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FORMER UWI St Augustine principal Prof Emeritus Brian Copeland says there is no reason why the proposed global school of medicine cannot co-exist with a faculty of law, or any other discipline for that matter, at the Debe campus in south Trinidad.
Over the past week, the government has been at loggerheads with the university’s administration over what the campus should be used for. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the campus should be used primarily as a faculty of law while UWI’s administration said it has been earmarked for a global school of medicine.
Persad-Bissessar also has threatened to take the Debe campus out of UWI’s control if it does not comply with the government’s plans for the facility.
Weighing in on the impasse on May 24, Copeland told Newsday, “A faculty of law could co-exist with a global school of medicine, which is a new school at UWI, a brand new concept and the curriculum was specifically designed for a global community.
“Not to say local people couldn’t get it but the key thing was that it was full fee-paying, no strain on the government unless they want to subsidise and pay. It would have been an international clientele paying in US dollars and we had people who were willing to take it up.”
Copeland, who served as UWI principal from 2016-2022, said the proposal to have a global school of medicine at the Debe campus “would have solved a lot of St Augustine’s (campus) financial problem in one go.”
He said, “In terms of income-earning, the university has been in dire straits for a long time. The figures that we got showed that that campus had the potential to bring in foreign exchange that was equivalent to something like a quarter of the annual budget per year and I still think it is a very viable option.”
Copeland said once the government reviews the proposal and keeps an open mind, “they will see that it was a very viable decision to make.”
He admitted that while there was an initial focus on law, the administration decided to instead focus on global medicine with a view to ensuring that UWI stayed afloat financially.
“The Debe campus is basically an extension of the St Augustine campus but there was a focal point on law and then we decided to move it to global medicine. We did worldwide surveys before we came to that conclusion. It was a full business proposal and many people were involved in looking at it.”
Copeland, who was the first recipient of the Order of the Republic of TT in 2008, recalled there also was the potential for the offer of a bond “and they were already biting at the pit to get us to launch the bond.
“It was financial. It was not profit-making per se. It was making sure that the UWI stayed afloat. That was the whole idea. It would not have stayed afloat with a faculty of law. But it does not mean that a faculty of law can’t go down there. There was never an intent to leave out anybody.”
Work on the Debe campus began around 2012 when the People’s Partnership coalition was in government. The project, which was being built on lands allocated by the government, was estimated to cost approximately $600 million.
But work stopped temporarily after 2015 and was completed in 2019.

Long-term goal

In its 2014-2015 administrative report to the Ministry of Education, the UWI said of the Debe campus, “This project represents a major expansion of the St Augustine campus to the southern area of Trinidad.”
It said work began on the site in September 2012 and continued until July 2015.
At that time, it was envisaged that the project would have been completed in early 2016. The original completion date was February 2014.
The report said phase one of the project included facilities for the faculty of law, lecture theatres, a moot court, a campus library, a general academic/administrative building for other faculties, a student union building, a students’ halls of residence and playing fields.
In its 2016-2017 administrative report, the UWI said the project was estimated to be at 80 per cent completion.
“But the design-build contractor was unable to complete the project. A new provider was brought on board and was scheduled to restart in 2017.”
The UWI, in its 2017-2018 report to the ministry, confirmed that the services of the main contractor were terminated “and the UWI assumed full responsibility for completing the project.”
It said the construction work was divided into packages, which were assigned to various local contractors.
“The project was further subdivided into phases.”
The report said in addition to significantly improving and expanding access to students, the facility will also “enable the UWI St Augustine to improve its ability to earn income and it is hoped that the southern campus will be fully self-financing when completed and fully occupied.
It said, then, that in the short term, the campus was working towards offering programs from the faculties of Humanities and Education, Food and Agriculture, Medical Sciences and Science and Technology as well as UWI/Roytec. The campus archives and records will be relocated there as well.
The medium to long-term goal, the report said, was for the Faculty of Medical Sciences to be the flagship faculty at the campus.
“This is part of a broader strategy to expand enrolment in medical sciences to accommodate more international and full fee-paying students and to make the south campus self-sufficient.”
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