Sara Owens – UWI Head of Site for St. Kitts – Nevis
Charlestown, Nevis
March 03, 2011
Residents of St. Kitts-Nevis are being called upon to take advantage of the tertiary-level educational opportunities at the University of the West Indies’ open campus.
In a televised interview aired on Tuesday [Mar. 1], Head of Site for the University of the West Indies’ open campus in St. Kitts-Nevis Ms. Sara Owen, commended the Nevis Island Administration for ensuring that the Marion Heights branch remained functional for Nevisian students.
The campus, according to the education official, “is the fourth campus of the University of the West Indies.”
In addition to offering bachelor’s and master’s degree courses via distance, the open campus offers short, local programmes “with the vision to ensure that Caribbean people who reside in non-campus territories have access to tertiary education and meet the needs of all regional citizens.”
“What is good about that is that they [the students] stay in Nevis and pursue studies while still working, taking care of their families and so on,” she explained.
Ms. Owen, who was appointed in Nov. 2010, said she was extremely proud to be in a position to assist the people of St. Kitts-Nevis in ensuring that education was available at the tertiary level.”
“It’s extremely dynamic. I feel very honoured honestly to be in the position that I have at the moment,” she stated, adding that although she was based in St. Kitts, she liaised with “Nevisian students on a regular basis.”
While a number of “tiered programmes” were being offered at the open campus, the education official said there was still room for improvement and expansion. She therefore encouraged persons to share their areas of interest with her.
Nevisian students, however, could contact the Nevis Site Coordinator, Dr. Telbert Glasgow.
“We’ve been having a lot of meetings with the Head of the Pre-university Department at the open campus because we acknowledge that a lot of people may have left school with CXCs or they may not have the required qualifications to matriculate for the bachelor’s programme so what I am working on at the moment is trying to ensure that we have programmes for those people who are working, who perhaps have maybe two, three CXCs, maybe no CXCs but still want to pursue studies up to the university level,” she said.
Ms. Owen, accompanied by Dr. Alric Josephs of Jamaica, were guests on The Social Development Outlook which is aired, weekly, on Nevis Television’s channel 8 and hosted by Communications Officer at the Department of Social Development Mr. Curtis Morton.