Professor Delroy Louden
The Anguilla Community College has embarked on an initiative to develop and introduce board governance training on the island leading to certification for persons involved in public and private boards.
The first Governance Workshop towards that end was held in Anguilla September 12 at La Vue. Professor Delroy Louden, President of the College, stressed at the opening ceremony that the workshop was planned since last year and therefore had nothing to do with recent events in the island’s financial sector.
“Workshops like these are interesting but are only interesting in terms of follow up, continuity and sustainability,” he told the large number of participants from the public and private sectors. “Our goal is to start the ball rolling. The College will hold another meeting in April/May next year using perhaps Google and Skype as a way of bringing you together. We will then be going to an activity on Cayman to talk about the development of a 45-hour course of training that can lead to certification so that Boards of Directors will have some certification as is the case in most other parts of the world.”
Professor Louden emphasised that “sitting on a board is not a birth right. It is an opportunity to serve by those who are identified for a particular board, and have a number of skills which can contribute to the wellbeing of the governance of the board or organisation.” He added that “governance is really about two things: not just about accountability, but about management of funds, human resources, capital and so forth.”
Permanent Secretary, Education, Mrs Chanelle Petty Barrett, believed that the inspiration for the organisation of the workshop must have been a recognition of the need for strengthening the governance of national institutions. “It is commendable that the College understands its role in addressing such needs and, as such, has extended its reach to persons holding critical positions, in the public and private sector, who would not normally seek to access the College’s programmes.”
Mrs Petty Barrett explained that research showed that some of the key characteristics of governance were the rule of law, transparency, accountability, responsiveness, equity, efficiency, effectiveness and participation, among others. “These are all concepts that we are very familiar with,” she continued. “The question for us is – do we observe them in our decision-making processes in conducting our affairs or managing our resources? For us, then, this workshop provides (1) a new learning experience; (2) a reminder of what is required of us in our various organisations; (3) a time for reflection on our current practices and, most importantly, (4) an opportunity to commit to making changes where necessary for improved service delivery and the fulfilment of our mandates.”
Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Anguilla Community College, Mrs Rhona Richardson-Roydon, said it was a most timely workshop. “One needs only to pick up a newspaper – or listen to the radio to hear how some of our largest corporations here on the island have been faring, rightly or wrongly, for the lack of good governance with the boards,” she stated. She pointed out that the Community College had been endeavouring to have a Governance Workshop for some time now, as the intention was to make the College a centre for excellence.
“I wish to thank the Governor’s Office for sponsoring this workshop. I must thank the former Governor, Mr Alistair Harrison, who started the ball rolling for us – and the present Governor, Her Excellency Christina Scott, who, by the enthusiasm with which she visited us at the College, we know that we can count on her support.” Mrs Roydon-Richardson added that originally the workshop was only for personnel at the College but, at the request of the Governor’s Office, it was expanded to include the additional participants.
The workshop facilitators were introduced by Ms Sharon Richardson, Acting Dean of the Community College. One of them, Mr Cebert Adamson, is a former Executive Director of the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica. Previously, he served as a Human Resource Development Manager at the University of Technology in Jamaica – and before that in the Community College system, for most of his employment life, as a Senior Lecturer at Knox Community College, and as Curricular Development Officer at the Community Colleges of Jamaica.
The other facilitator was Mr Carlton Anthony Samuels, an adjunct in the Department of Library and Information Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI. He works principally as an international consultant in the areas of governance, information, communication technologies and business strategy development.
