The UWI Open Campus appoints two senior managers

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus is pleased to announce the appointment of two Senior Managers to the positions of Deputy Principal and Director of the Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS).  These appointments will take effect on August 1, 2020.

Dr Francis O. Severin, Deputy Principal

Dr Francis O. Severin has been appointed to the position of Deputy Principal. He is currently acting Deputy Principal and was previously the Director of the Open Campus’ largest and most distributed division, the Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS), since October 1, 2013. Prior to his formal assumption of the post of Director OCCS in October 2013, he had acted in that position for long periods between January 2010 and 2013; therefore, effectively serving in that post for nearly one decade.

Dr Severin, a citizen of Dominica, graduated from The UWI Cave Hill Campus in 1991 with the Bachelor’s degree in History and Social Studies with Education; and from the Mona Campus twice: firstly in 1998 with the MSc in Sociology specializing in Social Policy and Administration; and a PhD in Education, in 2006.

He served The UWI part-time as Local Tutor in The UWI Distance Education (UWIDEC) Programme, School of Continuing Studies (SCS), in Dominica from 1994 to 1998, facilitating the courses: Introduction to Caribbean History for Law and Social Sciences and Introduction to Sociology of the Caribbean.

On January 1, 1999, he was appointed to his first full-time role in The UWI as Programme Officer in the Office of Administration and Special Initiatives (OASIs), a Centre Unit in the Vice Chancellery, headquartered then on the Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica. Between 1999 and 2005, he accomplished several initiatives, including: the reformulation of the framework for Alumni Relations and the revitalization of The UWI’s connections with its alumni.

In August 2005, Dr Severin returned to Dominica to take up the post of Resident Tutor and Head, School of Continuing Studies. While in that post he participated in the historical transition from the former entities that comprised the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education (NCC’s & DE) to the Open Campus.

As Country Head, Dr Severin inaugurated several lecture series, including the Dame Eugenia Charles Distinguished/Memorial Lecture Series in December 2006, in collaboration with the Head, Centre for Gender and Development Studies, UWI, Cave Hill, Professor Eudine Barriteau; the National Bank of Dominica Ltd./UWI Open Campus Dominica Distinguished National Lecture Series in May 2008; the Dr Bernard A. Sorhaindo Memorial Lecture Series in July 2008; and the Annual Edward Oliver LeBlanc Memorial Lecture Series, in October 2012.

As Director, OCCS (the largest Division in the Open Campus), Dr. Severin led his distributed Division over the course of two accreditations and one mid-cycle accreditation review preparations (initial accreditation period of 2012/2018, mid-cycle in late 2016 and re-accreditation 2019/2026). He also led the Country Sites through the revolutionary Strengthening Distance Education in the Caribbean (SDEC) Project, from April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2019.

Dr Severin has served on numerous Campus and University boards and committees, including: University Council; University Appointments Committee; Board for Undergraduate Studies (BUS); Board for Graduate Studies and Research (BGSR); Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GPC); Open Campus Academic Board; Senate Committee on Ordinances and Regulations (SCOR); Campus Evaluations & Promotions Committee (EPC); Campus Appointments Committee (CAC); University and Campus ICT Steering Committees; University Executive Management Team; University Senate and Library Evaluations and Promotions Committee.

Dr Severin who is Chair, Committee of Deans (Academic Year 2019/2020), has been the Public Orator of the Open Campus since 2010. He is the first male to hold the Office of Deputy Principal of the Open Campus.

Dr Cheryl Sloley, Director Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS)

Dr Cheryl Sloley has been appointed Director, Open Campus Country Sites (OCCS).  She is currently serving as Acting Director and previously served as Deputy Director, Finance, Facilities and Human Resources for Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

Dr Sloley, a Jamaican, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Studies (with Honors) from The University of the West Indies, Mona (1990); a Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (1999) and a PhD in Electronic Commerce from The University of the West Indies, Mona (2014).

Dr Sloley brings a wealth of knowledge and valuable experience to the post of Director, having held several senior management positions over her many years of dedicated service to The UWI.  She started her career at The UWI in 1991 when she worked as Administrative Assistant in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations University Centre. She then served as Project Assistant in The UWI’s Project Office, was seconded to The UWI/CIDA Institutional Strengthening Project as Project/ Finance Officer and later assumed the position of Administrative Officer at The UWI Centre for Environment and Development (UWICED) before moving on to the then School of Continuing Studies (SCS) in 2001.

In 2002, Dr Sloley was appointed Acting Resident Tutor/Head of the largest SCS Centre: Camp Road, Jamaica. In that capacity she spearheaded a comprehensive administrative and financial restructuring of the Centre.  Her significant accomplishments in this position included a 30 percent increase in student enrollment between 2002 and 2004; programme re-engineering: introduction of new courses; the revision of legacy programmes; significant infrastructural development and the implementation of a new marketing thrust.

During the years 2008 – 2012 she served in the Office of the Director OCCS as Regional Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados with overall responsibility for the coordination and implementation of the Open Campus’ Strategic Goals and Operational Plans in those jurisdictions. She was also responsible for ensuring student and staff satisfaction, and overseeing the administrative and financial operations of the eleven (11) Open Campus Country Sites in that region.

In October 2012 she assumed responsibility as managerial lead for the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ) Universal Service Fund (USF) Project Grant of J$105 million to upgrade the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure of 10 Open Campus Country Sites in Jamaica.  In 2013, Dr Sloley was then appointed as Deputy Director, Commercial Operations in the OCCS with responsibility for strategic leadership, student and staff portfolio matters as well as OCCS growth and development initiatives.

In August 2019 Dr Sloley’s position was re-designated as Deputy Director, Finance, Facilities and Human Resources for Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica.  Her strategic leadership and Campus responsibilities included, among other things, the identification of operational and commercial development initiative as well as training and development needs, working in collaboration with Heads of Sites across the Region. She served as Chair, Open Campus Disaster Recovery Committee (2017-2018),  spearheading the recovery and renovation of the Open Campus Dominica, BVI, Anguilla and St Kitts and Nevis Sites following the destruction of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Dr Sloley serves on various constituted bodies of The UWI and the Open Campus such as Campus Council; Academic Board and the Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Steering Committee.  She also acted as Director, OCCS on several occasions between 2013 and 2020.  She currently serves as a member of the University Senate; the Vice-Chancellor’s UWI Global Online Policy Working Group; The Vice-Chancellor’s Committee on “UWI: Imagining 2020/21 and Beyond” and is Co-Convenor for “The Digital UWI” a Subcommittee for “UWI: Imagining 2020/21 and Beyond.”  She has undertaken several research and consultancies and was responsible for the establishment of a National Registry of Volunteers for the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) in Jamaica.

Dr Sloley is also a commissioned Justice of the Peace (JP) for the Parish of Kingston and St Andrew, Jamaica. She also served as the first female President of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains (RCLP), Jamaica in 2007-08; was the recipient of the Rotary International’s Governor of District 7020 President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the RCLP (2004-05); earned the first Gold Award for the RCLP in 2009, and was conferred by RCLP with the highest Order in Rotary,  being inducted as a Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) in 2009 for outstanding service as President of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains.

The Open Campus wishes these two senior managers success in their new appointment as they continue to serve the people of the Region on behalf of The UWI and the Open Campus.

Photo captions

Dr Francis Severin

Dr Cheryl Sloley