I count it an honour to serve as the third President of the Anguilla Community College and look forward to engaging with the entire Anguillian community. I see the Anguilla Community College as the people’s college and it is my intention to continue to keep the College fully engaged with the Anguillian community, as the administration and faculty work to provide the kind of programmes that are needed by the Anguillian workforce. The Anguilla Community College was built on the mandate of Access, Partnership and Responsiveness. Currently, we need to revisit what it means for Anguillians to have access, to build partnerships and to be responsive in the arena of tertiary education for its people.
Higher education in Anguilla and in the Caribbean region is at a critical juncture, being severely impacted by the prevailing economic conditions. Hurricane Irma left a devastating trail in the Caribbean region and in Anguilla. The Anguillian economy and its infrastructure, including the educational infrastructure, were significantly damaged and are still in the recovery stages. The COVID-19 pandemic has added ‘insult to injury’, revealing the vulnerability and fragility of the Anguillian and the Caribbean economies, all of which rely predominantly on tourism as their main revenue earner. However, Anguilla is a resilient country and the Community College has part of the answer to help build Anguilla into an innovative and responsive hub that can assist in retooling the Anguillian economy as it seeks to integrate into the digital global economy.
One of my first priorities as President is to focus on our main stakeholders, who are our students. The faculty and administration at the College are determined to provide a rigorous, high quality education that is suited to Anguilla’s economy and prepare students for a career in which they can compete with students from any other tertiary institutions in Anguilla, the Caribbean and the world. Our youth are digital natives, and the Anguilla Community College will seek to equip its students with competencies and sharpened information technology skills that are incorporated into their main area of study.
Education has been used as a tool for economic and social mobility and it is my intention to continue to ensure that every Anguillian who seeks to gain a quality tertiary education has access to this regardless of their socio-economic status. It is their right. There has been a growing chasm in terms of access to quality education, and the ACC believes it has an important role to play in securing quality tertiary education for all Anquillians, so that they can make their contribution to Anguilla, the Caribbean and indeed the world.
The Anguilla Community College recognises its critical role of helping to prepare and diversify the workforce that is needed for a changing Anguillian economy and workforce. However, we realise that we cannot do it alone, but must aim to deepen and extend our partnerships with persons and institutions within Anguilla, across the region and globally. We seek to develop as an innovation hub, a research centre and an educational institution that prepares students to enter the workforce with practical experience and the capacity to adapt to any workspace.
We are committed to rigorous academic standards and to do this involves collaborating and engaging closely with our students as well as the workforce community. It requires incorporating an entrepreneurial spirit into all the College’s operations. To achieve a culture of innovation at ACC, we intend to fully involve the community, and seek input from all of ACC’s stakeholders. It is our intention to focus on the following over the coming months:
? Develop a Strategic Plan that charts the future direction of the College.
? Seek grant funding to fully digitise the College and update all technology.
? Establish new and innovative programmes being mindful of workforce needs.
? Work towards more rigorous academic excellence.
? Establish ACC as a research centre in focus areas to be determined.
? Develop measures to make ACC more accessible for Anguillians from all backgrounds.
? Continue to improve ACC’s customer service across the institution.
? Develop further collaboration with educational institutions throughout the region, in the United States, the United Kingdom and across the globe to cater to the needs of the Anguillian workforce.
ACC invites all Anguillians, who are interested in nurturing the College as an innovative Centre for retooling the Anguillian workforce for a new and exciting era of Anguillian Labour expansion, to be in contact with the President or any member of the faculty and administrative team.
To contact the Anguilla Community College call 498-8395 497-2538, WhatsApp 476-8395 or email at info@acc.edu.ai.
– Press Release
