"One UWI, One Alumni Family" 

Three Cave Hill employees whose efforts played a significant role in the campus’ fight against COVID-19, earned stellar recognition when the campus honoured eight staffers for outstanding performance at the recently held Retirees and Long Service Awards Ceremony. The eight recipients of the 2022 Principal’s Award for Excellence also included a political scientist, a clinical psychologist, an agri-food researcher, a project officer and a laboratory technologist.

Dr. Tania Whitby-Best and Mrs Nicole Sue were jointly awarded for Outstanding Service to the Campus Community in recognition of their sterling work, including efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 within the campus community. Medical Officer and Head of Department, Student Health Services Dr. Whitby-Best oversaw the emergence of three major innovative activities: the introduction of telemedicine and other virtual forms of medical assistance to students; the organization of vaccination drives on Campus for both staff and students; and the implementation of the monitoring system for students travelling and returning to campus. 

Mrs Sue’s engagement on campus has been a pioneering and wide-ranging one driven by her passion for the fields of health, safety and environmental management. The Health, Safety and Environmental Officer played a leading role in the daunting tasks of hazardous waste disposal and restoring campus readiness following last year’s volcanic ash fall. During the pandemic, she learnt the new critical skill of contact tracing, working for extended hours supporting the national effort and ensuring that the Campus remained safe. She also helped to devise, implement and monitor campus protocols in response to wider governmental COVID-19 directives, and liaised with key stakeholders to ensure that critical protocols and procedures were in place to keep the campus community safe.

Rounding out the trio whose exceptional contributions in the fight against COVID took the spotlight was Mr. Justin Sue, particularly for an innovative initiative to ensure that the campus community had a ready supply of high-grade, hand sanitizer produced on campus. Mr. Sue who joined the campus in 2006 as a technician in the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences is renowned as one of the most dependable employees who is always willing to go beyond the call of duty. He has shown his versatility in all areas of departmental activities, all the while executing his duties as Senior Technician with responsibility for Safety and Maintenance, in an exemplary manner.

Political scientist Senator Dr. Kristina Hinds was recognized for Outstanding Research and Public Service for her scholarly output and civic engagement. Within the last five years, Senator Hinds has published a total of twelve (12) peer‐reviewed books, book chapters and journal articles, representing more than 70 per cent of her overall scholarly output. Her body of work has advanced the face and depth of theorising in civil society and governance and their pivotal roles in shaping Caribbean society, economy and politics. She was also praised for a public service profile that is “extensive, diverse and remarkable in local, regional and international contexts”

Awarded for Outstanding Teaching and Public Service was Dr Mia Amour Jules, a lecturer in Experimental and Physiological Psychology, who has long demonstrated a solid commitment to the university community and the public. Despite having large classes numbering hundreds of students, Dr Jules’ courses have gained high course evaluation scores throughout her tenure. In addition, she supervises and serves on the advisory committees of postgraduate research students. She was cited as one whose dedication, energy, and enthusiasm to her work illustrates her commitment to teaching, research and public service.

An award for Outstanding Research Accomplishments went to Dr. David Yawson. The current Director of CERMES has 20 years of work experience teaching in several disciplines in Ghana, the UK, Algeria and in the Caribbean at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as providing research consultancy support around agri-food systems and environmental management. His publication record includes authoring 74 referred journal articles, one book, five book chapters, 11 technical reports, most of them occurring within the past five years. Dr. Yawson was hailed as one whose career offers a blueprint for academics to emulate, combining teaching, grant writing and consultancies all leading to significant publications.             

Ms Natasha Corbin who was awarded in the Senior Administrative/Professional Staff category, is widely regarded as a champion of the campus’ energy efficiency initiatives. The Project Officer with the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) has made extensive contributions to the Campus particularly in relation to the implementation and support of innovative clean energy solutions aimed at reducing its high energy operational costs and in alignment with the Government of Barbados’ strategic focus of transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy by 2030.

Similar to Mr. Sue, Ms Keisha Mascoll was recognised for Outstanding Service in the Administrative, Technical and Service Staff. Ms. Mascoll who joined the Faculty of Medical Sciences in 2009 as a Medical Laboratory Technologist, performs critical functions which allow classes to take place smoothly and ensures that the laboratory are ready for teaching sessions. She keeps an inventory of stock and places orders so that equipment and supplies arrive on island in good time. She also assists the lecturers in the delivery of laboratory sessions.

Approximately 125 employees were recognized for their long service to the campus, in categories ranging from 15-40 years, while the University bade farewell to 21 who retired from the institution. The awards ceremony was held on November 26^th.