Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Professor Clive Landis has lauded the relationship between the University and CIBC FirstCaribbean as a model of good strategic partnership which should be emulated.
Professor Landis pointed to the volume of research grants, some $82,000 issued by the bank under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two entities, adding that no other corporate sponsor had done that much to fund research at the campus.
He noted that topics chosen over the years were ones that impact people, but that while researchers often complained about getting opportunities to speak to practitioners, the bank made its officials accessible.
The Principal was speaking during a courtesy call on the campus head by the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark St. Hill, who took up that top position last November. The two entities have had a formal relationship under a series of MOUs, the first of which was signed in 2002.
In response to the Principal, St. Hill noted the role that the UWI played in the region’s digital transformation and pointed out that CIBC FirstCaribbean was named the “Best Digital Transformation Bank 2022”, by The European, a London-based global financial publication. That award recognised the bank’s “efforts and strides made in digital banking, e-products, internet banking services and corporate banking products”.
St. Hill said that over 90 per cent of the bank’s employees were UWI graduates, but many people had the misconception that the bank’s Canadian connection meant that most of everything came from Canada and that was not the case.
Both leaders spoke positively about several programmes under the MOU, including the internship programme, with St. Hill noting that the graduates were doing well not only at his bank but had joined other companies locally and internationally and were performing excellently.
He said the areas where more talent was needed included information technology and investment, but these were areas where people could be trained through apprenticeships.
After the official welcome and preliminary conversation, the visiting party headed by St. Hill toured the campus on Professor Landis’ invitation. He and other campus officials took them to several key areas on the compound, including the Solutions Centre, which houses conference and seminar facilities. There, St. Hill visited the FirstCaribbean Suites, where he recalled his experiences learning a foreign language.
The party moved on to Quaw Quest dedicated to Quaw Williams, a freed slave who lived on the land on which the Cave Hill Campus is located. There, the party viewed the replicas of the ledgers that record Williams’ names among those of 294 other freed slaves who lived in the area.
Another stop was The Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, which overlooks the Usain Bolt Complex and the scenic West Coast. The party was able not only to enjoy the picturesque view but got a snapshot of track and field action that was taking place on the Ryan Brathwaite Athletic track, which is part of the UWI Complex.
The tour shared the campus’ multi-faceted focus of sports, entrepreneurial, cultural, educational and historical activities with the bank officials. (PR)
