By Latrishka Thomas
The newest campus of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) is now the only one with a functioning guild of students website which is aimed at improving the student experience on the campus.
Just yesterday, the guild of students (much like a student’s union) of UWI Five Islands Campus – which opened in September 2019 – launched an intuitive site, created by the Guild Publications Committee Chairperson (PCC), Chaneil Imhoff, who has about seven years’ experience in Graphic and Web Design.
Twenty-seven-year-old Imhoff is the owner of several businesses in Antigua and Barbuda, to include a branding agency called Avada Digital.
She told Observer that “the Publications Committee is usually responsible for any publications by the guild, and we wanted to be different and cater to our students who had to be online, so we decided on a website instead of a magazine or newspaper.”
The young entrepreneur further explained that the site was created with the students at the fore of her mind.
“I wanted to ensure that it features our students as much as possible whether it be by pictures and videos or articles and submissions. Additionally, we often complained that a lot of the branding that came out before had no real connection to Five Islands Campus so I wanted to include as much of that as possible,” she stated.
And, through the development of said site, information will be easily accessible on one central platform.
The website also has unique features such as an ‘Entrepreneurial Corner’ which will be an online directory for all student entrepreneurs.
Imhoff postulates that “having this platform will allow them to reach a bigger audience and get access to resources to help them grow their businesses.”
“Five Islands is poised to be the entrepreneurship capital of the region, and I think that this is a good start,” she continued.
Other core features of the site include: links to the Cavehill online system and the UWI Five Islands Website, messages from the Guild of Students, messages from the principal, an events calendar and news and updates.
And in the future, “students will be given a platform to advertise their businesses as well as their writing, poetry, music and art at no cost to them,” Imhoff revealed.
A student complaint log as well as Guild Office Hours, which will be implemented for greater transparency and accessibility, is also in the pipeline.
Imhoff became the first PCC for the campus’ guild when the first executive was elected last year.
Th second year Marketing student said that “the experience was a challenging one because we went fully virtual and to find creative ways to engage [but] overall, it was good, and I enjoyed my tenure”.
She will now be running for the position of vice president in the March 25 guild elections.