Following close to a yearlong search for a new president for the College of The Bahamas (COB), Education, Science and Technology Minister Alfred Sears announced on Sunday that Canadian academic Janyne Hodder has been selected as the fourth president of the institution.
Also speaking at the press conference held in the boardroom of the Bishop Michael H. Eldon Complex, Chairman of the Council of the college, Franklyn Wilson, disclosed that the current acting president of COB, Dr. Rhonda Chipman-Johnson, has agreed to stay on at the college and continue to serve in the capacity of executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Expressing confidence that Mrs. Hodder would provide quality leadership in steering COB to achieve three essential components of a university, Minister Sears provided an in-depth review of the president designateﾒs more than three decades of experience in education.
“Mrs. Hodderﾒs professional engagements in Canada have included assistant deputy Minister of Education in the Government of Quebec from 1992 to 1995,” said Minister Sears.
“This office helped her to gain a tremendous fund of knowledge and expertise regarding government-education relationsﾅ The three principal pillars of the university shall be teaching, research and service.
“Mrs. Janyne Hodder understands how to strengthen the teaching, research and service capacity and output of an undergraduate institution; she understands how to work harmoniously with staff, faculty, unions and student (bodies) to create and sustain an environment of scholarship.”
The Education Minister further indicated that he is satisfied that Mrs. Hodder understands the important role of a university in helping to shape a local and national community, and has the expertise to raise money and grow student enrolment.
From 1995 to 2004 she served as president of Bishopﾒs University in Lennoxville, Quebec. Since 2004 she has worked in the capacity of vice-principal of McGill University also in Quebec.
Mrs. Hodder was not present at the press conference yesterday, but the Council chairman said she is expected to arrive in The Bahamas next month to take up her post as of July 1.
Her contract with the college will last three years.
As part of the press conference, Mr. Wilson read portions of an e-mail dated Saturday May 20 sent by Mrs. Hodder to Council officials.
“I want to thank the College Council, the College community and the people of The Bahamas for the faith they are placing in me,” she said.
“My goal is to serve. My pledge is to assist the men and women of goodwill who wish to build a university in this land. I pledge my commitment to the faculty, to the staff and to the students whose futures must be first in our hearts. I am honoured to be given this opportunity to serve an institution which shaped my career and nurtured me in the cause which has inspired my entire professional life.”
Mr. Wilson also read excerpts from a memo addressed to executives of McGill University from Principal of the institution Heather Munroe-Blum notifying them of Mrs. Hodderﾒs departure.
“It is with a deep sense of pride and obvious mixed emotions that I write to inform you that vice principal Janyne Hodder has been named as the next president of the College of The Bahamas, effective this summer,” she said.
“It comes as no surprise that this marvelous opportunity has sought out Janyne. She has not only the talent, leadership experience and track record to qualify her well for this important job, but [she] also has personal history and strong family and professional ties to the Caribbean.
“This appointment is a fine tribute to her leadership skills and achievements. The College of The Bahamas is a 30-year-old public tertiary institution and one of the regionﾒs most highly respected.”
Mr. Wilson, meanwhile, once again sought to reassure the public that the Council has “wide, wide” public support for its selection of Mrs. Hodder.
He said save for the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas (UTEB), all of the stakeholders involved in the decision-making process unanimously approved Mrs. Hodderﾒs appointment.
Mrs. Hodder is a native of Quebec, Canada. She is married to Mr. Garfield Mullins and has three children, two of whom are Bahamian citizens.
By: Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
