The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a US$150,000 grant for the University of the West Indies (UWI) to set up a consultancy firm.

The consultancy is meant to 'institutionalise' the expert advice UWI provides to Caribbean governments, regional agencies and businesses.

The university did not respond to requests for information on the consultancy and how it would operate, but the CDB said it should help the more than 50-year-old institution "strengthen its fin-ances", indicating that it would charge for its services.

UWI, which operates three campuses in Kingston, Jamaica, St Michaels, Barbados and St Augustine in Trinidad, is open to students in all 15 Caricom member countries, and is financed by governments of the region.

It's main campus is at Mona in Kingston.

Generate revenues

The university has seen a decline in its support from regional countries, said the CDB, and in the past five years, has had to turn to commercial programmes to generate revenues.

The Mona campus is reflective of the project-enhanced operation, evidenced by the businesses that have cropped up there as well as commercial contracts that various departments actively seek out, but there has been no cut in public funding by Jamaica for the Mona campus.

In fact, grants to UWI-Mona, which gets the lion's share of tertiary funding, was $5 billion this year in a total tertiary allocation of over $6.8 billion, compared to $4.3 billion last fiscal year and $4 billion in 2004/05.

The university has provided expert services on a pro bono or fee basis within and outside the region, but this service has been offered on an ad hoc basis by individuals and units across the three UWI campuses, said the CDB.

Registered legal entity

"The new university-wide consultancy firm will be a registered legal entity," said its statement on the grant.

"Consultants will be engaged to guide UWI in this process. They will devise systems, procedures and structures to ensure that the established consultancy firm generates and delivers high quality services to a range of clients."

The grant follows a US$40,000 allcoation to assist with the cost of research on the financing of tertiary education in the English-speaking Caribbean, and another US$150,000 for the staging of a symposium on the same subject of financing tertiary education.