The College of The Bahamas (COB) has a new council that will oversee transforming the institution to university status, a promise made by the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration.
Over the weekend, Cabinet made the announcement through a press statement.
Alfred Sears, former education minister will serve as chairman and Dr. Earl Cash, a veteran attorney, has been appointed the deputy chairman.
“The other members are Collin Higgs, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works and Urban Development; David Morley, realtor; Arthur Jones, vice president of building and development at the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Lowell Mortimer, attorney and Anita Bain, manager of the Inspection Department at the Central Bank of The Bahamas,” the statement said.
Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Jerome Fitzgerald, said that the new council comprises a group of dynamic Bahamians who have achieved tremendous success in their professional lives.
“The new council members will play a significant part in the college’s transition to the University of The Bahamas and their expertise will greatly advance this process,” he said.
In laying out its legislative agenda for the next five years during its Opening of Parliament, the government said that it will bring legislation to establish the University of The Bahamas.
It has been the pledge of successive governments to push ahead with the college’s transition to a university.
Before the Christie administration was ousted in 2007, it says COB was well on its way to achieving this goal.
However, Mr. Fitzgerald blames the Ingraham administration for not following through with the process.
But with its renewed pledge, as read in the Speech from the Throne last month, it is something COB officials eagerly anticipate.
Already the college has made strides towards beefing up its academic programmes.
Interim Executive Vice-President, Dr. Earla Carey-Baines said recently that the college is currently undergoing a rigorous academic review to ensure that its programmes continue to meet the needs of today’s students and prepare them for the challenges they will face.
She added that the college is looking to recruit the most qualified faculty and staff.
“We’ve undergone a massive faculty appointment process and we will have new faculty joining us in the fall,” Dr. Carey Baines said last month.
“We hope they will enhance what we have to offer, in terms of both our teaching and research capacities because as you know we’ve always been an excellent teaching institution and we are now shifting our focus so that we can engage in more research opportunities because we realise that is one of the hallmarks of a university and that is one of the needs of our nation.”
