Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): At a recent town hall meeting President of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) Dr. Kelvin Daly outlined some of the numerous initiatives in place to build capacity for the students and faculty and revealed that there are many more to come.
Dr. Daly stated that there are some basic things the college is doing to increase capacity including adding the number of courses and programmes offered, expanding partnerships with private and public entities, increasing faculty development, institutionalizing research and development capacity and making investments that are student centred.
Starting in January 2015 there will be an online Masters course at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) in business administration, teacher education and public administration.
On November 14-17, CFBC will be visited by consultants representing the OECS for an initiative called the Network of Excellence for Tourism and Hospitality Training and Education.
“We want to make CFBC a centre of excellence for hospitality and culinary arts,” said Dr. Daly. “It means, for the entire OECS, that all those persons who want to have top notch training in these areas will come to CFBC.
Another part of capacity building is faculty development through investments. There are four areas that the college is focusing on to do so including training of trainees workshops.
“We have sent several persons all around the world and when they come back they train who were left behind,” Dr. Daly explained.
There are also certification courses for the teachers of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) subjects, study leave with pay and without pay for faculty who want to further their studies and workshops around the world.
In addition, there will be an establishment of a Dedicated Research Unit; the first in the Federation.
“Persons make decisions on assumptions,” he explained. “We want to change that dynamic and make sure you make informed decisions based on data. Too many times you want to research something and you have to hire consultants from overseas. We are saying we have the capacity at CFBC and we intend to be that centre of excellence for research and development.”
There has been continued investments in student centred learning including the establishment of the SONIS web system, that is, the Student Information System. This is an exclusively online platform which means a student or potential student can sit at a computer and apply to CFBC. They can also check their grades, send messages and the administrator can see how the students are performing. A system called the EPSCO Online Learning Resource Centre where millions of copies of e-journals and e-books free of cost can be accessed.
In the next year or two there will be a certificate in landscape design and horticulture, greenhouse management, landscape design and construction and lawn maintenance.
In terms of the building trades the college will be offering plumbing, tiling, painting, masonry, sheet rock and small engine repairs programmes.
The collage will soon offer a diploma in maritime studies with specialties in land or sea and marine engineering.
The mission of CFBC is “to foster the development of responsible self-sufficient citizens by delivering a range of academic, professional and vocational courses and programmes that reflect the high values and standards which prepares students to make life long contributions to their communities.”
There are currently 1,342 students enrolled at the CFBC.