#BTColumn – Don’t conflate UWI issues

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados TODAY Inc.

As committed employees of the UWI we have noted with interest the wide-ranging discussion in the local and regional media on the Report of The Chancellor’s Commission On Governance of The UWI (The report).

We take this opportunity to thank the members of the Chancellor’s Commission for their frank and largely accurate report on the state of governance at The UWI and its financial condition.

The current Vice Chancellor’s exemplary scholarship, global profile and advocacy on the issue of reparations, which seem to be at the core of the public discussion, is not an issue in the report and the report makes no recommendation for the removal of the current Vice Chancellor from office or the non-renewal of his contract.

The governance and financial issues raised in the report are serious and need to be addressed without being entangled with any issues surrounding the renewal of the current Vice Chancellor’s contract.

In fact, most employees of UWI were blissfully unaware of any contentious issues around the renewal of the Vice Chancellor’s contract except for the fact that a normal six-year renewal would take him past the normal retirement age for a Vice Chancellor.

The discussions on the work environment at UWI outlined in the report, largely reflect the views expressed by UWI students, UWI staffers (academic and administrative) at all levels andon all campuses. Furthermore, the comments reflected in the report may have little or nothing to do with the Vice Chancellor as very few employees report directly to or interact with the Vice Chancellor. Why then are these burning issues that affect people in their everyday work life being conflated with the renewal of the Vice Chancellor’s contract?

The Commission’s report quotes extensively from the University Management Audit Department Report, 2019 which identified weaknesses in the University’s corporate governance system including: (a) potential conflict of interest arising from the chairmanship by the Vice-Chancellor at the regional level and Campus Principals at the campus level, of many layers of committees which report ultimately to decision-making committees also chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principals; (b) a weak and under-resourced risk management system; (c) the absence of a whistle-blower policy; and (d) chronic absenteeism at the meetings of key governance bodies such as the Finance and General Purposes Committees (F&GPC) at both the regional and campus levels. Again, why are these significant governance issues that speak to the good governance of the institution being conflated with the renewal of the Vice Chancellor’s contract?

In discussing the financial condition of The UWI, the report points to the Composite Financial Index (CFI), as the key financial metric for the university. Prior to the publication of the report we were largely unaware of this metric and were stunned to find out from the report that while a score of three (3) or higher is seen as acceptable, UWI’s score has worsened from a below par 0.99 in 2015 to -1.21 by 2019. Again, why are these serious financial issues being conflated with the renewal of the Vice Chancellor’s contract?

The fact that we are vexingly uncomfortable signing our names says volumes. We sincerely hope that our beloved institution can evolve to a point that like our esteemed colleagues from various international academic institutions we can sign our names without fear of reprisal.

We also hope that this timely and important report receives the attention it needs from the stakeholders of The UWI and serves as
catalyst for meaningful improvement at this most important institution and symbol of Caribbean excellence.

Concerned UWI Employees