Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of the UWI Open Campus, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald (6th from left in front row) poses with Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, the Hon. Baldwin Spencer back row centre), Canada's Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Dianne Ablonczy (centre front) and the UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris, Ms Louise Clément (to the right of the VC), Mr. Mark Mostovac official from CIDA’s Caribbean branch, and past and present students of the UWI Open Campus.
 
 
 
Antigua, May 15, 2013: The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus has received a first grant of Cdn$20 million from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for institutional strengthening, online programme development and site technological and physical upgrades over the next five years.
 
The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas & Consular Affairs) Canada, made the announcement at the UWI Open Campus, Antigua, on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, at a ceremony attended by Antigua’s Prime Minister, the Honourable Baldwin Spencer; the Vice Chancellor of the UWI, Professor E. Nigel Harris; and the UWI Open Campus Principal, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald, students, University stakeholders and corporate executives.
 
The UWI Open Campus, launched in Antigua & Barbuda in 2008, serves primarily as the virtual campus of the UWI through which the traditional campuses of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica, deliver their online programmes. Over the past few years, the Principal has worked tirelessly with CIDA and other regional developmental institutions like the Caribbean Development Bank, to garner further resources to fund the services and products of the UWI Open Campus to continue its work with providing access to quality tertiary education and training to the underserved at the community, regional and international levels.
 
In expressing her appreciation to CIDA on behalf of the students and staff of the Open Campus, Professor Simmons-McDonald stated that “the fund given by CIDA will allow the University not only to extend its regional reach, but also to expand its global footprint through institutional strengthening initiatives such as the improvement of its technological infrastructure, the development of a much broader slate of programmes in demand, and planning for improved physical facilities that will cater to those who may not have connectivity otherwise.”
 
In her remarks, the Principal also noted that “in an environment in which technology continues to change and develop at an exponential rate it is a costly undertaking for universities to keep abreast of trends and provide new tools that allow students to use their creativity to generate further innovations that can lead to prosperity.  For an institution like the UWI that continues  on a developmental path, the support offered by an agency like CIDA can make a world of difference” 
 
At the event, the Vice Chancellor also noted that the CIDA grant “will be extremely useful in improving infrastructure and upgrading equipment to enable the UWI to provide better and expanded services to students and by extension the countries in which Open Campus sites are located.”
 
Principal Simmons-McDonald also thanked Vice-Chancellor Harrris “for his vision and the boldness of purpose that led him to establish the Open Campus and for the innovativeness that continues to explore additional ways such as the Single Virtual University Space through which the University can extend its reach even further to contribute to the development of human capital in the region.”
 
The UWI Open Campus offers programmes in multi-mode methodologies, including online and face-to-face modalities.  Online programmes can be made available to anyone who has access to a computer and the Internet or through any of the physical site locations across the Caribbean region. There are currently 42 site locations, serving 16 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean.