The UWI, Cave Hill and Deloitte formalise partnership

The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and Deloitte & Touche (Barbados) Limited have formalised their longstanding partnership in support of students
of The UWI.

Representatives of the two entities signed a Memorandum of Understanding at Deloitte’s office on Monday to undertake development programmes under Deloitte’s WorldClass Initiative, the company’s social responsibility programme.

The three main areas covered by the MOU are the enhancement of the workforce readiness and soft skills of UWI students, the creation of a BDS$5,000 scholarship to incentivise outstanding students, and increasing Deloitte’s brand presence on campus.

The Deloitte Excellence Award – The Toppin Walker Scholarship is named in honour of two of its founding partners, Patrick Toppin and Gordon Walker.

It will be open to new students in the Accounting Special Programme, and will be for the duration of one year.

Under its “Workforce Readiness” programme, Deloitte will create a leadership track for a select number of top performing students from across all Faculties.

The leadership programme aims to equip high performing students with digital, financial and business strategy skills, as well as soft skills, such as creativity, complex problem solving, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking. Students will be paired with staff and clients in Deloitte’s network for one-on-one coaching, job shadowing and career conversation(s) with leaders or entrepreneurs. There will also be group training sessions.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Cave Hill Campus, Professor Clive Landis welcomed the initiatives.

“The new partnership with Deloitte is very pleasing to me, as it fits the Campus’ strategy to engage more deeply with the business community in Barbados for mutual benefit. Our students will benefit from Deloitte’s “Workforce Readiness” programme to develop soft skills and leadership skills through hands-on experiences at Deloitte, a globally respected business with diverse staff and clients.

The MOU also includes The Toppin Walker Scholarship open to students reading for an Accounting Special and sees refurbishment of benches with the Deloitte brand dotted across the campus for students’ use,” Landis said.

Ikins Clarke, Managing Partner and Talent Leader for Deloitte Barbados expressed his enthusiasm about the possibilities of the initiative.

“I am personally delighted to be associated with this initiative, being a graduate of this esteemed institution. Deloitte takes its corporate social responsibility seriously and we are therefore extremely proud to be able to positively impact the lives of our future leaders and captains of industry,” Clarke stated.The MOU will run for the period 2022/23 – 2023/24.

(PR)