The long-term vision for the University of The Bahamas (UB) is to have six campuses across the country with international students who fly in to attend UB, most likely passing through New Providence on their way to the UB Centre of Excellence of their choice, according to College of The Bahamas (COB) President Rodney D. Smith.

Smith who recently spoke at the Rotary Club East Sunrise said while he looked forward to the institution's future, also addressed concerns about the institution's finances, which were reported to have been at least four years behind in audits when the Christie administration moved to borrow the funds for its development from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) last October, and that audits for two of those four years have since been completed. Smith acknowledged the delay.

"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 said.

In reference to accreditation, the president told Rotarians that it was important to understand that changing the name was not all there was to becoming a vibrant university. He told them that they were are changing the governance structure, and putting in place everything necessary to acquire the same accreditation as institutions such as the University of Miami and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

"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," said Smith.

Smith said 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. The group produced a lengthy and detailed report that included a draft University of The Bahamas bill, that he said included everything that was thought appropriate to go into such a bill.

The COB president said 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, [and] 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. Smith said the review process was repeated two more times, resulting in a third draft in September.
The UB Bill covers core governance requirements for international accreditation.

"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," he said.

Smith said the transition to university status would be complete by the end of the year. The president also said construction of the new entrance was slated to be complete by December 2015 or early January 2016.

"In addition to the construction of the new entrance that's taking place now, we've also just signed the contract for the building of a residential hall in Grand Bahama -- 88 beds; that is slated to begin within the next week or two as well, and will be ready for the summer of 2016 for our first residential students."

He projected that the institution would be building a maritime academy in Grand Bahama, and that the F.R. Wilson Graduate Business Centre should be completed in late December or early January. And that they were making ready to break ground on the Campbell Small Island Sustainability Research Facility which would be constructed behind the Wilson building.

Smith also said that work was being done on the Portia Smith Student Services Building, and that a litany of projects were due to come on-stream -- residential halls on the Oakes Field campus totaling 1,000 rooms, transformation of the Performing Arts Centre, installation of a signature art museum, a multipurpose convocation center and a multistory student  center.

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