News

Plans are now well advanced for the groundbreaking to officially inaugurate the Centre for Agricultural Research and Innovation at the Cave Hill Campus Dukes, St. Thomas location.                
 

This was revealed by Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Professor Clive Landis when he delivered his annual report to Campus Council on Friday.

The news came as Professor Landis announced that the campus would be intensifying its entrepreneurial activity in an effort to become more self-sustaining. It was also revealed that following this month’s launch of the Centre for Commercial Analytical Services, a market-oriented testing laboratory within the Faculty of Science and Technology, the campus will be establishing two additional commercially viable units shortly. These are an Alternative Dispute Resolution Unit and an Environmental Law, Ocean and Climate Justice Unit, both under the aegis of the Faculty of Law.
 

Referencing the theme of the campus’s 60th anniversary celebrations this year “Resolute and Resilient”, Professor Landis commended the campus community and his predecessor, Professor the Most Honourable Eudine Barriteau for maintaining those two qualities in the face of many recent difficulties including challenges which arose during the COVID-stricken years.
 

However he raised concerns over a segmented drop in enrolment in recent years, noting that an examination of statistics from 2013 to 2022 showed that while overall enrolment has picked up since the reintroduction of fully-subsidised tuition for Barbadian students in 2018, the segment representing mature students has plateaued.

“We seem to have basically lost our mid-career professionals who were undertaking degrees with us on a part-time basis,” he said.  Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles hailed what he called “the New Cave Hill” and praised the leadership of the institution during a critical moment in its history.
 

“Cave Hill has been magnificent and in the last two years or so it has been tested and it has risen to heights because it had the opportunity to improve upon prior strategies. It has had the opportunity to improve upon earlier policies; to improve upon earlier ways of doing things, but to come fully within the four corners of the strategic plan and to demonstrate how a university campus can be a part of a regional institution that has demonstrated its service to the people of this region,” Sir Hilary said.