Caribbean universities can no longer afford to ignore their role in supporting the practical developmental pursuits of the societies they serve and this is reflected in the increasing focus of University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus on expanding its relationships with Trinidad and Tobago’s private sector by embracing research pursuits that are relevant to and “aligned with national and regional industry needs,” its principal Professor Clement Sankat said.
At the same time the university’s strong ties with other international centres of learning and research places it “at the heart of some of the most exciting developments in areas such as medicine, agriculture, environmental science and sport,” Sankat said.
Writing in the 2008/09 Annual Report of the university Sankat said its priorities continue to focus on nurturing relationships with the public and private sectors in Trinidad and Tobago to deliver “targeted programmes and technical advice” to institutions in the society.
Perhaps the university’s biggest single accomplishment has been its success in securing the recognition of both private and state sector companies in Trinidad and Tobago as the repository of “the best collection of intellectual and physical infrastructure in the region,” a circumstance which, the report said, has allowed both state and business institutions to draw on the knowledge and skills of the university. Specialists at St Augustine have collaborated with the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange and the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance to conduct a baseline market research survey in order to better understand size, range and investment practices and the impact of the managed funds industry in Trinidad and Tobago. St Augustine has also been part of a collaborative effort involving regional and international institutions including Oxford University and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a national Biodiversity Monitoring System. “The application of the information from this project, will help researchers and policy makers… evaluate and monitor the condition, bio-quality and value of various habitats, detect changes in plant populations and measure the effects of management. The results will facilitate objective Environmen-tal Impact Assessments, making them more objective and globally standardized in terms of the biodiversity value in the plant communities,” the report said.
UWI’s focus on supporting private and public sector initiatives in key developmental areas in the region has also focused on the health and agriculture sectors. During the previous academic year the institution signed an agreement with Grenada’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “to undertake joint initiatives related to the development of the agricultural sector”, while the university’s Health Economics Centre (HEC) provides professional consulting services to the Government of the British Virgin Islands to support the design and implementation of a National Health Insurance System.
The university’s 2008/9 Annual Report also draws attention to the role of its faculty of Science and Agriculture in focusing regional attention on the importance of a cultural and mental shift to the production process in the region. The report draws attention to interventions by its Professor of Genetics Pathmanathan Umaharan who advocates that agriculture be placed at the centre of regional development. Umaharan is seeking a shift in regional thinking from agriculture being simply an exercise in “planting food crops” to an approach that embraces “bio business” as “the strategically stable and profitable way” of approaching agriculture. The UWI annual report alludes to Professor Umaharan’s report prepared following the 2008 Tropical Agricultural Workshop at which he asserted that agriculture in the region is “in a depressed state because large private investors consider it risky, menial and backward.”
The pursuit of consultancy-type projects with public and private sector institutions inside and outside of Trinidad and Tobago has paid dividends for the university. During the 2008/09 academic year St Augustine secured approximately TT$9.8 million from projects that included consulting activities, research grants, training and local and regional development. During the previous academic year the university prepared and negotiated a number of new proposals for the pursuits of such projects including proposals for the university to conduct a survey in the use of refurbished computers for Microsoft, and the drafting of a contract for collaborating with the Trinidad and Tobago Agri Business Association on a project titled “Improving Hot Pepper Yield Through Heterosis Breeding.”
The university’s 2008/9 annual report provides details of two ongoing business initiatives, the first involving a collaborative effort between its Cocoa Research Unit and the Venezuelan company Chocolates El Rey aimed a identifying a new location for the company’s operations. St Augustine has also been involved in discussions with another company CER Jorge Redmond to explore the possibilities of a joint venture. “As a producer of fine chocolates, particularly for export, CER will be able to enter the largest market for high quality chocolates, the European Union, to which T&T already has access,” the report says.
During the 2008/9 academic year the university’s Business Development Office and its Department of Creative and Festival Arts collaborated with DeMontfort University to develop a Masters Degree programme in Design Entrepre-neurship while the campus libraries established a relationship with the McMaster University nursing library to establish an Otology collection at the Faculty of Medical Sciences School of Advanced Nursing. Meanwhile, the university has established memoranda of understanding with the Caribbean Latin America Business Office Ltd, and the Brazilian Agricultural research Organization to broaden corporation programmes in the fields of agricultural research and technology and with the Certified Management Accountant Society (CMA) of Nova Scotia for the strengthening of accountancy training in Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean through the provision of teaching and other resource material as well as funding the CMA.
While the main area of funding for the university continues to be remittances from the government of Trinidad and Tobago it still garners significant financial resources through “special projects funds” and its own “commercial operations.” Last year government remittances totalling TT$427 million accounted for 53.5% of the university’s income while special projects funds totalling TT$238.5 million accounted for 30% of its income. Commercial operations netted TT$25.1 million, accounting for 3.1% of income while tuition fees totalling TT$86.5 million accounted for 10.8% of revenue.
Meanwhile, an increasing awareness of the importance of infusing a stronger ‘business orientation’ into the management of the university has enhanced St Augustine’s focus on the areas of “revenue generation and cost savings.” The university’s revenue stream has embraced sources “from the collection of fines for traffic offences or the late return of library books to consultancy projects and concessionaire fees from the private businesses allowed to operate on the campus.” Vehicles which are immobilized for violation of the university’s traffic regulations are released on the payment of TT$100. During the 2008/2009 academic year campus security netted approximately TT$62,900, while the university realized a saving of TT$673,278.05 from ending subscriptions to 579 print journals and subscribing to online versions only.
During the 2008/09 academic year St Augustine experienced an income shortfall of TT$57 million, the result of the global financial and economic crisis; an experience which, Professor Sankat said illustrates “the need to create on the campus the conditions necessary for sustainable growth supported by a continuous commitment to quality and excellence.”
