DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S PROFILE
Mrs Babb-Cadogan acquired the responsibility of acting Deputy Principal at the beginning of January 2011. She served at the College since 1982 in the Division of Commerce, as head of the Accounting Department and from 1992 as Senior Tutor of that division. As Deputy Principal, she chairs the Academic Board of the College and is fully responsible for overseeing the quality of the entire curriculum and ensuring that programme standards are met and maintained.
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
As Deputy Principal, I welcome you to the Barbados Community College (BCC). I wish you a very intellectual and engaging experience during your sojourn at the BCC.
The Principal in his welcoming message explained that there are two concepts that are topical: Scholarship and Lifelong learning. My duties as Deputy Principal include ensuring that you are exposed to quality scholarship and that you are awakened to the concept of lifelong learning.
As a student at the BCC, you will come to realize that your two-year journey here is yet another rung on the ladder you are climbing through life. During your experience, you will find that the BCC is a very exciting and vibrant institution that caters to the tertiary educational needs on the island as well as the wider Caribbean.
The BCC issues Bachelor’s degrees, Associate degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates. To ensure the quality of the education, the Academic Board, chaired by the Deputy Principal, is responsible for the maintenance of these programmes. One of the main duties of the Deputy Principal, therefore, is to ensure that the educational programmes being delivered to you, the students, are: quality assured, through monitoring and updating of syllabi; relevant, in vogue and marketable; and up to the required standards of the environment where you will graduate or be employed.
Other systems are in place to uphold the quality education at the BCC: internal and external moderation, end-of-semester testing in the form of a final examination and second-marking of your examination scripts.
Please familiarize yourself with the information written in the Student Handbook and the Student Code of Conduct. The BCC operates on a semester system with the College year beginning in late August and ending in early May of the following year. The actual academic year, as stated in the Student Handbook, is information you can utilize when planning vacations and travel. Other important information stated in the student hand book pertains to the dress code, examinations, graduation requirements, attendance at classes, transfer to a new programme if you are not happy with your current programme, payment of fees, and grade appeals.
Life at BCC as a new student can be extremely challenging. Please prepare a timetable of your days and weeks, not just classroom time. You should also plan out your study time and leisure time. Practise time management from the very first day that you start classes. If perchance you find that you are dropping behind in your studies, seek help early - you can speak to your class tutor, the senior tutor, or the counsellor. Do not wait until your G.P.A falls below 1.49 for two consecutive semesters and you are being asked to withdraw from the BCC, before you ask for help.
Good luck with your education and I look forward to meeting most of you while you are here at the BCC.
Barbara Babb-Cadogan
Deputy Principal
AIM & OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE
The overall aim of the Deputy Principal’s Office at the Barbados Community College (BCC) is to provide excellent leadership to all divisions/departments of the College particularly with respect to teaching, learning and assessment or evaluation processes and to ensure that a high quality of support services and mechanisms exist to effect improvement and maintain standards that are recognised locally, regionally and internationally. This overall aim is broken down into general objectives, the main ones of which are identified below.
- To promote a culture of quality assurance through the systematic establishment, monitoring and maintenance of appropriate mechanisms.
- To review, analyse and make recommendations concerning academic matters, including curriculum and instruction.
- To ensure that submissions for new programmes/courses are consistent with the College’s goals and objectives and the needs of the wider community.
- To assess the resources which are available to support both existing and other curricula as works in progress.
- To improve the coordination of the College’s instructional resources and the securing of equal access to these resources by all staff.
- To consolidate a structured programme of staff development for faculty and ancillary staff that involves regular workshops and seminars to provide continuing professional education. This programme will utilise the knowledge and skills of BCC staff as well as the skills of other professionals from leading regional and extra-regional institutions/organisations.
- To enhance job performance and acquisition of additional knowledge by facilitating participation in conferences, seminars and workshops.
- To upgrade managerial skills of senior administrative staff and prepare them for leadership through workshops and training exercises.
- To develop community outreach programmes that will impact on the larger community.
- To continue to work towards ensuring that the college can be promoted as an accredited institution of academic excellence and can maintain its competitive edge, not only locally but also regionally and internationally.