More students will be be able to complete a bachelor’s degree from The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus in only two years, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Campus and the Barbados Community College (BCC).
The MOU, which puts in place a more structured and expanded arrangement, was signed last Wednesday by UWI Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor the Most Honourable V. Eudine Barriteau and Principal of the BCC Annette Alleyne.
The arrangement, known as 2+2, has been in operation for years but was never formalised.
Currently, BCC students registered in select associate degree programmes such as Business Studies in the Division of Commerce, with a GPA of 2.75 and above, are accorded advanced standing in select programmes at the Cave Hill Campus. There is also a joint '2+2' UWI & BCC Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management.
This agreement, which follows the work of a high-level, inter-institutional committee of representatives from the UWI and the BCC, ensures that incoming BCC students do not have to repeat competencies they have already achieved.
Professor Barriteau said negotiations were ongoing about a similar arrangement for History. She was also hopeful that young creatives in the BCC Division of Fine Arts, who wish to obtain advanced qualifications from Cave Hill’s Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, would also benefit in the future.
“Under this particular MOU, the BCC and The UWI Cave Hill Campus will seek to increase the number of undergraduate programmes into which appropriately qualified graduates of the BCC may be articulated,” she explained.
“Specifically, our institutions are working on identifying and agreeing on programmes into which students from BCC may more easily enter; for example, into our Faculties of Social Sciences, Science and Technology as well as Humanities and Education. We think that the Cave Hill Campus has the responsibility to determine and work with our colleagues to provide the criteria for articulation into these identified programmes.”
Principal of the BCC, Annette Alleyne said they were laying the foundation for the creation of synergistic offerings between the institutions while, at the same time, establishing a framework to enhance the quality of graduates.
She added: “The opportunity is also present for a re-examination of educational offerings, delivery mechanisms and operations. How do we produce the best educated and the best trained? How do we ensure that we are not churning out graduates, bereft of requisite skills for employability? How do we maintain relevance in a global age, in a world engulfed by rapid technological advances? A re-examination is even more critical in the current COVID-19 environment, which has highlighted inequities in education and necessitated stringent health and safety protocols. Despite the impacts of COVID-19, however, the number of applications to the College has increased from 4256 in the 2019-2020 academic year, to 5296 for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year.”
Representatives of both institutions are currently working on identifying the barriers to articulation and the possible solutions; determining a timeframe for agreement, completing curriculum mapping and meeting the requirements for quality assurance and continuous improvement.
Source: UWI News and Events Centre https://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/News-Events/News/?release_id=21073