Category: UWIDEF

UWI Solicits Ads for Digital Network

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The University of the West Indies Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) is urging corporate bodies to advertise on its digital platform which it has branded MonaView.

Proceeds raised from the ads finance scholarships, bursaries, capital improvement projects, and meal vouchers for students, the university has said.

MonaView is the first and only digital signage network operating at the University of the West Indies’ Mona and Western Jamaica campuses and the University Hospital of the West Indies, with a reach of approximately 80,000 weekly, the university announced. The network broadcasts advertisements on television screens in 11 locations.

At a luncheon the UWIDEF hosted for members of the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica (AAAJ) at the the Courtleigh Hotel a week-and-a-half ago, Dr Earl Jarrett, JN general manager, and UWIDEF board director said that advertising with MonaView had cost his company some $2 million less than it would have with other media.

He called on UWI graduates to follow his example and advertise with MonaView in order to provide more scholarships to promising students of humble means.

“We believe that by selling advertisements we not only earn resources to help students in real need, we also provide an outlet for organisations to participate in corporate social responsibility with real returns,” executive director of UWIDEF, Carla Seaga, told the gathering.

This is accomplished, she explained, as the resources from the advertisements offer a very affordable advertising opportunity and the resources assist UWIDEF to accomplish its mission of assistance at Mona.

President of the AAAJ, Kingsley Morris, assured UWIDEF of the support of the members of his organisation.

“We thank UWIDEF for sharing this information with us,” he said. “We look forward to working along with you to promote our clients’ goods and services.”

UWIDEF is the main fund-raising arm for projects that support the development of the UWI Mona campus. Over a 25-year period, it has contributed over $800 million to the university for research, development, health and scholarships. In 2016 alone, UWIDEF provided scholarship assistance valued at more than $4 million to students in various fields of study. Dennis Lalor is its founder and chairman.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/UWI-solicits-ads-for-digital-network_88609

GOOD COMES FROM FLANKER

Inner-city youth balances work & study, earns bursary

uwidef-scholar-odain-murray

Odain Murray collects his University of the West Indies Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) bursary cheque from Margarita Morris, administrator and data officer, UWIDEF.

Final year student of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona, and UWI Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) bursary recipient Odain Murray stands as proof that Flanker — a tough inner-city community in St James — can produce good, educated and hard-working young people.

Murray — who has been on the Dean’s List for the last two years in the Faculty of Social Sciences and now holds a grade point average (GPA) of 3.31 — says while growing up he never gave in to the negative forces in his community, but instead used them as motivation for advancement.

“From seeing what was happening around me and not wanting what was happening around me in my life back then was what motivated me to work hard to get an education,” Murray, 27, told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

Murray aced the Grade Six Achievement Test and was placed at Cornwall College. He successfully completed high school and, in 2007, was accepted to pursue a bachelor’s degree in history at The UWI. He moved to Kingston, but the unpredictable happened — his father died suddenly and he had to put his tertiary pursuits on hold.

“After my father died, I started having some challenges, financially and otherwise, and I had to apply for a leave of absence from UWI in 2009. Then I started working in the performing arts industry,” Murray said.

While working, he realised that there was a huge demand for professionals to strategically market plays in Jamaica. So, he returned to The UWI in 2013 as a part-time student, this time pursuing marketing. UWIDEF has assisted him to continue his studies by awarding him a bursary of $100,000.

“I heard about the bursary while I was at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts. Then I went on the Student Services section on UWI’s website, applied for the UWIDEF Performing Arts Bursary, and I was successful. Being a recipient of this bursary is a good thing for me, especially for someone from the performing arts, because you hardly find this being offered in Jamaica,” Murray said.

“I chose marketing because I realised that the theatre needs proper management with regards to marketing. The new recreational activities most members of our society are drawn to involve parties and not theatre shows. I want to change this. That’s the reason I did not choose music or drama. I chose marketing to get the Jamaican theatre industry out there to a wider audience,” Murray explained.

For nearly two years, Murray has been working as a student assistant in the Marketing, Recruitment and Communications Office on campus, as well as in the performing arts industry.

When asked how he balances his work responsibilities and his school work, he said: “It is a major challenge, but I try to structure my time based on my timetable and when I don’t have rehearsal, I prioritise. I work when I don’t have classes. When it is that assignments are to be completed, I miss one or two rehearsals and try not to stay too late at work. That’s how I balance.”

Murray says he wants to become “a better human being” and when he graduates from The UWI in 2017, he has set his sights on a job with the Ministry of Culture or the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

He is particularly interested in the areas of policy and business development as it relates to the performing arts.

“The ministry can lobby for new policies and developmental strategies and JCDC has been around facilitating cultural retention for decades, and I could market aspects of our culture which needs promotion,” said Murray.

The young man believes in giving back. Already UWIDEF, his benefactor, has become a beneficiary of his generous spirit. In April, Murray assisted with arranging a benefit performance of Dahlia Harris’

Same Difference, which helped raise approximately $100,000 to provide meals for needy students at the university.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/Good-comes-from-Flanker_80282