It’s mid-morning Saturday at UWI St Augustine, Open Days 2024. There are islands of people, 11 each, dotted on the sloping greens that connect the northern and southern halves of the campus. In each group are secondary school students, some awed and anxious, and parents, intently focused on the words of their tour guides.
The guides, UWI student champions, show them some of the campus buildings, the faculties and their departments, the auditoriums and activity centres, the informal spots that don’t have names but have been chosen by The UWI students themselves as places to study or congregate. With inspiring openness and maturity, the student champions, most of them around the same age as the visitors, share their knowledge of life at St Augustine.
It’s a welcome gift. Those young visitors and their families have important decisions to make about their futures. And it’s a daunting decision. The campus tours, given by guides close to them in age, provides them the information they need and takes away some of the anxiety. These are the multiple levels on which The UWI St Augustine Open Days work. They inform, they familiarise, and they make visitors feel welcome.
The tours are only one part of what has become one of UWI St Augustine's most comprehensive events. Open Days 2024, held on April 13 and 14, was a mass mobilisation of the campus community at all levels. All eight faculties, the specialised units, student services, campus support services, student groups, and even the university’s external partners took part. Together they welcomed thousands of prospective students and their loved ones to the JFK Quadrangle and JFK Auditorium.
“You are invited to two days of excitement and exploration,” the invitation from UWI St Augustine read. Open Days, it said, were “designed for prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students, parents, professionals, and the curious” to “offer in-depth insight into the diverse programme offerings, career options, and vibrant atmosphere of our campus”.
Prospective students spoke with faculty members and admissions staff about programmes of study. They engaged with student services about scholarships (hundreds are available on campus) and other forms of financial aid. They received personalised advice for financing their education from institutions such as Eastern Credit Union, First Citizens, JMMB, and Republic Bank Ltd. The campus even set up stations staffed by volunteers so that students could apply on-site.
Campus life, however, involves more than attending and paying for classes, and Open Days gave visitors a healthy slice of the other aspects of the university student experience. There were games, puzzles, souvenirs, food, displays, live performances from the student dance group DSSD Spirit Team, and a mini-zoo (a particular favourite for many attendees).
For more information on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at UWI St Augustine and financial aid, and to apply, visit https://sta.uwi.edu/.
