VICE-CHANCELLOR of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Sir Hilary Beckles has assured that “the honourable thing will be done” as far as it relates to the report of the 2018 Commission on Governance which reviewed the university’s operations.

The commission, established in December 2018 by Chancellor Robert Bermudez and chaired by Sir Dennis Byron, former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice, had wide-ranging consultations with internal and external university stakeholders to examine the performance of The UWI, including its management practices, issues of transparency and accountability. In its report it identified several weaknesses and made several recommendations to improve the operations of the university.

Addressing Tuesday’s 2021 UWI, St Augustine Campus Council Meeting, Sir Hilary addressed speculation that the university was skirting the report which it, in August last year, had indicated was being reviewed by stakeholders and would be shared publicly.

“All of our chancellors have established commissions to look at our governance and that is part of their mandate. For clarity, the Ramphal report ( Sir Shridath Ramphal 1996) was implemented, the Alleyne

report (Sir George Alleyne, 2006) was implemented,” Sir Hilary said, noting that those reports were “characterised by a sense of deep knowledge and vision”. He further noted that the university’s current governance model is the result of the Ramphal and Alleyne reports.

“The university was significantly restructured by those reports so the current report is coming in that tradition and in that context,” the vice-chancellor said. He, meanwhile, dismissed claims that the university had yet to complete the implementation of those reports.

“I can say, therefore, that I know of no evidence to show that the process of implementing the Ramphal and Alleyne reports was not complete,” Professor Beckles stated, adding that both Ramphal and Alleyne were happy with the implementation.

In the meantime, he said the new report has been submitted to the university’s council.

“A review team has been established to look at all the recommendations, I am sure that when all of those recommendations are studied and the impact analysis conducted, the good recommendations will be implemented, I am sure. The honourable thing will be done, the university is always in search of recommendations to move it forward,” he stated.

The university, in a release in August last year, said it was anticipated that the recommendations of the 2020 report will help to improve institutional accountability and efficiency at The UWI.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis