UTech, NCU get accreditation status

WESTERN BUREAU:

The University of Technology and the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) were both presented with accreditation credentials for the administrative year spanning April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, at the just-concluded University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) symposium on quality assurance in higher education, in Montego Bay.

These two universities have now joined The University of the West Indies as institutions with the enviable distinction of having accreditation status in Jamaica.

It was also announced that the Caribbean Maritime University and three other tertiary institutions – Mico University College; the University College of the Caribbean, formerly the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean; and Excelsior Community College – were candidates for institutional accreditation by the university council.

Dr Dottlyn Minot, director of accreditation at the UCJ, said that the three tertiary institutions have all completed their first hurdle towards attaining institutional accreditation.

“They have completed the necessary process, and now, we are awarding them candidates for institutional accreditation,” said Minot. “These institutions have signalled their intentions to apply for institutional accreditation.”

It was also noted that several other tertiary institutions such as Bethlehem Moravian College, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and Excelsior Community College were the recipients of UCJ’s accreditation for specific courses they offer.

The St Elizabeth-based Bethlehem Moravian College received accreditation for its Associate of Science in Business Administration and Hospitality and Tourism Management course; the Edna Manley College received certificates of accreditation for five of its courses; while Excelsior Community College; which is on the verge of attaining institutional accreditation, received certificates of accreditation for five of its existing courses.