The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is set to host a regional higher education conference to address the institutionalisation of best practice in the small island developing states of the Caribbean. Scheduled for June 24th to 26th, 2015 and organised by The University’s Quality Assurance Unit and Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, the conference aims at sharing ways of infusing best practice principles in the management and administration of higher education institutions.
Professor Alan Cobley, UWI’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies, notes “a proliferation of providers of tertiary education for Caribbean people, whether in face-to-face or online modes. This has been driven partly by the growing developmental needs of the region and our people, and partly by the involvement of the region. Yet quality assurance in higher education is still in its formative stages and, in that sense, unfinished business for the region“.
During the three-day conference at UWI’s St Augustine Campus, therefore, higher education professionals and other stakeholders will explore strategies for embedding best practice principles in institutional systems, processes and procedures, in support of institutional transformation and the pursuit of excellence. Thematic areas, indicative of challenges currently facing the Caribbean higher education sector, will be the focus. Day one will deal with “Context and Its Impact on Best Practice“, day two, “Best Practice, Good Practice, & and Promising Practice Identifying the Evidence” and day three, “Strategies for Institutionalising Best Practice in Higher Education Institutions“.
A call for papers, panels and posters to stimulate discussions among participants and feed into training materials, has been issued. Presentations should address reports or case studies of significant work in research, development, and applications related to aspects of the conference sub-themes. The submission deadline is 30th January 2015.
Interested persons can email bestpractices@sta.uwi.edu for further information.
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