University Bulletin

• UTech Focus
  
  

UTech sites declared national monuments

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) has declared the building housing Lillian's Restaurant and the ruins of three concrete silos at the University of Technology (UTech), as national monuments, effective May 21, 2010 and gazetted June 10, 2010.

Both monuments are legacies of the Hope Farm School, which had its genesis some 100 years ago in 1910 at UTech's 237 Old Hope Road Papine campus. The silos, located at the north-western end of the campus, were built between 1920 and 1930. Their concrete towers are reminders of installations at the Hope Farm School, where modern cattle breeding began. The UTech campus stands on part of the site on which the Hope Farm and the Farm School were established in 1910. The School was established on lands which were part of the Hope Sugar Estate.

The Farm School was later renamed the Jamaica School of Agriculture and transferred to Twickenham Park, St Catherine, before being relocated to its present location in Portland and renamed the College of Agriculture, Science and Education.

Noting the historical significance of the foundation of Jamaica's agricultural industry on the campus, the university actively pursued the process of having the silos declared national monuments to ensure their preservation as part of Jamaica's historical artefacts and Lillian's Restaurant as an important relic of Jamaican history.

Lillian's Restaurant which now serves as the on site training facility for students pursing courses at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, as well as a public dining and catering restaurant, was built in 1912 and originally used as a staff common room and dining area. Late Governor General Sir Clifford Campbell was said to be a regular visitor to Lillian's.

Georgian architecture

The building is recognised for its important local Georgian architectural style and its identity with Jamaican history. Under the schedule of the JNHT Act, Lillian's Restaurant is described as "a timber-framed bungalow with Georgian and Vernacular architectural features including a hip roof with shake finish and dormer window, and a wrap around veranda enclosed by wooden columns and balustrades."

The Act describes the ruins of the three concrete silos as being "approximately 30 feet high, 16 feet in diameter, 12 feet below ground and 30 feet above ground."

Under the JNHT Act, a site is declared a national monument if in the opinion of the Trust, its preservation is a matter of public interest by reason of the historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, aesthetic, scientific or archaeological value.

• UCC Report

Making your summer vacation work for you

The summer holiday is an anxiously anticipated time of year, particularly among high school graduates. It is important to de-stress and relax, but equally important to not be complacent. The months of summer, particularly after graduation, engender many opportunities for self-improvement. These include participating in university summer programmes, internships or summer jobs, and community development activities or social clubs.

The University College of the Caribbean (UCC) has several programmes which allow participation in certificate courses, training and skills-development workshops or modules which may provide transferable credits toward a degree programme. It is a great opportunity, and UCC encourages all prospects to enrol early in such programmes, which will give participants a head start at the beginning of the official school year.

Any manager or business owner will say that work experience is an essential ingredient, even for entry-level positions. An academic degree says that you know about a particular area of speciality, but work experience shows a prospective employer that you can also apply that knowledge in the working environment. This may be quite challenging; as it may not be possible to get hired for the desired position without work experience, and the only way to obtain work experience is to get hired.

Internships and summer jobs facilitate on-the-job experience, and are ideal for recent high school or college graduates. Although there is usually no salary, participants may receive a stipend. The true value of such a programme or a summer job is that participants are able to refer to them when applying for a more lucrative opportunity or on a university application.

Valuable experience

It is often difficult to isolate a specific career path, as these work-experience opportunities allow candidates to try several hats on, in an effort to identify a preferred field.

A great addition to being appropriately qualified for a job is participation in community development projects or a recognised social club. In the highly competitive working environment, it is ideal to have a résumé say more about the individual applicant than merely speak to academic achievements or work experience.

Where several highly qualified and experienced candidates are applying for the same position, what will separate them is their individual character. Such participation represents an implicit character reference on a résumé. Today is when you create opportunities for all your tomorrows.