College Of The Bahamas ready for university transition as President retires

Janyne Hodder, President of COB, is pictured speaking about her retirement effective June 30, 2010 during a press conference at The College of The Bahamas as College Council Chairman T Baswell Donaldson looks on. (BIS photo/Patrick Hanna)

Nassau, Bahamas – The College of The Bahamas (COB) is academically positioned to transfer into university status thanks to the efforts of  College President Janyne Hodder said Council Chairman T Baswell Donaldson.

“The timing of the coming into being of a university is not in our hands. This is a public university with more than half of the budget is subvention from Government and it is the Government that has to carry forward to Parliament until it establishes the University of The Bahamas. 

“President Hodder made sure that all those things which need to be done from the academic point of view are very much done and if the Government wanted to pull the trigger tomorrow we could be a university,” Mr Donaldson said.

He made these remarks as he announced the retirement of Mrs Hodder as president effective June 30, 2010 at The College of The Bahamas, Thursday December 9.

Mr Donaldson spoke of his admiration for President Hodder and described her as a hard working, very intelligent person who has performed a “stellar” job and “has laid the foundation for the College to move forward.”

Although not able to “replace” Mrs Hodder, the search for a new college president will begin in 2010 said the Chairman.  “We want the best that we can get to have a great tertiary institution,” he said.

The president explained that she is “ready” to retire and her retirement years will be spent with her husband, two-year-old grandson and her children. “When we originally came back we had an agreement that we would come back for three years. I realize that we need to spend this time together. I have a grandson who I’ve seen less than six times. I get calls from my children, my family,” she said.

Following a initial three year contract Mrs Hodder signed a two-year contract with an option to make the final decision six months ahead of time.

She is hopeful that COB would sign a collective agreement with faculty before Christmas 2009. “We need to work through the issue and working through issues is tough. It is not about the people,” Mrs Hodder added.

She expressed her appreciation to the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Hubert Ingraham; the Hon Carl Bethel, former Minister of Education, and the Government for their support of COB’s efforts to build a university to serve national development.

 

She revealed her love for the Small Island Sustainability baccalaureate program introduced to COB in 2008. 

“It is an example of how you build quality out of what you are, not of what someone else says you should be. You make it a high standard of quality and you own it,” said the President.

Mrs Hodder’s advice to her successor, “Love The Bahamas, have faith in it, believe in it. One of the most difficult things about leadership is that you cannot lead people you do not love and you cannot lead an organization if you do not profoundly believe in its mission.”

By Kathryn Campbell

Bahamas Information Services