...the role that the College of The Bahamas (COB) can and should play in contributing to the development of a modern Bahamas in the 21st century and beyond must not be understated or underestimated

The invisible College of The Bahamas

Consider this

By Philip C. Galanis

Nassau, The Bahamas

“Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.” – Plato

In April, 2009, we wrote about the College of The Bahamas (COB) in an article entitled “A Hidden Treasure” in which we observed that “it is important for Bahamians to have confidence in that institution as the forceful and valuable seat of higher education”.  Two and one-half years later, and almost a year after the appointment of a new college president, we thought it would be interesting to Consider This… has the College of The Bahamas lived up to the high expectations and ideals of which we wrote, or has that hidden treasure now become virtually invisible?

The current state of affairs

Sadly, we believe that since former president Janyne Hodder left the college, the institution that is supposed to be the cornerstone of learning in our nation has become less impactful, less relevant and almost invisible on the Bahamian landscape.  In fact, if you think about it, when was the last time that anyone has heard of any new, innovative, or interesting developments at the college?  Regrettably, there have been several fascinating day-long seminars that have gone under-attended because of the lack of any organized and formal publicity or advertising, putting the dazzling knowledge imparted at these forums in the category of trees falling in the forest with no one to hear them.

It is always revealing and instructive to speak to college students attending that institution in order to garner their perceptions of how the college is faring.  I did that with several students, some of whom had transferred to COB from North American colleges as well as students who attended COB directly from high schools in The Bahamas, and what we discovered is disturbing, distressing and disconcerting.

Those students observed that generally they do not have an inkling of an idea of the college’s vision or the direction in which it is headed either in the short- or long-term.  Those same students indicated that teachers and students are not always very helpful on a number of fronts.  Some COB lecturers and many students do not know where certain classrooms are situated on the campus and many of those classrooms and bathrooms are dingy, drab, dirty and disappointingly maintained.

In some cases, the air conditioning does not work, classrooms are uncomfortably hot and many of the lecturers and students do not even use their college-assigned email addresses, preferring instead to use their own Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail addresses.  The registration process is poorly-organized and managed, and classes are often over-populated, sometimes with as many as 60 students, where the ideal class sizes are not supposed to exceed 25 students.

For various reasons, some of the more seasoned personnel have left or are in the process of leaving COB.  The college has lost some of its senior management and faculty over the past year, and, while some of the departures have been a positive development for the college, others have been very detrimental.

In the aggregate, while there are positive attributes at COB, these abnormalities suggest a crisis of leadership and an absence of effective management at the college.  If COB hopes to attain university status, these, among other deficiencies, must urgently be rectified.

Greater visibility

Another area where the invisibility of the College of The Bahamas is hurting its overall mission is in the wider community.  Institutions of higher education should play a vitally important role in the development of the community in which they exist.  Historically, colleges have exerted a powerful influence on communities as bastions of critical intellectual intercourse, providing leadership in making positive contributions to ensuring the community’s future.  This, in turn, ensures the development of competitive skills of the nation by building community values and cohesion which ultimately help communities to move forward.  The college should be an incubator for innovation, thought, leadership, research and critical commentary on intellectual, social, economic and political issues.  The college should also be a catalyst for change and transformation of the society in which it is situated, offering an enticing menu of seminars and lecture series for those who are not students, spreading the seeds of knowledge beyond the walls of academia.  However, this desire to be an enriching force in the community seems to be sorely missing from the College of The Bahamas.

An institution of ideas

Can you imagine the contribution that COB could make in helping to frame the national debate on issues relative to the upcoming general election campaign in order to encourage an issues-oriented exercise?

Where better to have the kind of structured debates between candidates that the populace is yearning for than within the confines of COB?  Monitored and analyzed by academic minds, these kinds of debates could broaden the political discourse in a healthy and intelligent manner, giving Bahamians – for the first time – a dispassionate and analytical atmosphere in which to evaluate their future leaders.

Additionally, shouldn’t COB’s Social Sciences and Business departments, based on research and empirical study, engage in formulating ideas about how we can realistically address some of our social challenges and the expansion of the Bahamian economy?  Seminars and lectures could enlighten Bahamians from all walks of life about surviving these challenges and understanding the new normal that will be the Bahamian economy.  Clearly, participating in scholarly discussions could introduce new concepts and ideas, enabling and empowering attendees to thrive in the future.

And shouldn’t the Political Sciences department address the shortcomings of our quasi-Westminster model with a view to proposing constitutional changes in order to update and transform our system of governance?  In a college setting, minds young and old would be able to come together in fruitful examinations and discussions that could do much to shape our future.

Isn’t there a golden opportunity for COB to research comparative penal institutions that work effectively, with a view to enhancing our efforts toward rehabilitation and reconciliation of persons who have lost their way in society?  The intellectual study and explanation of the restorative justice initiative, for example, could change not only the way we punish criminals but also how we help victims to reclaim their lives.  In a college atmosphere, these kinds of investigations can be undertaken in a non-threatening way, allowing all sides to question and understand this concept.

