The Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) Vision Morning 2022 was held on August 23, 2022, under the theme “Return, Re-engage, REACH”. The theme was inspired by a revised version of the existing REACH Vision, re-aligned with the new UWI Strategic Plan 2022-2027 dubbed the “Revenue Revolution”.
The The Administrative Officer for Strategic Planning and Institutional Research (AO SPIR), Mrs Shara Williams-Lue, made efforts to bring awareness of the revised FSS REACH Vision to the FSS and Campus-wide community.
Firstly, the AO SPIR worked with the Marketing Officer, Mrs Francesca Lloyd-McDavid to design and disseminate an FSS REACH Vision graphic in November 2022.
In alignment with The UWI Triple A Strategy, the FSS-REACH Vision charted the Faculty’s Strategic Vision for the AY 2021-2022 - Realizing impact through research, Exceeding the expectations of our stakeholders, Actively advocating for inclusive, sustainable development, Committed to being caring professionals, and Harnessing our skills through continuous improvement and empowerment. The Faculty’s Vision Morning[1] 2021 was held on August 24, 2021, under the theme “FSS A.C.T – Acknowledge, Correct, Transform”. Inspired by the FSS-REACH tagline “Together. Exceeding Expectations”, the Dean, Deputy Dean and all Associate Deans designed strategic initiatives for AY 2021-2022 to:
· Acknowledge the context within which we were operating, both in terms of the constraints and the opportunities;
· Acknowledge where we were coming from, and what we had done thus far as a Faculty towards the specific goals being targeted;
· Adjust certain target to ensure the realization of the Faculty’s strategic priorities; and
· Facilitate transformation in certain critical areas such as increased research activity and research output.
The operationalization of the FSS-REACH vision resulted in several key strategic achievements for AY 2021-2022. Ten examples are provided below:
1. Hosted virtual Orientation and Award Ceremonies;
2. Modernized the FSS Website;
3. Employed targeted marketing initiatives to attract increased numbers of students to the University;
4. Established a Committee to manage the resumption of face-to-face operations;
5. Expanded the Roll-With-It Programme to enhance resilience among students and staff, including the introduction of a Faculty Mascot;
6. Continued work on the Banner CAPP (Curriculum Advising and Programme Planning) project to facilitate the digital declaration of an additional number of degree majors in the Faculty.
7. Completed the pilot of the Comprehensive Academic Advising Programme (CAAP);
8. Launched a Lecturers’ Toolkit for lecturers to enhance engagement and communication with students as well as provide additional training for remote teaching;
9. Engaged in partnerships with local entities such as the UWI Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF), CIBC FirstCaribbean, and Digicel Foundation.
10. Engaged in partnerships with international entities such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Office of CARICOM Special Rapporteur on Disability, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Institut culturel Karl Lévêque, the Global Partnership Network, the World Bank Group and the Pan American Health Organization.
11. Increased efforts to improve research output and revitalize the research culture in the FSS, including the hosting of seminars geared towards increasing research productivity, a research writers' retreat for academics, efforts to increase involvement in grant writing, and institutional research projects;
12. Increased visibility of the Faculty via seminars, social media channels and media appearances, to focus on faculty achievements, impactful research and advocacy efforts.
[1] Vision Morning, formerly “Faculty Day”, is an annual event that charts the course for the upcoming Academic Year. This includes setting the Faculty on a path towards the Strategic Vision for the Academic Year. All staff members are invited.
In alignment with The UWI Triple A Strategy, the FSS REACH Vision, charted the Faculty’s Strategic Vision for the AY 2020-2021 - Realizing impact through research, Exceeding the expectations of our stakeholders, Actively advocating for inclusive, sustainable development, Committed to be caring professionals, and Harnessing our skills through continuous improvement and empowerment. Inspired by the FSS REACH tagline “Together. Exceeding Expectations”, the Dean, Deputy Dean and all Associate Deans designed strategic initiatives for AY 2020-2021. The Administrative Officer (AO) for Strategic Planning and Institutional Research worked with each of them to finalize timelines, targets and KPIs as well as update their individual balanced score cards, which was used as a tool for reporting, monitoring and evaluation. These activities led the operationalization of the FSS-REACH vision and resulted in several key strategic achievements for AY 2020-2021. Ten such examples are provided below:
1. Development of a Comprehensive Academic Advising Programme (CAAP) for undergraduate students;
2. Implementation of the Roll-With-It Programme to enhance resilience among students and staff;
3. Hosting the FSS Let’s Talk Live – Student Series - “Your degree and you”;
4. Virtual Student Orientation Sessions 2020-2021;
5. The development and dissemination of an Online Learning and Etiquette Guide for students and lecturers;
6. Identification of a Faculty Mascot, the FSS-Tiger, to communicate messages of strength, integrity, and hope to our students;
7. The FSS @ 60 Scholarship Drive for social sciences students, through partnerships with the private sector and alumni;
8. Piloting the use of the Curriculum Advising and Programme Planning (CAPP) feature in Banner to digitize the declaration of degrees;
9. Efforts to catalyze research and increase scholarly activities through, inter alia, hosting of the Research Writers' Conference 2021 for academics, granting writing training seminars, research productivity seminars, a professorial lecture, and through institutional research projects and the establishment of the FSS Grants Writing Committee; and
10. Increased visibility of the Faculty in traditional and social media channels, focusing on student and faculty achievements, impactful research and advocacy efforts.
Building on the preparatory work done in Academic Year 2018-2019, the FSS REACH Vision was officially launched at FSS Vision Monday on Monday August 19, 2019. The event represented an opportunity to chart the course for the upcoming Academic Year 2019-2020 and beyond and to firmly set the Faculty on a path towards the new Strategic Vision - Realizing impact through research, Exceeding the expectations of our stakeholders, Actively advocating for inclusive, sustainable development, Committed to be caring professionals, and Harnessing our skills through continuous improvement and empowerment.
