THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS PARTICULARS GENERAL HEAD WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT UNIT CONSORTIUM FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS 1. The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus serves the following 17 Englishspeaking Caribbean countries: Anguilla Antigua & Barbuda Bahamas, The Commonwealth of Barbados Belize Bermuda British Virgin Islands The Cayman Islands Dominica, The Commonwealth of Grenada Jamaica Montserrat St. Christopher & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & The Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago, The Republic of Turks and Caicos 2. The University began teaching in 1948 at Mona in Jamaica as a University College affiliated with the University of London, and became independent in 1962. The University is now a dual mode institution offering teaching by distance education as well as face-to-face teaching. The University has campuses at Mona in Jamaica, St Augustine in Trinidad and Cave Hill in Barbados reaching an on-campus student population of over 30,000 full-time equivalent students. In a major initiative to grow the student population and to service the widely dispersed needs of country partners, the University inaugurated the Open Campus in 2007/8, building on the long history of the former Extra Mural Studies/School of Continuing Studies in distance education and continuing studies throughout the Caribbean.
THE UWI OPEN CAMPUS 3. works with faculty on the three older campuses, as well as with other tertiary institutions and development agencies throughout the Caribbean, to design, develop and deliver quality programmes by distance to meet the academic and professional development needs of the people of the Caribbean. The Open Campus is at the forefront of the mission of the University with respect to outreach responsibilities in the 17 countries to support the inclusive (social, economic, political, cultural, environmental) development of the Caribbean region and beyond. 4. The Open Campus operates through 42 Country Sites across the 17 countries, and through the Consortium for Social Development and Research, with development support from the Academic Programming and Delivery Division, the Office for Continuing and Professional Education and the professional and administrative departments common to all campuses of the University. The current population of Open Campus students is over 20,000; over 6,000 are enrolled in in degree programmes and over 14,000 in continuing and professional education and short courses (2015/16 figures). 5. The Consortium for Social Development and Research, established at the same time as the inauguration of the Open Campus, aims to develop cooperation between four autonomous specialised Units of the Open Campus: the Social Welfare Training Centre (established 1962), the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute (established 1963) and the Caribbean Child Development Centre (established 1972), all located on the Mona Campus in Jamaica, and the Women and Development Unit (established 1978), located at The Pine in Barbados. All Units of the Consortium share a commitment to applied research, to the strengthening of the outreach programming of the Open Campus and the wider UWI system, and to providing training and education for underserved populations, including those who often do not have the benefit of a high school education (Quality Assurance Review, January 2016). The Consortium also serves to converge efforts of the four Units in areas of mutual interest, one example of which is the development of training of child care workers with the associated issues of gender relations and workforce development and protection. 6. The report of the Open Campus Governance Task Force (April 2016) noted that, pending further review, the specialised units should continue to function within UWI-Open with a particular focus on their community outreach mandates. The work of the Units of the Consortium in response to policy and practice challenges in the region, particularly in the context of their outreach function, is at the heart of the Triple A (Agility, Access, Alignment) approach of the new UWI Strategic Plan 2017-22; the Consortium enables
access to persons regardless of level of schooling completed; alignment of programmes with actual needs as expressed through consultation with stakeholders; and agility in provision of responsive programming, through appropriately targeted content and learning methodologies. THE WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT UNIT 7. The Women and Development Unit (WAND) has its origins in the Social Welfare Training Centre, influenced by the UN Decade for Women (1976-1986). A grant from the Carnegie provided initial funding in 1978. WAND s community outreach activity started in earnest in 1981 and continued its efforts in 1996 in both St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and 1999 in Barbados. Its aim was to support Regional development through advancing education, research, innovation, public service and outreach to underserved populations. Currently, WAND brings UWI to communities in the Region through programmes based on gender justice; income-generation projects; non-formal education and skills training; support for social and gender awareness; research, dissemination of materials and technical assistance to women and women s organisations. WAND's partners include women's organisations, non-governmental organisations, community groups and other agencies. 8. WAND adapts and responds to current and emerging regional priorities for engaging on issues affecting women and development. Future work will be guided by the framework of the new UWI Strategic Plan, 2017-2022; the regional response to the gender equality targets of the Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030; and the Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan 2013-2018 of the UWI Open Campus for strengthening distance education in the Caribbean. Collaboration with the UWI Institute for Gender and Development Studies will be pivotal both for strengthening WAND s ability to apply research to programming in training and outreach development work, and for generating feedback to the Institute on issues emerging from the field requiring theoretical understandings and application of theory to practice. Examples of issues identified as both regional priorities and as opportunities for leveraging the wider engagement of regional partners include: the status and conditions of women in the field of work (International Labour Organisation Centenary Initiative 2019); and the 50 50 by 2030 initiative (United Nations Women), requiring understanding of the Caribbean-specific realities such as unemployment rates of young women and disengagement of young men from education and training.
9. A priority focus of the mission of the University is to identify and meet the needs of underserved populations. In this regard, the WAND of the future is well placed to respond flexibly with research, innovation and community outreach initiatives to address the needs of women and development. A particular focus of WAND s work will be to continue and strengthen engagement in the countries served by the Open Campus in the Eastern Caribbean. The Head of WAND will bring to the task their own expertise, passion and interests to ensure that WAND continues to build partnerships and collaborations in addressing the women and development needs of the Region. CATEGORY 10. The position is in the Academic Category. The initial appointment would be at the Lecturer/Senior Lecturer Level depending on experience and qualifications. WORK LOCATION 11. The Women and Development Unit is located on the site of the Consortium for Social Development and Research, The Open Campus of The University of the West Indies, The Pine, St. Michael, Barbados. 12. The Head will be working in a virtual environment with partners potentially within the four campuses of The UWI (Mona, Jamaica; St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago; Cave Hill, Barbados; and the Open Campus serving 17 countries) and in the wider Caribbean Community (20 countries including the 17 served by The UWI). REPORTING 13. The Head is responsible to the Principal, through the Director, Consortium for Social Development and Research, for the effective execution of his/her duties and responsibilities. 14. The Head will work closely with the University Director, UWI Institute for Gender and Development Studies and with the Heads of the Units of the Institute on each campus. 15. The Head will also work closely with the Offices of Finance and Human Resources as well as the Open Campus Registrar s Office, the Deputy Director Continuing and Professional Education and Deputy Director Commercial Operations, the Academic Programming and Delivery Division, and other relevant departments and personnel in the Open Campus.