Dr. Glenda Gay Appointed Director (Ag) Academic Programming and Delivery Division at The UWI Open Campus

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Open Campus is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Glenda Gay as Director (Ag.), Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division, which became effective on August 1, 2022.

Dr. Gay’s service to The UWI spans over 30 years, starting in 1989 as a part-time lecturer in what was formerly the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Cave Hill Campus. Then, she taught courses in Programming, Database Management Systems, and Information Structures. Dr. Gay later joined the Department of Management Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences as a temporary, full-time lecturer in 1998. She returned to the Faculty after a short two-year stint at the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre as a Database Manager and Researcher for their Stroke and HIV/AIDS projects. She was later promoted to the rank of lecturer in 2014, and awarded tenure in 2019, teaching undergraduate courses in Information Systems to large classes of over 300 students. Dr. Gay is also the MSc Programme Coordinator for Building and Construction Management as well as Management Information Systems.

Dr. Gay holds a PhD in Information Systems and MSc in Computer and Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University, where she was also inducted into their honour society for the Computing and Information disciplines. She is also a proud UWI alumna with roots at the Cave Hill Campus where she holds a BSc and Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Science. Dr. Gay also completed advanced studies in blended and online teaching with the Online Learning Consortium.

At Cave Hill, she was Chair of the Teaching and Learning Committee, ICT Faculty Sub-Committee; Blended and Online Learning Coordinator for the Faculty of Social Sciences; and a member of the Research Ethics Committee of the Open Campus. Dr. Gay was also a member of the Cave Hill Campus’ Re-accreditation Working Group 3, which addressed the theme, Teaching and Learning.
In 2020, Dr. Gay was a member of the Campus’ “Integrated Committee” to plan for its 2020 reopening, as it transitioned to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 Pandemic. She was also a member of the Committee to Support Online Delivery of Programmes whose remit was to determine the platforms and framework to be used in an emergency remote delivery of programmes for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Dr. Gay has created over 30 short videos collectively called “How to… in less than 5” aimed at assisting lecturers in transitioning to ERT. In association with the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), she has since created online Orientation Workshops for adjunct faculty in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Her peer-reviewed publications include ten journal articles, as well as two single and two co-authored book chapters. She has published six non-refereed journal articles, and her book, CSEC Information Technology (Oxford University Press with editions in 2005, 2009, 2019) was reported as the most popular text by schools in the Caribbean Region.

Dr. Gay’s accolades include recipient of the Cave Hill Campus Principal’s Award for Excellence (Outstanding Teaching) in 2020; the CETL Partner Award for outstanding contribution to faculty development at the Cave Hill Campus in 2021; CETL/Guild Recognition Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2018 and 2019; and The UWI Cave Hill PULSE Point winner in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, she was also featured in the CHILL magazine and the VIV Newsletter.
Outside the University, Dr. Gay serves on examining committees for Information Technology at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), and is an external verifier, assessor and centre coordinator at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council for their N/CVQ and PLAR certifications.

In commenting on Dr. Gay’s acting appointment, Pro Vice-Chancellor & Principal of the Open Campus, Dr. Francis O. Severin expressed, “I first wish to extend my gratitude to Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, and Cave Hill Principal Professor Clive Landis for supporting the Open Campus in this fundamental way by agreeing to my proposal for the secondment of Dr. Gay to the Open Campus. Her stint with us is a critical part of our plan to achieve academic efficiency in our programming and, even more fundamentally, to provide optimal service to our students, the raison d’être of the Open Campus. Her tenure with us will be a distinct boon in our continuing preparation for the Global Campus which is on the horizon.” Dr. Severin added, “Dr. Gay’s extensive experience and her in-depth and comprehensive knowledge of Information Systems, Computer and Information Systems and Computer Science are especially important at this juncture in the Open Campus’ trajectory. I know that she will bring transformational leadership as well as a profound student perceptiveness and insightfulness that APAD requires at this time, in light of her vast experience as an academic and consummate teacher.”

The Campus’ Executive Management Committee is delighted to have Dr. Glenda Gay on the team and welcomes her and wishes her success in this new role as she continues to serve at The UWI.