Archive for July 9th, 2010

UCCI gets top marks

UCCI gets top marks

| 09/07/2010 | 40 Comments

(CNS): A recent study conducted by the UCCI has found that 91% of those who graduated from the university in the last four years received pay raises, promotions or new job offers as a result of obtaining a UCCI degree. 93 percent said their education has made a positive impact on their careers and well over half (58%) had gone on to do post graduate study. The results were revealed by the president of UCCI, who added that none of the respondents had encountered difficulties gaining entrance into respected graduate schools in the USA, Canada or the UK. Speaking at this year’s graduation evening, Roy Bodden said the college was regaining its intellectual credibility.

“Among the albeit few employers of UCCI graduates who consented to interviews for the study, the majority indicated that they found the career competency sets of UCCI-educated employees to be relevant and useful to their businesses,” he said at Thursday UCCI graduation ceremony.
He added that the study confirmed his own belief that there has been a resurgence of support for UCCI among the private sector. 
 
Bodden also announced that for the last year he had been donating one tenth of his salary into a fund to develop music and the performing arts at UCCI and a new course will be introduced in the coming academic year.
 
Another new course for the next academic year would be an Associate Degree in Engineering Technology (ASET). Also, beginning September UCCI would offer a new one-year course, called the Certificate of Pre-College Studies, he said. The course is targeted at raising skills, as necessary, to college entrance level, helping to strengthen our college entrance requirements.
 
He said a feasibility study was underway to gauge interest in a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing with clinicals arranged through the Cayman Islands Hospital and with a new state-of-the-art language laboratory. Bodden said the university would be offering courses in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese as a second language. The president further revealed the hope of adding Mandarin or Cantonese to the list, given the growing global interest in China. 
 
Over on Cayman Brac, Bodden said that next summer the college was introducing a Microsoft Boot Camp for recertification of IT practitioners and announced plans for a new marine biology course.
 
Besides academic study, the UCCI president said he was also concerned about the much more basic needs of our students as some could derail student achievement.
 
“Some of our students quite often come to the learning environment without money to buy lunch, or even without breakfast,” he said. “To fill this need, I have begun a lunch fund, with an initial $1,000 from my personal funds. I hope that others will join me in this, as we really must reach out to address these essentials if our students are to achieve up to their potential.   UCCI will begin discreetly disbursing vouchers in the new school year on the basis of an unobtrusive needs assessment.”
 
He also pointed out that students have dropped out of their studies because they have no transport to get to the college. “I have been able to bring aboard the Public Transport Board, which is organising safe and reliable transportation, to be paid for by the students themselves, in an arrangement administered by the university,” he said.
 
Bodden noted that over the last year there had been an increased consciousness among students about the way they dress. “I really think that it is important for us, in these small islands, to respect the expectations of the larger society,” he said “As a result of that, upon my assuming the presidency, a dress code has been established, and female students are expected to dress modestly; for males, the dress code is acceptable casual or office-type dress.”
 
Talking about support from the business community, Bodden said that O2Micro, the software entertainment and solutions provider gave UCCI a grant of $50,000 to equip the natural science laboratories. Dr Bill Hrudey, a retired neurosurgeon, philanthropist and engineering hobbyist who now lives in Cayman, gave a 12.5-inch Newtonian telescope. “It will come complete with a special-purpose observatory with a retractable roof,” he added.
 
Bodden revealed that First Caribbean International Bank scholarship money for UCCI students has increased by $20,000 and the college had signed MOUs with a number of companies for targeted industry training and preparation. 
 
“We are also forging relationships with other universities, beginning with Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and Elon University, in North Carolina,” he said. “Negotiations are also underway with the local consulate of a non-English-speaking country for an exchange programme involving our students and those of that consulate’s home country.”
 
Bodden said that over the year work had been done, with the support of the board of governors, to boost the confidence and integrity of the university.
 
“We are well on the way to re-establishing the intellectual integrity of this institution,” he added.

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