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UCJ at 20
Wesley Barrett
Monday, June 18, 2007
It is 20 years now since the establishment of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), and what a remarkable 20 years it has been! It is meet and proper that we celebrate with the council this significant milestone and reflect on its magnificent achievements and what it means to our country.
Wesley Barrett
From the outset, it set a path for quality and it has not veered from that path. We should salute UCJ and not only wish it well for the future but actively contribute to its sustainability and growth.
Many people, particularly those working in the field of education, know about the UCJ, but there may be many others who do not. Sharing the information about the institution is important, since its work affects almost everyone directly or indirectly. I will therefore share some information on it at the outset.
The UCJ is not an arm of any of our universities or any private body. It is an agency of government that operates under the aegis of the education ministry. As a statutory body, it has its own board of management and an executive director who is accountable to the board.
The council functions as the quality assurance body for tertiary education, including higher education in Jamaica. Essentially, it functions to protect the country against shoddy educational services and 'fly-by-night' institutions whose motive is not primarily the provision of quality education through adequate physical facilities and a quality teaching-learning environment generally, but to make financial profit.
Apart from being a watchdog for tertiary educational standards and establishing and renewing a registry of all approved tertiary institutions in Jamaica, the body provides accreditation for degree and specialised programmes, as well as awards degrees, diplomas and certificates to those who have been successful in approved tertiary level courses. Importantly enough, the UCJ assists in the development of tertiary institutions and their programmes. Its processes in carrying out its activities are rigorous, even exacting. As such therefore, the entire country is impacted by its work which it carries out in the quietude of an effective and learning organisation.
The work of UCJ has been impressive over the last 20 years in terms of the promotion of and insistence on high standards, and this surely is reflective of the calibre of those entrusted with its leadership and operations. It is therefore appropriate to salute the management and functionaries and all those associated with the organisation who have been in the vanguard of quality enhancement and assurance in the tertiary sector. Their work has been of enormous value to the country and the region. Those who were responsible for the establishment of UCJ as a national body we commend highly for their foresight and recognition of the need for this key oversight body.
Strategic thinker, innovator and executive director Dr Ethley London has to be singled out for her pioneering and pace-setting work at the UCJ. By dint of hard work, creativity and foresight, she has led from the front to position the agency as the leading tertiary education quality assurance agency in the English-speaking Caribbean and even beyond. Few probably know and appreciate that she has assisted several countries to set up similar agencies in the region.
The countries are now poised to establish a regional body. Her work has been truly seminal. Without taking anything away from politicians in this connection, we can assert that there are individuals like Dr London who have contributed equally well, and in many cases more substantively to national development than many a politician.
UCJ has a very qualified and dedicated staff and they must be commended for their work of quality. They work in the background to make many things happen. Cheers to them! A remarkable fact of UCJ is also that it has always had a very good board of management headed by distinguished people. In this connection, one can hardly speak about UCJ without making reference to the late Dr Dennis Irvine who gave outstanding, unflinching and exemplary service to the organisation as chairman. His vision of and for the organisation found expression in some of its finest accomplishments.
The country continues to be in his debt. It would be remiss too not to commend present and past board members and former chairman Dr Keith Panton for their invaluable service.
I suggest that we urge all institutions and organisations to establish, however rudimentary, a quality assurance mechanism or system. The public should take a keen interest in this. The fact is that the UCJ and any other quality assurance body cannot by themselves ensure and guarantee minimum, let alone high standards. Institutions, both private and public, should embed quality assurance principles and procedures in their operations and make the work of UCJ and similar bodies only complementary.
The private sector on a whole vaunts itself in maintaining high standards and sometimes incorporates slogans, including the words, "quality" and "standards" in their mission and vision statements to communicate the claim. Many people know, however, that it is merely words in many cases. The market and stakeholders generally should really constantly punish those who do not establish quality assurance mechanisms and make quality assurance a reality in their organisation.
We observe that there is a growing and rapid commercialisation of educational services. This poses an added challenge to quality control and quality assurance. The on-line educational market in particular is becoming more lucrative, sophisticated and perhaps nonchalant about quality.
Agencies such as the UCJ will find it increasingly more difficult and challenging therefore to monitor standards and quality. The question is whether the UCJ is resourced or will be resourced adequately to address emerging quality assurance issues and challenges. This question is of immense importance and hopefully will be kept on the front burner by whomever forms the next government.
Because of the openness of the educational market and some malpractices, obtaining a first or higher degree is not a problem. We see this in the proliferation of degrees and in particular doctorates. Where are they obtained and under what conditions? Irrespective of how desperate people feel that they must acquire a degree, they must be responsible enough to scrutinise the credentials of the degree-granting institutions and ensure that they are obtaining worthwhile degrees or certificates. A UCJ cannot do the monitoring alone.
