The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporters

jrussel@tribunemedia.net

THE Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB) is calling for “transparency” on behalf of its members at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI), regarding who has been chosen as the new BTVI president.

UTEB said a BTVI Presidential Search Committee was initiated on November 25, 2022. But, despite the committee reportedly concluding its findings for the presidential position in April of this year, BTVI staff have not been informed of what decision was made by the committee.

“Nearly nine months later, the faculty and staff at BTVI remain uninformed about the Committee's official selection for the position or the rationale behind the Committee's formation if its recommendation was not to be implemented,” UTEB said in a recent statement.

“UTEB expresses concern about the perceived lack of respect, transparency, and accountability in the treatment of BTVI faculty and staff by the Board of Directors and the Search Committee throughout the process. In contrast to the University of The Bahamas (UB), where stakeholders, were invited and encouraged to meet Presidential finalists, BTVI did not extend a similar courtesy to its stakeholders, most importantly its management, faculty, students, and staff even though this criterion was stated in its presidential search profile.”

UTEB added it has written to BTVI's board of directors for an official response regarding the matter.

The statement continued: "In concurrence with the advertised presidential profile, UTEB certainly believes and hopes that in the very near future – whomever is the newly appointed president, he or she will be a TVET-qualified professional with a positive leadership track record known to foster productivity, increase morale, creativity, and unify employees, which is paramount for the institute going in the new year, 2024.”

UTEB noted it is looking forward to receiving the “long-awaited” official results of the search committee.