The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Among the essentials for any development—whether of a product, or of a country, or of an institution, such as The College of The Bahamas—is history.

Knowledge of what has gone before is indispensable in developing quality and strength. Accurate history helps agents of development to avoid costly or painful mistakes, such as neglecting to honour the builders on whose shoulders we stand.

In announcing the imminent transition of The College of The Bahamas to the University of The Bahamas, Hon Jerome Fitzgerald declared that the process was a fourteen-year journey beginning in 2002.

Either through ignorance or misguided political partisanship, Mr Fitzgerald gave much of the credit to the current leader of his party and the country’s prime minister, Rt Hon Perry Christie. Hoping that the honourable minister is suffering from the former, I think it is important to fill in some of the missing milestones on COB’s journey to become a university and a few of the people who contributed in that regard.

It was indeed under the Progressive Liberal Party, the first majority government, that the College was established in 1975, and, from the beginning, it was envisioned that it would become the nation’s university.

The first major move in that direction came in 1995, when the College became a corporate entity under the governance of a Board. Although still largely dependent on a Government subsidy, the institution could then acquire property in its own name and could manage its funds directly, free of the bureaucracy of the Consolidated Fund. It was then that the College began its quest in earnest to become a university. Mirroring the administrative structure of many North American universities, there was a change in nomenclature with the appointment of several vice-presidents. I became VP Academic Affairs in 1996.

There was also a VP of Student Affairs along with a VP for Finance, and a VP Research.  The then Principal, Dr Keva Bethel, was named the institution’s first President.

In addition, the academic units were changed. Divisions became Schools; for example, the Humanities Division became the School of Humanities (later the School of English Studies and the School of Communication and Creative Arts). These units were managed by two Deans, each responsible for a number of schools. The Dean of Arts and Sciences was Dr Brenda Cleare and the Dean of Professional Studies was Dr Linda Davis.

As the main business of a university is imparting knowledge, the Office of Academic Affairs took on the monumental task of upgrading the credentials of faculty to ensure quality in this regard. In the mid-nineties, only about 10 per cent of the faculty had terminal degrees. So, a very supportive faculty development plan was launched.

Many members of faculty took advantage of this programme and upgraded their credentials from bachelor’s, to master’s degrees and from master’s degrees to doctorate degrees.

Simultaneously, the Office carried out significant programme development with the creation of new bachelor degrees.  Additionally, there was the introduction of the UWI LLB programme and the establishment of the Law Department in 2000. We also witnessed the amalgamation of BHTC with COB in 2000. I was chair of both the amalgamation committee and the LLB Law Programme Committee. We also began offering a few master’s programmes in conjunction with US universities.

While the current Prime Minister certainly endorsed and supported the transition to university, he did not begin the process. To say so, negates all of the preparatory work and the magnificent efforts of the College’s administration, faculty and staff in the decade of the nineties, the years prior to 2002. I can only hope that on Charter Day the members of Government and others who will control and preside over the extensive ceremonies will make every effort to reflect the bravery and hard work of the many who contributed to the realisation of the dream.

RHONDA

CHIPMAN-JOHNSON

Former Executive Vice President and Vice President of Academic Affairs

Nassau,

August 30, 2016