In the context of all the developments in education locally and internationally, the role of the UCJ in Jamaica is becoming increasingly more critical. This behoves us to give the organisation our fullest support.
wesebar@yahoo.com
Wesley Barrett
Monday, June 18, 2007
It is 20 years now since the establishment of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), and what a remarkable 20 years it has been! It is meet and proper that we celebrate with the council this significant milestone and reflect on its magnificent achievements and what it means to our country.
Wesley Barrett From the outset, it set a path for quality and it has not veered from that path. We should salute UCJ and not only wish it well for the future but actively contribute to its sustainability and growth.
Many people, particularly those working in the field of education, know about the UCJ, but there may be many others who do not. Sharing the information about the institution is important, since its work affects almost everyone directly or indirectly. I will therefore share some information on it at the outset.
The UCJ is not an arm of any of our universities or any private body. It is an agency of government that operates under the aegis of the education ministry. As a statutory body, it has its own board of management and an executive director who is accountable to the board.
The council functions as the quality assurance body for tertiary education, including higher education in Jamaica. Essentially, it functions to protect the country against shoddy educational services and 'fly-by-night' institutions whose motive is not primarily the provision of quality education through adequate physical facilities and a quality teaching-learning environment generally, but to make financial profit.
Apart from being a watchdog for tertiary educational standards and establishing and renewing a registry of all approved tertiary institutions in Jamaica, the body provides accreditation for degree and specialised programmes, as well as awards degrees, diplomas and certificates to those who have been successful in approved tertiary level courses. Importantly enough, the UCJ assists in the development of tertiary institutions and their programmes. Its processes in carrying out its activities are rigorous, even exacting. As such therefore, the entire country is impacted by its work which it carries out in the quietude of an effective and learning organisation.
The work of UCJ has been impressive over the last 20 years in terms of the promotion of and insistence on high standards, and this surely is reflective of the calibre of those entrusted with its leadership and operations. It is therefore appropriate to salute the management and functionaries and all those associated with the organisation who have been in the vanguard of quality enhancement and assurance in the tertiary sector. Their work has been of enormous value to the country and the region. Those who were responsible for the establishment of UCJ as a national body we commend highly for their foresight and recognition of the need for this key oversight body.
Strategic thinker, innovator and executive director Dr Ethley London has to be singled out for her pioneering and pace-setting work at the UCJ. By dint of hard work, creativity and foresight, she has led from the front to position the agency as the leading tertiary education quality assurance agency in the English-speaking Caribbean and even beyond. Few probably know and appreciate that she has assisted several countries to set up similar agencies in the region.
The countries are now poised to establish a regional body. Her work has been truly seminal. Without taking anything away from politicians in this connection, we can assert that there are individuals like Dr London who have contributed equally well, and in many cases more substantively to national development than many a politician.
UCJ has a very qualified and dedicated staff and they must be commended for their work of quality. They work in the background to make many things happen. Cheers to them! A remarkable fact of UCJ is also that it has always had a very good board of management headed by distinguished people. In this connection, one can hardly speak about UCJ without making reference to the late Dr Dennis Irvine who gave outstanding, unflinching and exemplary service to the organisation as chairman. His vision of and for the organisation found expression in some of its finest accomplishments.
The country continues to be in his debt. It would be remiss too not to commend present and past board members and former chairman Dr Keith Panton for their invaluable service.
I suggest that we urge all institutions and organisations to establish, however rudimentary, a quality assurance mechanism or system. The public should take a keen interest in this. The fact is that the UCJ and any other quality assurance body cannot by themselves ensure and guarantee minimum, let alone high standards. Institutions, both private and public, should embed quality assurance principles and procedures in their operations and make the work of UCJ and similar bodies only complementary.
The private sector on a whole vaunts itself in maintaining high standards and sometimes incorporates slogans, including the words, "quality" and "standards" in their mission and vision statements to communicate the claim. Many people know, however, that it is merely words in many cases. The market and stakeholders generally should really constantly punish those who do not establish quality assurance mechanisms and make quality assurance a reality in their organisation.
We observe that there is a growing and rapid commercialisation of educational services. This poses an added challenge to quality control and quality assurance. The on-line educational market in particular is becoming more lucrative, sophisticated and perhaps nonchalant about quality.
Agencies such as the UCJ will find it increasingly more difficult and challenging therefore to monitor standards and quality. The question is whether the UCJ is resourced or will be resourced adequately to address emerging quality assurance issues and challenges. This question is of immense importance and hopefully will be kept on the front burner by whomever forms the next government.
Because of the openness of the educational market and some malpractices, obtaining a first or higher degree is not a problem. We see this in the proliferation of degrees and in particular doctorates. Where are they obtained and under what conditions? Irrespective of how desperate people feel that they must acquire a degree, they must be responsible enough to scrutinise the credentials of the degree-granting institutions and ensure that they are obtaining worthwhile degrees or certificates. A UCJ cannot do the monitoring alone.
In the context of all the developments in education locally and internationally, the role of the UCJ in Jamaica is becoming increasingly more critical. This behoves us to give the organisation our fullest support.
wesebar@yahoo.com