Pond Island:--- Members of the business community and unions that attended the one day summit organized by the Chamber of Commerce at the University of Saint Martin made several suggestions to the board and management of USM during the one day summit announced the President of the University of Saint Martin Annanlies Van Assen. Van Assen said they concluded that both the business community and USM are on the same track in nurturing the future employees of St. Maarten.Van Assen said the aim of the summit was to make sure USM and the business community is on the same page. She said their aim was to find out what types of human resources are really needed on St. Maarten. She said while the institution has been offering educational programs it appears as though they were not catering to the needs of the business community. Some of the suggestions include a paralegal programs as well as salesman and nursing programs.
The President of USM said the institution is busy working on their strategic business plan so that they can shape the institution to reach the islands' needs. USM is also looking into ways they can offer programs that would allow the institution to make more monies so that they can survive the current financial crisis.
Van Assen said they are also trying to mold a stronger relationship with the primary and secondary schools as they work towards meeting the needs of their students and the community.
Clareth Conner of the Chamber of Commerce said USM has been developing and positioning itself to meet the needs of the business community. He said while the institution made strides with infrastructures, the institution now has to focus on providing the needs of the business community. Conner said it is clear that USM can help in meeting the needs of the community so they can enhance the services that are provided locally as a destination in the tourism industry. He said the assessment needs summit will assist USM in building their business plan. Glen Yeung Acting Dean of the institution said the idea is to position USM with the constant changes taking place within the business community. Yeung said they determined that USM has a great future and for students as well as for St. Maarten.
Accreditation for USM.
When asked how diligently USM is working towards accreditation, Van Assen said the topic was discussed during the needs assessment. However, the institution already identified that accreditation of USM and its programs will be costly. She said right now they are having discussions with universities abroad that are accredited who could probably monitor the programs that are offered at USM. Van Assen said they are also contemplating on whether they should seek to have the programs they offer accredited rather than the institution, both of which she said is very costly. Van Assen said it is impossible for USM to get all its programs accredited simply because the process is expensive. It is her opinion, USM does not need to do this by itself especially since the process is expensive and there are changes along the way. Van Assen said they are reconnecting with the University of the Virgin Islands, Monroe College and Holland to make sure that all the programs are monitored. USM chose to have their programs monitored because it is the easiest way out while students can complete their BA on St. Maarten, Van Assen said. This would also enable the students to transfer their credits to other universities if they chose to complete their studies overseas. Van Assen said they do not want to limit their students since they also have to think about their student's dreams and aspirations.
Yeung said there are pros and cons if they accredit the institution according him that would limit the institution, a risk they are not willing to take since there are other needs on St. Maarten. He gave example of the AUC that has accredited its medical program but is not able to offer other programs unless they seek accreditation for it.
Van Assen also confirmed that USM is still busy with the independent assessment (desk research) as requested by the Ministry of Education for the Teachers Education Program TEP. She also confirmed that to accredit the TEP program it will cost USM some Euros 10,000.00 while there are preparation cost for the accreditation. Van Assen said they are still working on the TEP program to ensure that students who complete the program would be able to obtain their degree. The Ministry she said wants USM to prove that the program is up to the right level.
The Ministry she said would also have to let USM know whether or not they want to remain under the FBE program so that they could proceed. USM she said is currently financed by subsidy, tuition and private investment.
