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From The University of The West Indies

Mrs. Elia Grant-Fraser, Director, Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)

Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Wednesday, September 24, 2025—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Global Campus is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Elia Grant-Fraser as Director for the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), with effect from August 1, 2025. Prior to this appointment, she served as Director (Designate), CETL from 2023.

Mrs Grant-Fraser has been with The UWI Global Campus since 2009, serving in several senior leadership positions within the Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division, including Curriculum Development Specialist; Production Manager; Head (Ag.) of the Course Development Department; and Head, Online Programmes Delivery Department (OPDD), 2020-2023. During her tenure, she spearheaded several transformative projects, including the establishment of a Multimedia Production Studio at the Global Campus Site, Gordon Street, Trinidad, under the Global Affairs Canada Strengthening Distance Education in the Caribbean (SDEC) project. This initiative entails the repurposing of a 40-foot shipping container into a fully equipped multimedia studio to serve the APAD Division and other Departments. At the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, she played a pivotal role in designing and developing training courses for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Jamaica, as well as the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services (Adult Education Programme), Trinidad and Tobago. In 2023, she was charged with operationalising the Global Campus, CETL.

She has served in the field of education in Trinidad and Tobago for more than 30 years, from teaching young students preparing for the Secondary School Entrance Examination to facilitating university undergraduate and master’s students as well as in-service teachers pursuing diplomas and degrees in education and educational leadership at The UWI St. Augustine and Global Campuses. She joined The UWI St. Augustine Campus in 2003 as a part-time Lecturer for the Faculty of Humanities and Education, where she taught courses on ICT integration in teaching and learning as well as the use of media and the production of educational materials.

Prior to joining The UWI, Mrs. Grant-Fraser served at the Ministry of Education (MOE), Trinidad and Tobago from 2004 to 2009, where her interest and experience in the field of distance education was ignited and nurtured. At the MOE, she held the position of Project Coordinator and later, Courseware Design and Development Manager in the Distance Education Unit (DEU). There, she played a pivotal role in the pioneering project, the National Open School of Trinidad and Tobago (NOSTT), a distance education initiative of the MOE in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Canada. This initiative involved the training of secondary school teachers in the design and development of Open Education Resources (OER) in CXC CSEC English, Mathematics and Science for students who may have fallen through the cracks at the secondary education level. During this time, Mrs. Grant-Fraser conducted numerous professional development teacher-training workshops in distance learning collaborative courseware development and technology tools.

She was also a team lead and Instructional Designer in the first bootcamp held in Mauritius in 2006 for the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) initiative. The latter, another COL initiative, focused on the development of free OER courses for international public use.

Beyond her work at the MOE and at The UWI, Mrs. Grant-Fraser has engaged in several public service activities such as External Examiner in Educational Technology for the Teachers’ Training College in Trinidad and Tobago between 2004 and 2008. She was also a Cabinet-appointed committee member on the Learning Materials Evaluation Committee as well as the Textbook Evaluation Committee for the Ministry of Education, Trinidad and Tobago, for more than 5 years. This included her holding the post of Chair of the Learning Materials Evaluation strategic planning sub-committee in 2008. Since then, she has co-designed and developed skills training courses for public service officers for the Government Human Resources Services and the Ministry of Public Administration, Trinidad and Tobago and has trained officers attached to the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP), Trinidad and Tobago in the adaptation of face-to-face courses to blended and online learning. She has also conducted similar training during the Pandemic for local high school teachers.

Over the years, she has also served on several university boards and committees, including the Global Campus Academic Board; the Academic Quality Assurance Committee; The UWI HEInnovate Curriculum Development Committee; the Campus Committee for Graduate Studies and Research; and the Campus’ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee. In 2018, she was afforded the opportunity to serve as the Deputy Chair, for the Standard 3: Teaching and Learning, Institutional Re-Accreditation Committee. Serving on committees extended beyond The UWI as during her tenure at the Distance Education Unit, MOE, she served on the ICT in Education Policy and SchoolNet Trinidad & Tobago committees.

As a Commonwealth scholar, Mrs. Grant-Fraser holds a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from The UWI St. Augustine. She has also completed training in project management. She is currently a PhD candidate in Education at The UWI St. Augustine, where she has undertaken a mixed methods study examining students’ cognitive presence in The UWI Global Campus online courses. Her research interests continue to be in online learning and the use of technologies in education, and she has presented at both international, regional and local conferences.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Francis O. Severin applauds this appointment, volunteering that, “When we pondered who could initiate and lead this novel ‘project’ in the Global Campus, it was immediately clear to us that Elia was the right colleague. Aside from the obvious, that she is eminently qualified to inaugurate this scope of work in the Campus; she is also deeply interested in its trajectory and evolution. She sees this as critical to online and distance education, indeed her life’s work in education. I am happy she accepted the challenge, and we expect exciting outcomes as the initiative unfurls. That this has come to fruition reassures me that the Global Campus is going places and success is the only route for us.” The Principal and Global Campus Senior Management Team congratulate Mrs. Grant-Fraser on her appointment and look forward to her continued leadership in promoting institutional excellence.

About The University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has played a crucial role in Caribbean development for over 75 years, consistently contributing to the improvement of the well-being of people across the region.

Established in 1948 as a university college of London in Jamaica, with just 33 medical students, UWI has grown into an internationally respected, global university with nearly 50,000 students. Today, it boasts five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and its Global Campus, along with international centres in partnership with universities across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The UWI offers over 1000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the leading university in the Caribbean, it is home to the largest pool of intellect and expertise in the region, dedicated to addressing the critical issues facing both the Caribbean and the wider world.

Validated by its inclusion in the Times Higher Education (THE) annual rankings since 2018, The UWI has affirmed its position as one of the top universities globally. It stands out as the only English-speaking institution in the Caribbean featured in four of THE’s prestigious ranking lists. The World University Rankings evaluate over 2,000 research-focused universities worldwide, while the Golden Age University Rankings highlight institutions established between 50 and 80 years ago. The Latin America Rankings focus specifically on universities within Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, the Impact Rankings assess universities based on their contributions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This recognition has also springboarded the establishment of The UWI’s International School for Development Justice (ISD), a global online graduate business school aimed at preparing future leaders for sustainable development.

The UWI is an SDG-engaged university consistently recognised among the best in the world. Discover more at www.uwi.edu.