Universities Caribbean collaborated with UWItv on 27th May 2020, to host a virtual forum in order to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on universities of the wider Caribbean region and to discuss the future of the Caribbean university sector through sharing approaches, best practices, initiatives, funding opportunities, and partnerships to face the crisis at hand.
In such unprecedented times, it is imperative that regional and global Higher Education Networks work together, so as to strengthen our impact on regional development through mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations, shared expertise and pooling resources in helping to face the crisis at hand.
The panelist included:
- Myriam Moïse, Secretary-General of Universities Caribbean and Associate Professor, Université des Antilles (Martinique & Guadeloupe);
- Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, President of Universities Caribbean and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (The UWI);
- José Armando Tavarez, Vice President ofInterAmerican Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) and President of Las Americas Institute of Technology (ITLA), Dominican Republic;
- Óscar Domínguez González, Executive Director of the Association of Colombian Universities (ASCUN);
- Professor Saulo Neiva, Director of Caribbean Region, Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF);
- Elizabeth Colucci, OBREALAdviser (Global Observatory), EU-LAC Focus Network and Project Expert for the European University Association (EUA);
- José Antonio Quinteiro, Program Coordinator, UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO-IESALC); and Dr Francis Delanoy, Vice-President for Partnerships and Outreach, Universities Caribbean and Rector Magnificus of the University of Curaçao.
Assessing the impact of COVID-19 designing the future of the Caribbean University Sector
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, President of Universities Caribbean, in his remarks described how the Caribbean as the most fragmented part of the world is constantly dealing with devastation and chronic diseases and how universities are involved in these scenarios as vulnerable institutions within the contexts of economic budget cuts. He also cautioned that “there is a threat to universities and we have to be very careful to create even a higher decline on higher education”.
Ing. José Armando Tavarez (IOHE / ITLA) mentioned the importance of innovation and new business models and the opportunities that the COVID-19 crisis present. He mentioned that the Dominican Republic has organized 6 phases for the reopening, also naming the initiatives of collaborative plans among the Dominican government and organizations implemented during the current semester.
Elizabeth Colucci (OBREAL/ EUA); focused on the regional and multiregional impacts of COVID, emphasizing the opportunities for cooperation in a new movement of internationalization. She noted that since physical mobility has stopped, there will be a redefinition of mobility at least for the next year. She also spoke about the democratization of internationalization to give more access, and also about digital training for staff for more opportunities. She further stressed the “tremendous opportunity” that the Caribbean has to reposition its internationalization agenda and to brand “One Caribbean” as a strategic multi-linguistic strategic partner in the global dialogue.
Click the link to watch the complete webinar: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=278862216586726&ref=watch_permalink
