College of The Bahamas (COB) President Rodney Smith has acknowledged the delay in completing annual audits of the institution's finances, but in an address to a civil society group yesterday stressed that the matter was being addressed, and that it would not hold up progress towards university status.

Smith was addressing the Rotary Club Nassau Sunrise when he raised the matter.

"The fact of the matter is, yes, the audits are being completed. All the back audits are being completed. However, we have not allowed this to hamper our transition from college to university - as a matter of fact, we have already achieved most of what's in phase one of the loan agreement on our own," he said.

"Keep in mind that the loan agreement was based on an assessment that was done between 2012 and 2013, so we find ourselves constantly having to contact the CDB and make change orders to some of the terms of reference. So we're updating the loan as we continue to move forward with completing all of our audits."

"So we have not stopped the process at all," he added.

It was recently disclosed that so-called poor auditing practices at the institution have prevented COB from using the funds from a $16.1m Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) loan intended to help upgrade it as it seeks to transition to university status this year.

Smith did not directly address allegations that the late audits mean it has failed to meet one of the stipulations for accessing the money, although he did stress that the institution had achieved much of the phase one "on its own." He likewise did not address the disclosure that the college is in violation of the College of the Bahamas Act, which requires COB's accounts to be inspected by an auditor appointed by COB's Council every year.

UB legislation

The president also addressed the University of The Bahamas (UB) draft legislation. He noted that the progress toward University status was given a significant boost by the establishment of the University Transition Secretariat, led by Dr. Olivia Saunders, in 2012. That group produced a lengthy and detailed report - informed by wide consultation locally and in the international community - that included a draft University of The Bahamas bill, which Smith noted included everything that was thought appropriate to go into such a bill.

Smith reported that a technical team was appointed by the COB Council to work with representatives from the Law Reform Commission and educational consultants.

"The team worked diligently from January 2015 on a weekly basis - including telephone conferences with both legal and accreditation consultants - every week since early January this year, that team has been meeting in the offices of the Law Reform Commission.

"In March the first draft was circulated to the campus, and following internal consultations, revisions were made to the first draft," he said, adding that this review process was repeated twice more, resulting in a third draft in September.

Smith noted that the draft bill is the University of The Bahamas Bill 2015, and asserted that the transition to University status would be completed by the end of the year.

On accreditation

The University of The Bahamas bill covers core governance requirements for international accreditation.

"It's not just changing the name. This is a brand new institution, a different kind of institution. It will not be the same institution. The institution will not be governed by any aspect of the Bahamas government - it will be governed by a board of trustees ... the majority of whom will be elected by fellow trustees," Smith said.
The president also told Rotarians about the accreditation process.

"It is important to understand that changing the name is not all there is to becoming a vibrant university. We are changing the governance structure, and we are putting in place everything necessary to acquire the same accreditation as universities as far south as the University of Miami or as far north as George Washington University in DC, and all in between.

"We will be making application beginning this semester to be accredited by one of the world's most rigid accrediting agencies, and that's a three year process," Smith reported.

The institution intends to seek accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), as well as athletic accreditation through the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

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