Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.
Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is calling for a collective effort to make 2021 a year of transformation for all campuses.
According to Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, last year tested the university in a way that it has never been tested as a university, stretching it to its limit.
“But we have proven to be a resilient institution performing our task on behalf of this service to the people of the Caribbean, and thanks to you we were able to get through 2020 as a better university; a more purpose- and focused-driven university, with a stronger sense of resolve,” he told students and faculty.
“I welcome you back from your end of 2020 break within the context of this evolving 2021, that promises to be a very bright year for our university. In 2020, we demonstrated that we are a caring university; we are a committed university and a university of tremendous courage.”
Professor Beckles declared that 2021 will be the year in which the university will demonstrate how best to move on. He said they have acquired tremendous technical skills and intellectual focus around how best to deliver the university’s programme to the region and the world.
“This is the year in which we are going to deepen our global engagement as a first-class university rooted in the Caribbean with a global vision. This is a year in which we are going to strengthen our financial sustainability, because we did say that 2021 will be the year in which we will begin with earnest the transformation of our reputation into revenue.”
The UWI Vice-Chancellor also observed that the university, coping with the challenges of COVID-19 and the mobilisation of internal resources to deliver on core operational mandates, was rewarded when the Times Higher Education declared the university to be the top-ranked university in the Caribbean, and the top one per cent and the finest 5,000 universities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the top one per cent in the world of universities within age cohort 50 to 100 years.
“This is a remarkable achievement and now we have this platform on which to rise and to move through 2021 with courage and commitment,” he expressed.
“At the same time, it is our intention to make our university far more cost-efficient. It is our intention to generate even more resources to sustain our institution and we have already started that process. Yes, we have journeyed to the top, but now we are there we have to function in a manner consistent with our reputation. That is the removal of doubt and the mobilisation of courage. Our success in 2020 will therefore be the basis on which we will achieve our targets in 2021.
“I am calling upon our community to let us do it again; let us build upon our energy and our focus and if we are able to achieve this, 2021 is going to be another magnificent year for our university… Blessing to our students, staff and all members of the university fraternity, our donors, sponsors and governments – let us together make 2021 a year of transformation for our beloved university,” Professor Beckles said. (TL)