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.

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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.