Enrollment at the UWI Mona Campus for the 2005-2006 year now stands at an all time high of 15,398. This represents a six per cent increase over the 2004-2005 academic year. The proportion of persons enrolled in first degree programmes was eighty per cent to the nineteen per cent of students in higher degree programmes with the remaining one per cent comprising specially admitted students.

The enrollment figures were presented by Principal of the Mona Campus, Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie at a meeting of the Mona Campus Council held in the Council Room on Friday, March 9. Campus Council heard that continuing the established trend set in previous years, the Mona Campus surpassed the targeted 2.4 percent of annual growth rate in enrollment projected in the University’s Strategic Plan 2002 – 2007.

As in previous years, the majority of students are enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences with approximately 7,029, Humanities and Education with some 4,398, Pure and Applied Sciences 2,080 and Medical Sciences 1,782.

Campus Council members were informed that approximately 80 per cent of the 2005-06 students registered were engaged in on-campus, or face-to-face study. The remaining 20 per cent off-campus students received instruction through distance, online education or through tertiary institutions affiliated with the University. The majority or some 68 per cent of off-campus students pursued distance education programmes.

The Campus continued to enroll a largely female student population, of the total student registered in on and off-campus programmes, men comprised 27 per cent and women 73 per cent. Following on this trend, the proportion of women pursuing postgraduate degrees was 66 per cent.

Campus Council members heard that consistent with the pattern established in the latter part of the 1970s the number of students originating from Jamaica has been steadily surpassing those from the other countries that support the UWI. Noting that in academic year 1974 – 1975, 47 per cent of the on-campus students originated from Jamaica, in 2005-06 this population comprised 93 per cent of all on-campus students.

Campus Council members were further informed that in keeping with Jamaica’s national policy to widen access to higher education, the social profile of the student population has undergone rapid change over the past 12 years. Shifting from a 61 per cent representation from the upper-middle to high-income groups to one where three quarters of the population originate from the poor to lower middle income groups.
In a similar vein, in academic year 2005-06, 49 per cent were from rural parishes outside the Kingston metropolitan area, defined as Kingston, St. Andrew, Portmore and Spanish Town.

In recognition of its role in enabling broad access to higher education and the consequent change in social profile of its student population, the Principal outlined the many transformative learning and development programmes underway on the Mona Campus. These programmes, which are geared towards enriching their social, cognitive and employability skills include those offered through the Office of Student Services and Development, Office of the Deputy Principal and at the Faculty level.

Professor Leo-Rhynie also reported that the 2006 graduation ceremonies celebrated the achievements of the largest ever graduating class from Mona. Two thousand one hundred and fifty two graduates satisfied the requirements for the award of first degrees; 185 candidates were awarded Diplomas and Certificates, 680 Masters degrees, 27 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and 33 Doctor of Medicine (DM) and that forty-four percent of the first degrees were in the first class or upper second class category.

As part of its efforts to satisfy the human resource needs of Jamaica and the Caribbean, the UWI Mona also introduced sixteen new academic programmes aimed at satisfying the needs of the public and private sectors. The focus of the new programmes has been in information technology, national security and strategic studies, aquatic sciences, embryology, occupational and environmental safety and Caribbean sign language interpreting.