The St. Augustine Campus has undergone sweeping changes during the month of August. Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie relinquished his position as Campus Principal, officially assuming the post of Pro Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development and Director of the Institute of Critical Thinking on August 1; Professor Bridget Brereton commenced her tenure as interim Pro Vice Chancellor and Campus Principal; and Professor Clement Sankat is the new Pro Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies.

Dr. Tewarie possesses abundant senior administrative experience and under his management there have been vast improvements in infrastructure and education quality at the St. Augustine Campus, which now leads the three campuses in undergraduate student enrolment. In his new role, Dr. Tewarie will drive, coordinate and monitor the new strategic plan approved by Council on June 1, 2007. As the Director of the Institute of Critical Thinking, he will conceptualize, lead and develop the Institute to serve the entire regional University.

Dr. Tewarie commenced his appointment as Principal of the St. Augustine campus in August 2001 and stepped down on July 31, 2007.

Professor Bridget Brereton, an academic who has also served as Deputy Principal of the St. Augustine Campus will serve as the interim Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the St. Augustine Campus. Prof. Brereton is a distinguished historian who has done significant work on Trinidad and Tobago and is devoted to research. She has served on several Campus, University and National Committees.

Professor Clement Sankat has been appointed Pro Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies. Professor Sankat began his tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering on August 1, 2000, prior to which he was Campus Coordinator for Graduate Studies and Research at St. Augustine; he was also instrumental in leading a University-wide task force charged with reviewing and restructuring the University’s graduate programmes. The outcome of this work has been integrated as one of the central themes of the University’s strategic plan.

The strategic plan of the University is to be implemented from 2007 to 2012 and targets Teaching and Learning, Research and Innovation, Graduate Programmes and providing greater access to a UWI education for students in the 12 contributing countries without campuses. Vice Chancellor, Professor Nigel Harris has stated that the changes are part of a transformative plan to reposition the UWI as an “innovative, contemporary international university, deeply rooted in the Caribbean and committed to creating the best possible future for all its stakeholders.”

Professor Brian Copeland has been appointed new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. Changes have also occurred in the Faculty of Medical Sciences where Professor Samuel Ramsewak has replaced Professor Phyllis Pitt-Miller as Dean of the Faculty.

In other changes, the Campus International Office has relocated to the Institute of Critical Thinking which is located on the top floor of the Centre for Language Learning and is responsible for coordinating student exchanges regionally and internationally. During the 2006/2007 academic year over 50 students from 17 universities in the USA, Canada, Germany and the UK studied at the St Augustine campus as exchange/study abroad students for a period of one or two semesters. In addition, during that year 18 students took up exchanges at partner institutions in the USA, Canada, France and the UK, while 2 took up exchanges at the Mona campus. The UWI as a whole has signed collaborative agreements with over 100 international and regional organizations and institutions to facilitate staff and student exchanges promote research and share knowledge. Mrs Indrani Bachan-Persad assumed responsibility for International Collaborations and Partnerships in the International Office since 2004. The Student Advisory Services in addition to the Admissions, Examinations and the student sections of the Bursary departments will be moving from their present locations to the new Student Administration Building on the eastern side of the Campus in September.