The administrators of the University of the Virgin Islands told members of the Senate’s Education Committee Wednesday that the final verdict on the school’s restructuring is still out.
UVI President Orville Kean said the aim of the restructuring is three-fold: improve service to students; make the system more efficient; and improve cost effectiveness. Part of the plan is to improve technology that would enable the approximately 2,500 students at the university’s two separate campuses to access courses on the opposite island.
"Restructuring is a work in progress," Kean said.
Under questioning of senators who implied that course offerings and staffing favored the St. Thomas campus, Kean said the university can’t afford to duplicate everything on both islands. Hence the push for an electronically interconnected university.
"We are trying to create a 21st Century university," Kean said, adding that if the school can be wired, "it won’t be that important where your infrastructure is located."
Sen. Gregory Bennerson said that he’s received reports from staff and students on the St. Croix campus that morale was down and that Kean was rarely seen on the Big Island.
"There seems to be a general impression that the professionalism on the St. Croix campus has dropped, especially with the reorganization," said Bennerson.
The UVI president acknowledged that the restructuring is affecting some people and that there was only "so much Orville Kean to go around."
"We have a difficult time accepting change in the Virgin Islands," he said. "There is no way we can have a restructuring of UVI without making people uncomfortable."
Along with the reorganization will come more autonomy for each campus, said Kean. The hope is that such a move will prevent localized issues from "falling between the cracks."
Meanwhile, Kean said it was not clear if the restructuring would result in an overall cost savings.
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