Open Ceremonies: Defining the Context
Greetings from Queen's University by Wayne Myles, Director, Queen's University
International Centre (QUIC)
Professor Carrington, Professor Hamilton, conference participants, University of the
West Indies friends and invited guests.
It is my great pleasure to bring official greetings from Dr. Karen Hitchcock, Principal of
Queen's University, to this conference hosted by our partner institution, the University of
the West Indies. While the title of the conference is "Risk and Responsibility in
Education Abroad Programmes: The Caribbean Perspective", I should note that the
abbreviated version of the title may lead some participants to wonder what exactly the
title means. In that case it may be more enlightening for everyone involved to entitle the
conference "Managing the Risks and Accepting the Responsibilities of Education Abroad
Programmes: The Caribbean Perspective".
About one year ago, Queen's University hosted a similar conference under the auspices of
the Commonwealth Universities Study Abroad Consortium (CUSAC) for a number of
representatives from universities based in the Commonwealth. While the topic of our
conference was similarly "Risk and Responsibility in Education Abroad", the focus was
on a dialogue between institutions in the North and institutions in the South. One
representative to the conference was Mrs. Beverly Hunter who assisted us in our
deliberations by offering us the UWI perspective and for this we are deeply indebted.
Overall much was learned at the Kingston Canada conference about the similarities and
differences between the North and South CUSAC partners and the way we go about
preparing and supporting our students in our education abroad programs. So when
Queen’s was contacted by UWI, following the Queen’s conference, to see if we would
partner on a CUSAC conference featuring a Caribbean regional perspective, we deemed
it a privilege to be asked to join you in this venture.
Dr. John Dixon, Associate Vice-Principal (Academic/International) and an executive
member of CUSAC has asked me to bring his greetings to this gathering and to stress
how strongly Queen’s supports this effort and the overall work of CUSAC as it strives to
provide opportunities for its members and their partners to learn from each other’s
experience, and to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of
education abroad and student mobility.
Given my role on last year’s CUSAC conference committee, I am very aware of how
much thought and coordination has been required to bring this conference to this point. I
wish, from the outset of our meetings, to thank the many members of UWI who helped to
shorten the distance between Queen’s in Kingston, Canada and UWI in Kingston,
Jamaica for making this all possible.
Over the next three days, a truly unique and valuable initiative will unfold as we focus
our attention on the very important issues surrounding the health and safety of our
students as they travel, work and study away from their home campuses. It is Queen’s
hope that these discussions and presentations will make a difference in the way our
institutions go about our work in the field of education abroad. It is also Queen’s hope to
gain new perspectives from the Caribbean region’s point of view that will assist us in
taking further steps in advancing our policies and programs at Queen’s.
In closing, let me once again offer the heartfelt greetings of our Principal and her wishes
that our deliberations foster a stronger and more vibrant partnership between our two
institutions.
Thank you.