Jamaican News

CCCJ Hosts Annual Conference June 7-9

The Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ) will host its annual conference from June 7-9 under the theme ‘CCCJ@15:Transforming Lives: Embracing Student-Centredness’.

The conference, which forms part of the Council’s 15th anniversary celebrations, will be held at Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall in Montego Bay, St. James.

Addressing a JIS ‘Think Tank’ recently, Executive Director of the CCCJ, Dr. Donna Powell Wilson, said in all that the Council does, the students are their focal point.

Therefore, some of the conference topics will be: maintaining a student-friendly environment, diversity in the tertiary environment, learning to learn, social media in the teaching and learning process, CCCJ platform to higher education, and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

“Students are our clients, so we have to ensure that they are satisfied,” Dr. Powell Wilson said, adding that some of the conference features will include: panel discussions, exhibits, plenary sessions, presentations, networking and demonstrations.

“What is important about this year’s event is that we will have more presentations from faculties within the community colleges and increased student participation, because we want to hear from our students,” she said. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Cynthia Wilson from the League Innovation Community Colleges in the United States of America (USA), who is an expert in community college education.

Dr. Powell Wilson pointed out that the conference will have both local and international presenters.

The highlight of the conference will be the culmination of a Community College Software Development Competition, where students will be presenting software that they have developed over the past three years. Other activities for the anniversary celebrations are the CCCJ expo, scheduled to take place in August, and a banquet to be held in December.

There are eight community colleges in Jamaica operating from 25 campuses across the island. They are Bethlehem Moravian College, St. Elizabeth; Brown’s Town Community College, St. Ann; Moneague College, St. Ann; the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), Portland; Excelsior Community College, Kingston; Montego Bay Community College, St. James; Portmore Community College, St. Catherine; and Knox Community College in Clarendon.

Sponsors for the conference include Monroe College in the USA, Jamaica Copyright Licensing Agency (JAMCOPY), E-Tech Solutions Corporation, EBSCO Information Services and others.

Article by: Judith A. Hunter
Photo from: www.jis.gov.jm

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