and Mrs. Michal Romney
In keeping with its corporate vision to be “A leading institution . . . which promotes quality teaching and passionate learning”, the Anguilla Community College (ACC) is pleased to announce three new appointments in its Academic Department which will enhance the innovation, development and management of programming at the College.
In mid-April, while still under quarantine, the ACC welcomed Dr. Michelle Queeley as Dean of Studies, a senior role which includes responsibility for faculty and curriculum – as well as the first in line to act for the President in his absence.
Dr. Queeley is an experienced educator and distinguished academic, with a teaching career of almost three decades having started at her alma mater, Sandy Point High School in St Kitts, and relocating to Anguilla in 1997 to work as a Certificated Teacher at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS) and now as Dean of Studies at the ACC.
When asked about her career choice, Dr. Queeley’s response was direct and grounded. “I was made to be a teacher. I also grew up in a home with educators and had very strong teacher role models in primary and secondary school from whom I drew inspiration.”
Education and personal development are very important to Dr. Queeley. Once she began teaching she recognized the importance of modeling the very approach to education which she seeks to imbue in her students. First, she excelled at a two-year (1993-1995) teacher training programme at the then St Kitts-Nevis College of Further Education – Division of Teacher Education (now incorporated into the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College). She then went on to complete a Commonwealth Diploma in Youth in Development Studies (with distinction) from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, in 2001. Shortly after, (2001-2004) she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, achieving First Class Honours. She continued immediately to do a Master of Philosophy in Education with a concentration in Educational Psychology, returning to the ALHCS in 2006 where she then functioned as Head of Year for almost ten years.
In 2015, Dr. Queeley embarked on a four-year odyssey of doctoral studies at UWI Open Campus achieving the Doctor of Education, Educational Leadership in Higher Education with High Commendation in 2019. The new Dean of Studies at ACC reported that completion of her doctorate, and subsequent move to the Anguilla Community College, would allow her to move her career in a way that supports a broader national agenda. Dr. Queeley said, “I am motivated by the fact that this position as Dean of Studies will allow me to innovate, to step beyond the secondary school mould and into the realm of higher education. I see it as a means of supporting the national agenda for our human resource development in Anguilla, not only as a lecturer but also as a leader.” Dr. Queeley leads a team of five fulltime academic and administrative staff as well as a complement of 20 to 30 adjunct faculty each semester.
The other two recent appointments at Anguilla Community College also occurred in the Academic Department, with Ms. Annishka White promoted to Director of Business Studies and Mrs. Michal Romney promoted to Director, Humanities and Education.
Ms. White started at the ACC in 2016 as a Senior Lecturer in Business, having previously taught at ALHCS as a graduate teacher and as an instructor at the Stony Heart Academy in Jamaica. She is a certified teacher and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Technology, Jamaica, achieving a Bachelor of Education with a major in Computing and a minor in Accounting. She is also a trained and certified assessor for the National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET), Jamaica, for Business and Computer Studies. More recently, Ms. White went on to complete a Master of Business Administration with the University of South Wales – and subsequently has been appointed Director of Business Studies at the ACC.
When asked about her plans for her new role, Ms. White shared that her goal was “to add structure to the Business Studies Division…[and] to demonstrate through education how business is of cross sectoral importance to all segments of the economy.”
In addition to her passion for business, and her responsibilities for lecturing and management at the ACC, Ms. White also sits as a board member on the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation and is the founder of the ISpeak Autism Society.
Mrs. Michal Romney began her career at the ACC as an adjunct lecturer in 2012. One year later she accepted the full time position of Senior Lecturer in the Division of Humanities and Education at the ACC having previously worked at the ALHCS. She is a certified teacher and completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Midwestern State University and postgraduate studies in Curriculum and Education.
Mrs. Romney has acted as the Director of Humanities and Education for some time prior to her recent appointment to the role. In that capacity she has coordinated all the Teacher Training programmes offered by the ACC, including the New Teacher Induction Programme which was re-launched at the College earlier this year, for the Department of Education. For the past five years, Mrs. Romney has also taught and coordinated the Job Link Up and Youth Exposure Programmes that the ACC runs for the Department of Youth and Culture. With respect to professional development and continuing education programming, Mrs. Romney has offered several communication courses for various organisations, while she has also coordinated short course offerings in creative writing and publishing.
According to Mrs. Romney, the next new and exciting programme from the Division of Humanities and Education will be the Associate of Arts, General Studies which will start in September. The Associate of Arts is an ideal offering which will allow students to complete the associate degree or build up credits to transfer into a bachelor programme while developing critical analytical and problem solving skills. In addition to a full slate of lecturing, coordinating and creating, Mrs. Romney is the Founder of Uplift Ministries – Anguilla.
To contact the Dean of Studies or the Directors of Business or Humanities and Education, call 498-8395, WhatsApp at 476-8395 or email at info@acc.edu.ai.
- Press Release
