The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

THE College of the Bahamas Union of Students yesterday requested financial transparency and fairness at the institution in the wake of the cancellation of the fall graduation ceremony.

The College of the Bahamas (COBUS) representatives fear that the matter will go “unresolved like every other COB issue”, leaving students “disrespected and overlooked”.

The college announced earlier this week by email that its planned December graduation ceremony would be cancelled, but did not give a reason. Students were informed that they should make arrangements to graduate in the spring of 2015.

Matthew Kemp, president of COBUS, acknowledged that the college, like the country, is in a financial bind, but said that the institution should “be more open” when referring to the institution’s financial standing.

“COBUS has mixed emotions in this regard, as the college continuously echoes that there is no money and shows no evidence of its fiduciary spending habits, but places the burden of their pain on the student populace that is seemingly at the bottom of the priority list.”

Alphonso Major, presidential advisor and former COBUS president, stated that issues at the college are rarely resolved. “The small things become big problems if not addressed,” Mr Major said. “COBUS has been continuously advocating for more parking alternatives. In recent times students have been banned from parking in the Portia Smith area.”

The Portia M Smith Student Services Building, on Poinciana Drive, was decommissioned in the spring of 2013 and its parking lot reserved for faculty and staff only.

Mr Major added that security is also an issue. “COBUS has been negotiating for more culturally sensitive and professional security personnel, especially when dealing with students and entry into the library, primarily in regards to how female students are searched,” he said.

He explained that female students at COB are not comfortable with male security guards “probing” their “personal belongings”. He requested the presence of a female security officer to be solely responsible for searching female students.

“The problems that we have are all fixable,” Mr Kemp added. “It’s up to the college to want to resolve them.”