The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE search for the new president of the nation’s leading tertiary institution will soon come to a close, Acting President of the College of the Bahamas Dr Earla Carey-Baines said yesterday.

Dr Carey-Baines confirmed that the search committee has submitted its report on the four Bahamian candidates short listed for the post to the college council.

“I am pleased to report that the advisory search committee has reported to council, and the council is in the process of deliberating, and we hope to invite you to the College of the Bahamas very soon so that we will be able to share some good news,” she said.

“We continue to work assiduously to our transition to university by July of 2015,” she said, “we have done a lot of work these past several years, we continue to work extremely hard. We thank our faculty, staff, and administrators, who have continued to embrace the idea that the country needs a national university and that is what we are working hard to achieve.

She added: “The next president of the College of the Bahamas will certainly continue to drive the transition process forward.”

Last year, COB’s council appointed a 12-member advisory search committee, chaired by retired Justice Rubie Nottage, to consider candidates for the president’s position.

The committee developed a presidential profile document, providing potential candidates with relevant information about the college and the qualifications of the new president.

Following a recruitment phase, the search committee generated a preliminary list of candidates and a shortlist of persons to be invited for subsequent interviews.

Rodney Smith, PhD; Gregory Carey, PhD; Phillip Carey, PhD; and Olivia Saunders, DBA, and an internally selected candidate, are on the short list.

Yesterday, Dr Carey-Baines congratulated Dr Saunders for stepping up to the challenge from within the institution.

Ultimately, COB’s council will have the final say on who will be appointed the new COB president. They are not bound to select any of the candidates short listed by the search committee.