UWI overhaul

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus will be undergoing a “complete” restructuring in the next two years.Principal of the campus, Sir Hilary Beckles announced the plan today at a CEO forum hosted by UWI and LIME, saying it was to make the institution more relevant to 21st century educational needs.The changes will see the UWI developing programmes in medical technology and creating institutes for digital application and could include the closure of some departments.“We are now planning, as we speak, to restructure the university completely in the next two years,” the UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal told business leaders gathered in the UWI’s CARICOM Research Building.“We’ve gone through all of our departments and faculties one by one. We’ve stripped them down, looked at them – the deans, the heads.” The departments of Computer Science, Physics and Electronics, which fall under the Faculty of Science, will be affected by the coming changes.“This is the digital age, and therefore computer science and physics and electronics must get together and form an institute for digital design and digital application and transform those disciplines, spin out industries out of the application of those disciplines,” Sir Hilary said.“So we are going to put them together, close down some of the old systems, departments, and create institutes for digital application, so that that knowledge we have in computer science and physics can now serve the private sector in terms of the application of that knowledge to industrial development”.Sir Hilary reported that the campus was now looking for a professor of digital application “who will be a part of the transformation process”. (TY)For more details on this story, please read tomorrow’s DAILY NATION.