UCC names US/Caribbean educator as new provost

Dr Sheilah Marion Paul, a US/Caribbean educator, has been named provost of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC).

Dr Haldane Davies, president of the institution of higher education said, “The UCC is immensely pleased to welcome a daughter of the Caribbean who has distinguished herself as an educator throughout the Caribbean, as well as in the United States of America.”

Expanding, Dr Davies noted that “Dr Paul comes to us directly from the Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY) where she was instrumental in establishing the School of Global Education, research and intervention Centre – The Centre for Cognitive Development – and where she is credited for the implementation of high-quality academic programmes, local and global initiatives, policies and student support services. She has also, throughout her tenure at CUNY, contributed to that institution’s growth, providing leadership and general oversight for several academic departments, initiatives and programmes and guiding several committees in the college’s strategic planning activities.”

A release noted further that Dr Paul holds a master’s and a doctor of philosophy degrees from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, master of education and arts from the Teachers College of Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from CUNY. She has won several awards, including CUNY’s ‘Chancellor’s Recognition Awards’, ‘Faculty Scholars Awards’ and Medgar Evers’ ‘Outstanding Teacher, Mentor and Advisor Awards’.

She was also named for the Tobago House of Assembly’s Trinidad and Tobago ‘National Scholars Professional Award’ and the Columbia University’s Centre for Opportunities and Outcomes for Persons with disabilities Research Fellow Award.

In the Caribbean, Dr Paul served as an external advisory board member for The University of the West Indies faculty development and research centre; as accreditation programme assessor, University Council of Jamaica; workshop facilitator, lead project developer, Tobago House of Assembly Division of Education; visiting professor/presenter, St George’s University, Grenada. She has also contributed to education and projects in South Africa, Dubai and other countries.

Dr Paul’s professional experience spans positions as a clinician/psychometrician, conducting cognitive/achievement and psychological evaluations; as a clinician/mental health counsellor serving as a rehabilitation counsellor for persons with disabilities and as a clinic director supervising and training clinicians and habilitation counsellors.

The University of the Commonwealth Caribbean is Jamaica’s largest, privately held, premier higher education institution, providing students with world-class education programmes and a highly trained and qualified local and international faculty.