UWI St Augustine Campus Principal Prof Brian Copeland said the campus will be reopened to in-person classes in September. He said the university will be adopting all necessary protocols to keep students safe.

Speaking at the annual meeting of UWI St Augustine's Campus Council, Copeland said protocols included masking, sanitisation and social distancing.

'Some students have been coming to campus to do lab sessions which cannot be carried out online. In terms of teaching, many of the courses will remain online, but there will be a hybrid spectrum ranging from full face-to-face to online. Our teaching staff, academics, lecturers will be liking to see how they can best deliver topics in the curriculum and if arrangements need to be made for face-to-face, then they will be made.

'Be mindful again that especially social distancing, six-foot spacing, reduces a large room to about 16 per cent of capacity, which poses a huge difficulty in presenting face-to-face classes, particularly where there is a large class. We will be looking to see what can be delivered from a pedagogical standpoint, what needs to be delivered physically on campus, but we are looking for a slow return to more vibrant campus activity.'

In presenting the UWI St Augustine 2020/2021 Annual Report, Copeland said there had been a decrease in postgraduate enrolment in that year, which had increased in the current year, while undergraduate enrolment had remained fairly constant.

'Total enrolment was 15,931. Undergraduate enrolment held relatively steady at 11,273. Postgraduate enrolment declined by four per cent to 4,658. General enrolment declined by one per cent.'

Copeland said there will be a review of tuition fees, as they had not changed in 21 years. He reminded that UWI's fees are among the lowest in the region. He said the university will examine the cost of delivering courses and use this to determine the new prices.

'Currently students are paying approximately 12 per cent, and with GATE even less. Our research indicates that they are supposed to be carrying 20 per cent. We want to see a change in culture where students are responsible for their tuition, either on their own or with various means of support, as occurs in other countries. We want to reduce dependence on governments to provide funding, but put in place new and enhanced funding streams for students through sponsorship, scholarships, loans, etc.'

Copeland said income during 2020/2021 was $637,777, 044, with expenditure being $617,533,224. Some cost reduction initiatives included freezing unfilled positions, staff reductions via attrition, the reduction of part-time teaching staff contracts from one year to nine months, and renegotiating service agreement contracts with vendors, and reorganisation of work flow to reduce overtime.

The campus bursar said the excess was spent on upgrading IT services, and assisting the Faculty of Medical Sciences to defray its expenses.

Copeland said approximately $4.3 million non-governmental scholarships and bursaries were distribu