Conclusion

Higher education provides an exceptional forum where lecturers and scholars can evaluate societal problems from a uniquely balanced and comparative social and economic perspective.

In the final analysis, the role that COB can and should play in contributing to the development of a modern Bahamas in the 21st century and beyond must not be understated or underestimated.  But first and foremost, COB must shed its cloak of invisibility and boldly step forward, prepared and eager to open its doors to the community and make positive contributions for the benefit of all our citizens.

•Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament.  Please send your comments to: pgalanis@gmail.com

Dec 12, 2011

thenassauguardian

Male achievement in education is one of the more urgent challenges facing The Bahamas

PM Laments Low Male Achievers

BY ANDREW J.W. KNOWLES

jonesbahamas



With males comprising just 15 per cent of the College of The Bahamas (COB) graduates, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham admits that male achievement in education becomes one of the more urgent challenges facing the country.

"We are all concerned, for example, that males now comprise only 15 per cent of COB’s graduates," Prime Minister Ingraham said.

"The imbalance between the number of female and male graduates speaks to a deeper and broader national problem of male educational achievement. The subject is ripe I believe, for study and research by COB as we seek to develop innovative and practical ideas on how we may address the gender gap as it begins to manifest at the primary and secondary levels of our school system."

His remarks came during the official opening ceremony of the $28 million Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre last Friday morning at COB’s campus.

Recognising that male achievement touches on areas of national life from family life to crime prevention to economic development to public health, the prime minister said this "great national challenge" requires innovative and cross-disciplinary responses from fields such as sociology, social psychology, education, criminology, economics and other disciplines.

"If ever we needed to find innovative solutions to a critical national issue, we urgently need to do so on the challenge of boosting male achievement and reducing the level of criminality by young men."

"Even as the country turns to government and others for responses, it also increasingly turns to the institutions of higher learning to provide the research and ideas for innovation that will help us to collectively address this great challenge," the prime minister said.

Standing as a structure that promises to be a centre of excellence, learning, research and innovation, the library marks a milestone critical to the advancement of Bahamian scholarship and national development.

It also is a compelling milestone for COB as it continues to prepare itself to achieve university status.

Prime Minister Ingraham noted that the architectural vision and sweep of the centre serves to unify the college’s campus with entrances facing the entire college complex and surrounding neighbourhoods.

He also added that it points to a mission of outreach to the surrounding communities and also to a broader mission; one suggested by its technological capacity.

"This centre is host to a virtual library which is to connect and unify our far-flung island chain while also connecting the Bahamian archipelago to the world. The library will provide more than cutting-edge technology. It will help to preserve, inspire and advance the Bahamian imagination in every field of endeavour and scholarship. Indeed, the virtual library will significantly assist in the historic challenge of developing an archipelagic nation such as ours."

Proud that her husband’s dream of a library worthy of a university had been realised, Monique Moore said the modern structure would open the doors to new worlds of knowledge and prove that "the best things in life are worth waiting for."

"I am only sorry that Harry could not wait around long enough to see his dream become reality," Mrs. Moore said.

"He would be standing here, his slow smile breaking into a broad grin, that twinkle in his eye sparkling and he would nod his head in approval. Yes, he would say, this is good."

The elaborate library and information centre boasts a holdings capacity for 150,000 volumes, institutional archives and special collections and features a small auditorium, classrooms, media production studios, individual and group study spaces, support offices, a 24-hour Internet café and a museum commemorating the life of former Prime Minister the late Sir Lynden Pindling.

April 11th, 2011

jonesbahamas

Bahamas Blog International

...low college enrolment and graduation rates by Bahamian males at the College of the Bahamas (COB)

Only 14% of COB graduates are male students

By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
tthompson@tribunemedia.net


MALE students account for only 14 per cent of the graduates from the College of the Bahamas, says new COB President Dr Betsy Vogel Boze.

The statistic is evidence of a "frightening" development, mirrored in low college enrolment rates by Bahamian males while enrolment and graduation of their female counterparts continues to grow, she added. Her administration is to create a taskforce to tackle the problem and assess which social or environmental problems are behind the dismal rates.

"It's the males that I'm concerned about because only 14 per cent of our graduates are men and that's a shocking number. When I look at the numbers, the number of men has been fairly stable from the time we were created, there have been a few hundred more men but our growth has all been through the enrolment of women," she told a meeting of the Zonta Club at Luciano's restaurant yesterday.

"To only have 14 per cent of our graduates (as males) I think is a frightening number - what is happening to the Bahamian males?"

When asked by The Tribune what strategies she had planned to counteract this, Dr Boze said the problem needs a multi-faceted approach.

