From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
College of The Bahamas Hailed as Success as its Transition Advances
By Office of Communication, The College of The Bahamas
Mar 6, 2014 - 5:02:20 PM
President of Rotary Club of West Nassau Mr. Carleton Blair shakes hands with Dr. Strachan.
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Nassau, BAHAMAS –
Vice President of Advancement at The College of The Bahamas Dr. Ian Strachan
has challenged Rotarians to invest in The College, given its legacy of transforming lives.
In his address to the Rotary Club of West Nassau recently Dr.
Strachan, who is
also the Acting Executive Vice President, classified The College as one
of The Bahamas’ “greatest success stories,” as evidenced through its
many accomplished and influential alumni.
“It is one of those things that we have gotten right; really,
really right. We
prepared a generation of leaders. The institution has never been
perfect; it has never had all the resources it needed to do its work;
but it has endured and has succeeded in its solemn purpose to offer
opportunity to its people,” he told the service club.
A 1988 graduate of The College, Dr. Strachan noted that the
institution has given
thousands of Bahamians “the opportunity to grow, to be challenged, to
discover their gifts, to expand their horizons, to broaden the territory
of their souls, to be mentored, to be tested and to be trained.”
The College of The Bahamas has been moving decisively towards its
goal of university
status, building on its 40-year old legacy as the premiere institution
of higher learning in The Bahamas. With construction underway on the
Franklyn R. Wilson Graduate Centre at its Oakes Field Campus, the
completion of a ten-year Master Plan and the addition
of two independently offered graduate degree programmes, the
institution is advancing in order to undergird the growth and
development of The Bahamas.
The College Council, and academic and administrative leaders, also
continue to
forge mutually beneficially relationships with peer and aspirant
institutions abroad in order to bolster institutional capacity, create
opportunities to develop the expertise of staff and faculty and extend
students’ international exposure. Recently, The College
signed memoranda of understanding with two Cuban universities - one with the University
of Havana (
Universidad de La Habana; UH) and another with the University of Information Science
(Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas;UCI). These agreements will facilitate institutional strengthening, further
academic development and research opportunities.
There are also plans for a coordinated and intensive engagement of
the communities
and civic and business interests in the immediate vicinity of The
College’s Oakes Field Campus through an initiative being referred to as
the “University Zone”. This is one of the recommendations outlined in
the report from the University Transition Secretariat.
Dr. Strachan pointed out that the goal of the “University Zone” is
to create a
university district, developed through public-private partnership which
can give economic depth to the notion of Urban Development and which
can strengthen Nassau as a destination.
It is proposed that the University Zone would extend from Bay Street in the North
to the Tonique Williams Darling Highway and be hedged by Marcus Bethel Way, Farrington Road and Baillou Hill Road.
“This zone will serve as a vehicle through which The College can
bring more focused
effort to outreach and hopefully, with the government’s buy in, be a
stimulant to domestic investment, employment and wealth generation,” he
explained.
The College’s platform for progress is being advanced as the institution observes
its 40th anniversary this year through a schedule of events and the inaugural signature Flamingo Ball on June 14th. At the event, 40 outstanding alumni of The College will be celebrated, out of whom five will be inducted into the COB
Alumni Society Hall of Fame. Six members of staff, faculty and administration will be also be honoured.
“COB
is changing. A new generation of Bahamians, graduates
of The College of The Bahamas, like myself, are stepping up and
becoming faculty, chairs, directors, executive directors, deans and vice
presidents at The College. There is renewed energy and faith in our
future. We need the private sector to share that faith,”
he said.
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