New Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Professor Eudine Barriteau, has been given the assurance that the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation will continue to support that institution.

Education Minister, Ronald Jones, indicated this recently when Professor Barriteau paid him a courtesy call at his Elsie Payne Complex office.

She was accompanied by Campus Registrar, Kenneth Walters; and Executive Assistant to the Principal, Gale Hall.

Stating that he looked forward to working with the University under her leadership, Mr. Jones said: ???I am hopeful that we can work, wherever necessary, to ensure that our campus at Cave Hill is able to continue to survive. Whatever we can do as a Ministry, we will do.???

He acknowledged that there were various programmes and activities, as well as infrastructural work, going on at the campus, and stressed that they were necessary, given the critical mass the institution was reaching.

Mr. Jones said he was aware of the need for the construction of a library and he had commenced discussions with Professor Barriteau???s predecessor on how this could be achieved over the next year.

Moreover, the Education Minister stressed that student-centredness had to be at the forefront of everything the University did, and it had to place emphasis on how students were treated throughout their time on campus.

He added that if the character of the University was to be enhanced, there had to be a focus on graduate study, especially in the research areas. This, he said, was engaging the Ministry???s attention.

Professor Barriteau gave the commitment that the ???very good relations??? which existed while she was Deputy Principal would continue.

Sharing her vision, she said: ???Certainly, in terms of my leadership, not only do I intend to work hard with the team to make Cave Hill survive and flourish but as far as I am concerned, both the Cave Hill Campus and Barbados are much more than the current situations that they face. They are great institutions, the country, the Government and the campus itself; I just see these challenges as something on the road to greater things.

???So, as a result, I am not daunted by them. I think I can see Cave Hill beyond them. One of the things I am prioritising is growth in student enrolment; getting some of the students back on the campus. I am very pleased with the critical mass that I have inherited, both in terms of the infrastructure and the programming.???

The first female principal of the UWI Cave Hill Campus also stated that ???quality??? and ???quality assurance??? would become buzz words at that institution. ???When people think of Cave Hill, I want them to think of quality. Quality assurance and student-centredness come before faculty. Deepening the quality assurance would be critical in that regard,??? she remarked.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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