New library in the region

Good news for librarians in the region. Can an increase in the number of jobs available be expected?

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College of Bahamas closer to university status

The College of The Bahamas is just a few steps away from its goal of being an internationally respected University, it was revealed on Wednesday after officials collaborated at a retreat.
COB council members, chairmen of task forces and senior administration members met at the Hilton in a relaxed atmosphere for a revision of the university's strategic plan of taking the COB to university status."It's a multi-faceted process," said the secretary of COB's council, Patricia Meicholas. "We can't say exactly when the name will be changed, but it should be in the short term."

The name change must come after the government creates a University of The Bahamas Act first, among other things that need to be done before university status is appointed, added Meicholas.At the retreat, the nine task forces chosen last year to put the plan together, presented the information to the group of 30, including newly appointed president Janyne Hodder, for one of the plan's final revisions before being presented to the public again for validation.

There have been many drafts of this plan, according to Meicholas, and there will probably be more in the future after fine-tuning"Anyone can throw up a sign outside with university on it, but that's not what we want for our national university," said Meicholas. " We want to make sure everything is done properly."This retreat fits into COB's overall goals as it is one of the final revision processes of many, in getting the vision of the college implemented.S

Some of the agenda in the strategic plan involve adding a master's degree programme, a new library, as well as more dorms. So far, COB has added three new courses of study, is engaged with US institutions concerning the master's course, and is currently in the process of building a new library among other advancements.The group will gather again for another retreat later on in the year, before going to the external stakeholders in November, for the public's responses.

Extracted from The Nassau Guardian (24/07/2006) Bahamas