure that access to tertiary education is increased and that they provide quality education across the region. "This unit is primarily responsible for mobilising the resources of the University to ensure that some of that happens," he explained.
Professor Cole pointed out that the Distance Education Centre has a presence at all the three campuses at Mona in Jamaica, Cave Hill in Barbados and St. Augustine in Trinidad. There is also a presence through the School of Continuing Studies in the remaining 13 Anglophone Caribbean countries. "The three major functions of the Centre are to help the faculties prepare courses for distance delivery and also to help the University administration and faculties to deliver those courses across the Caribbean." The third major function is to maintain and run the University Electronic Network, which is used mainly for audio conferences. On visits to Non Campus Countries, the Director said his main function is to meet the students "to get first hand feedback from the consumers of what we provide as services and educational products". This was done in the BVI on Wednesday November 22nd. He also participated in the Board meeting.
Distance education activities of the University have been in operation for just about 20 years. "Initially, it was a very restricted programme that was used to support a Challenge examination system, an opportunity for a student to look at the syllabus, study for it and write the examination without any formal tuition from the University," Professor Carrington recalled. From that, the UWI moved to providing support for students studying in that framework and it evolved into a distance education delivery system in which the student is able to receive print material and to participate in teleconferences that are scheduled just like any school timetable, to allow people in different parts of the Caribbean to have access to a tutor using an inter-active medium across the region. "We are modernising that method of instruction," the UWI Pro Vice Chancellor indicated, "and we expect, in the near future, to have a stable system in which access to Internet facilities and other contemporary information technology methods would constitute part of the delivery system for the instruction that we offer." Besides printed material and teleconferences, a major component within the package currently available is local tutorials. UWI Resident Tutor Mr. Ian Austin noted that when the Challenge programme was in operation from 1992 to about 1995 and even prior to that when there was a University representative here, and less tuition was given to students, there was a significant failure rate on almost all courses. "In most courses, there was a 10-15% pass rate."
He said since the Distance Education format was implemented, they have observed that there is now a 90% pass rate in most courses. He said the new format is a very structured approach that offers many benefits for students. In discussions between the officials from the University of the West Indies and the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, help may be forthcoming in the area of short-term training for College staff. Joint programmes have been conducted and there is an ongoing arrangement between the two organizations in the area of teacher education. The possibility now exists for students who have completed Associate Degrees can go on to the UWI's under-graduate programmes in those areas.