The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

“BAHAMIAN” is the must have qualification for candidates aspiring to become the College of the Bahamas’ 10th president in 16 years and “we’re very firm about that this time”, the head of the Advisory Search Committee said yesterday.

In a press conference announcing the recruitment phase of the 2013 presidential search for the university-bound institution, which some critics have dismissed as “institutionally unstable”, former Justice Ruby Nottage noted that it was not the first time the college has sought for its president to be Bahamian.

“I think that prior to 2010, when Jeanine Hodder was appointed, I’d recall that the statement was made ‘that a Bahamian must be the qualification,’” the Advisory Search Committee’s chairperson said.

“However, we’re very firm about that this time. Bahamian must be the qualification, Bahamian citizen.”

Qualifications

Bahamian citizenship, a 7-year minimum experience in leadership/administration, preferred possession of a doctoral degree aside, and having “unquestioned integrity and the capacity to inspire confidence and trust both locally and abroad”, Mrs Nottage outlined as important requirements that candidates must have to make them favourable to be the first president of the soon-to-be University of the Bahamas.

The President will be the embodiment of the principles and core values of the university with the ability to provide

moral and intellectual leadership, on campus and at the national level, on issues of importance to higher education.

The President must have a highly developed understanding of academic values and culture, as well as an appreciation for scholarly work and academic excellence.

The President must bring a future-oriented awareness of the role that a university will play, particularly in a knowledge-based

economy, both in educating students and the wider community and in creating new knowledge, consistent with the needs of The Bahamas in a global economy.

The President must also appreciate the unique role played by a national institution in a developing society, including the special

structural relationship between the university and the Government, the expectations that the public and the Government have of the university, and the implications of those expectations in terms of the institution’s functioning and performance.

Presidential History

Only two of the eight presidents of The College of the Bahamas since it became an autonomous entity in 1995, according to the College of the Bahamas Act, has not been Bahamian.

The institution typically appoints presidents on three-year contracts.

The late Dr Keva Bethell served as president from 1996 to 1998 before the appointment of Dr Leon Higgs in that same year until 2004. Dr Rhonda Chipman-Johnson served as interim president for a short time in 2004 before the college appointed Dr Rodney Smith, who served until 2005 when he resigned due to an allegation of plagiarism.

Dr Chipman Johnson, again, returned to the post as interim president until 2006 with the appointment of Mrs Hodder, who was a Canadian, but married to a Bahamian with Bahamian children.

Mrs Hodder served as president until 2009 when Dr Earla Carey-Baines, COB’s current Executive Vice-President, took up the post as interim head of COB until the conclusion of the next presidential search which saw the College Council approve and appoint the eighth and current president Dr Betsy Vogel-Boze, an American from the state of Louisiana.

In announcing the expiration of Dr Vogel-Boze’s contract effective December 31 of this year, Council Chairman Alfred Sears noted that because the “recruitment, evaluation and decision phases of the search process may extend into early 2014,” Dr Carey-Bains would again serve as interim president, effective from New Year’s Day, 2014, making her the ninth president since 1996.

Lacking Institutional Stability?

When asked by The Tribune for a response to criticism that the university-bound institution lacked “institutional stability” considering that it has had nine presidents in 15 years, Mr Sears said “I can not change the past, the past is what it is.”

“What we have done in constituting this search committee is we have looked within our society and we have tried to draw the collective wisdom of our country.”

“The Council, in making its deliberation and with the consultation with the political directorate of our country, we are clear that the person should be a Bahamian.”

“As Mrs Nottage has indicated, we have highly qualified Bahamians, throughout the diaspora in leading universities, Ivy league universities throughout the world and we also have drawn on the talents of the persons who are at this table.”

Mr Sears also wished the public to take into consideration that the search committee, has spoken to most of the previous past presidents, including the incumbent president who shared their experience, their views and made recommendations to help the search process going forward.

“So that the choices we make and the process which has been outlined this afternoon , has had the benefit of those consultations, but we are responsible for what happens going forward.”

“We cannot change the past, but we have learned from the consultations. Some of the challenges and we hope that those consultations will enable us to chart a way forward and to make the types and kinds of selections that will give us the stability that we would like to have going forward” the chairman concluded.

The Advisory Search Committee

As noted by deputy Council Chairman Dr Earl Cash, the 2013 presidential search team is made up of 12 individuals headed by former Justice Nottage while Marcus Laing serves as the Vice-Chairperson and Alumni representative on the Council.

The remaining committee members are:

Mark Humes, president of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEP), Delreco Bonaby, representative of COB Union of Students, Rodman Forbes, Bahamas Public Service Union representative, Anastacia Brown, Public Managers Union representative, Tamischa Richardson, COB Alumni Society representative, William Fielding, COB Administration representative, Anthony Hamilton, University Transition Secretariat representative, Dr Robin Roberts, External Academic representative, Calpurnia Campbell, Advisory Search Committee Secretary and retired Justice Mrs Cheryl Albury .