The Cabinet of The Bahamas has confirmed Dr. Rodney Smith as the president of The College of The Bahamas (COB), Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald announced this afternoon.
Smith resigned in 2005 as president amid a plagiarism scandal.Fitzgerald said despite some concerns that had been expressed in some circles, Smith had the majority support of stakeholders, including the Public Managers Union, the College of The Bahamas Union of Students and others.
The Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas (UTEB) also welcomed the announcement.
On the weekend, UTEB expressed disappointment that a decision had not yet been announced.
Fitzgerald said officials are going into negotiations on Smith's three-year contract.
When Smith was COB president in 2005, he was embroiled in controversy.
The circumstances surrounding his resignation came back into focus as Smith sought reappointment.
In May 2005, during a speech at the college's Honours Convocation, Smith used a portion of a speech given by New York University President Dr. John Sexton without providing attribution.
At the time, Smith insisted that his use of a portion of the speech without providing attribution did not amount to plagiarism because Sexton later said that his work is the property of the academic community.
However, during the firestorm that erupted after that speech, the COB Council appointed a special panel, which recommended Smith's termination.
Earlier this month, Smith said he made a "serious mistake" in 2005 and added that he will never make such a mistake again.COB Council Chairman Alfred Sears said the council submitted Smith's name to the government as its choice for the next COB president after "a long, transparent, competitive and rigorous search process conducted by a council-appointed Advisory Search Committee (ASC)".
Franklyn Wilson, who served as chairman of the Council at the time of Smith's resignation, told The Nassau Guardian several weeks ago that it would be a "significant error for the country" if he was reappointed.
In 2005, Wilson said Smith had been paid the nearly $300,000 agreed to as a part of his buyout arrangement with the Council.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
