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“History will judge very harshly the educated people in our society who aid and abet duplicity and corruption by the powerful…I believe that knowledge is like love. Witness the old Christian hymn, “Love that is kept inside, will surely fade some day; the only gifts you ever keep, are those you give away.” Knowledge should be shared. I feel genuinely proud to continue the UWI legacy. It gives me a confidence in myself that no one can do violence to, no matter how hard they may try. The UWI is genuinely interested in the Caribbean and its people. They are its raison d’être. This makes me feel Caribbean rather than narrowly Dominican which is the point at which we should all be.”

Dr. Francis O. Severin

HEAD
UWI OPEN CAMPUS
DOMINICA
Tel: (767) 448-3182/3482 • Email: francis.severin@gmail.com

PROFILE

Dr. Francis O. Severin is Head of The University of the West Indies Open Campus (UWIOC) Dominica, a position he has held since August 1, 2005. He is a graduate of The University of the West Indies, having taken the BA degree in History and Sociology with Education at the Cave Hill Campus; the MSc degree in Sociology at the Mona Campus; and the PhD degree in Education at the Mona Campus. Prior to assuming his current position, he was a Programme Officer in the Office of Administration and Special Initiatives (OASIs), The University of the West Indies, located at the Mona Campus. Among his career milestones in this office were his co-authorship of the proposal for the UNESCO/Commonwealth Secretariat Chair in Education and HIV/AIDS, his writing of the proposal for the revitalization and reformulation of UWI’s alumni relations, the revision of Ordinance 2 of the UWIAA, the drafting of a handbook for alumni chapters and the New Millennium Student Mobility Project, and his field research and reporting on UWI’s natural science curriculum offerings. Dr. Severin is an educator and academic at heart, having begun his career as a teacher of History and Social Studies at the Dominica Grammar School (a high school) and, prior to taking up duties at the University, was a lecturer in Advanced Level West Indian History and Sociology at the Clifton Dupigny Community College (now the Dominica State College). He was Local Sociology Consultant in an FAO Irrigation Feasibility Study in Dominica, and the Principal Investigator in the NCC Employer’s Perception of UWI Graduates Survey commissioned by The UWI’s Board for Undergraduate Studies in 1998. He has been on a few Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) teams, in Jamaica. Dr. Severin has written a number of papers/articles, including two articles in refereed journals, and presented at a number of regional conferences. He has presented a number of feature addresses at various functions. He is a member of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Severin’s doctoral thesis is entitled Subject Choice in a Sixth Form Sample of Jamaican Students with Particular Reference to the Natural Sciences. He became interested in the matter of subject choice, particularly the reasons students selected (or did not select) the natural sciences, when he was assigned by the Pro Vice Chancellor, OASIs, to conduct research on The UWI’s experience of a shortage of qualified candidates to its Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences. This shortage was particularly disturbing against the backdrop of a University-wide initiative to enhance its capacity as the region’s premier institution of higher education, to establish and maintain a pool of human resources that was ready to take advantage of the most up-to-date scientific developments, recognizing the importance of science and technology for national and regional development. He has a growing interest in occupational choice, which is a derivative of subject choice. He is also interested in entrepreneurial issues in tertiary education. In particular, how our university may market itself so that it truly becomes the University of First Choice for Caribbean nationals. Related to this interest is how do employers and the public in general perceive UWI graduates re their knowledge, competence, and overall value.