"I'm going to be putting together a task force and would welcome anybody's guidance on what is happening with the Bahamian males. Why are they dropping out because it's not a problem that happens once they get to us, they are not graduating at the same rates, they are not applying to college at the same rates and again that gap continues to widen.

"Does this have to do with gangs, or crime or drugs - I don't know what the problem is.

"I've also identified a prospective US partner in a city that is facing very similar challenges that we might be working with. Coming in as an outsider I don't dare say I understand what that problem is but I think we need to look at it from many different points of views and that education is just one of the symptoms of that."

COB has about 5,000 students enrolled at its main campus in Oakes Field and on the family islands but Dr Boze said enrolment is lower than other schools in the region.

"The Bahamas is actually losing ground compared to many of our Caribbean neighbours.

"We have fewer students engaged as a percentage than we did 20 years ago."

In her first public address since assuming her post about 10 weeks ago, Dr Boze also revealed that 80 per cent of COB students are enrolled in four-year baccalaureate programmes while the remaining 20 per cent are pursuing two-year associate degrees or master's programmes - an inversion of where the college was 10 years ago.

She added that COB is well on its way to achieving university status once a few additional benchmarks are met.

March 25, 2011

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Another Day at The College of The Bahamas (COB)

C.O. B. - Another ‘New’ Day!
The Bahama Journal Editorial


For quite some time now, The College of The Bahamas has been able to make the news for all the wrong reasons.

The College has made the news when a president was found to be a plagiarist; on another, it made the news when it was discovered that some other senior people were egregiously incompetent.

The College has also made the news when some of its faculty decided that they could or would bring the institution’s work to a screeching halt.

Had we so wished, we could today write reams and volumes about some other nightmare stories now going the rounds in that hapless place. One such involves the alleged theft of a brand-new $7,000.00 aluminum gate; with this rip-off allegedly taking place sometime between mid-night and eight in the morning of January 4, 2011.

To date, no one from the College of The Bahamas has seen fit to raise a public alarm about this alleged theft of public property.

And perhaps, today we might have raised such an alarm.

To date, we have not done so; and this, because we have concluded that such an alarm should have already been raised by the most appropriate College of The Bahamas personnel – perhaps, its new president!

Even now, we await some response or some sounded alarm from the College of The Bahamas.

If – in the most unlikely of cases – it is discovered that we are mistaken, we gladly admit error.

But “believe you me” we are convinced that our informant was telling the truth when she alleged that an aluminum gate was stolen from the College sometime on January 4, 2011 in those hours when most Bahamians were fast asleep.

Regrettably, the gate thieves were doing what they do best, ripping off gates.
Notwithstanding the bad news, there was some news that could be put in the good news bracket.

In the first instance, we can report that, a new four-year industrial agreement between The College of The Bahamas and the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas has been sealed.

This was done during a so-called “private” ceremony which was said to have been held in the board room of the College.

It is also being reported that, UTEB President Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson is of the view that, [this signing] came as a relief to many of the men and women who teach and lecture in the College of The Bahamas.

The signing bonus of $500.00 might have something or the other to do with their new-found sense of both release and relief, however small each might turn out to be as far as such matters are concerned.

The agreement will expire in 2012.

Signing on behalf of the college were Board Chairman T. Baswell Donaldson, President Dr. Betsy Vogel-Boze, and Council Secretary Wendy Poitier-Albury.

Signing on behalf of the union were Isaacs-Dotson, UTEB's Vice-president External Vicente Roberts and Trustee Janet Donnelley.

But even here, these folk have to wait for another barrier to be hurdled; this involving minutiae regarding registration of the document signed on their behalf.

They who have waited patiently, now wait some more.

For them, this passes for what some of them might call good news.

In the second instance of some of what might also be called good news, we have information to the effect that, The College now has another brand new president; and that her name is Dr. Betsy Vogel-Boze.

We are also told that, this fine lady took up the reins of power in The College with effect from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2014.

The same public relations script noted that, the appointment of Dr. Earla Carey-Baines as President would have come to an end on December 31, 2010; and that, the College was greatly indebted to Dr. Carey-Baines, has resumed responsibilities as Dean, with effect from January 1, 2011...”

We are told that, “Dr. Vogel-Boze comes to The College with a wealth of experience in building and transforming tertiary academic institutions; and that her experience in academic administration spans 20 years in multi-campus university structures.

We note also that, “Kent Stark is a public liberal arts university offering baccalaureate and masters degrees. It has a student population of 5,400 enrolled in academic programmes and about 5,000 that enroll annually in executive education programmes...”

Note also that, “Dr. Vogel-Boze holds a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas, a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, both from Southern Methodist University. She currently holds the post of Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), a leadership organization for 430 public colleges and universities...”

We wish this fine lady well.

And for sure, we also hope that she will do her utmost to help the police find the gate.

January 17, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International