RBC Royal Bank of Canada Gives $1 Million toward Creation of
The College of the Bahamas Graduate Business Centre
Council Chairman, T Baswell Donaldson; Prime Minister, the Honourable Hubert Ingraham; Ross McDonald, Head of Caribbean Banking, RBC; Janyne M Hodder, President College of The Bahamas; Nat Beneby, Vice President & Country Head Bahamas, RBC; Minister of Education, Youth Sports and Culture, Carl Bethel with the cheque.
10 January 2008
The College of the Bahamas is pleased to announce that RBC Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has given $1 Million toward the creation of a Graduate Business Centre in The School of Business at The College of The Bahamas. This gift represents the single largest corporate donation that The College has received in its history.
The Graduate Business Centre will be The College's first 100% privately funded building project. The Centre will offer graduate programmes for students that are key to the Bahamian economy including Management, Accounting, Banking & Finance and Human Resources. Currently, graduate business training can only be obtained through institutions abroad or through a limited selection of off-shore providers that are running MBA programs in The Bahamas. The Master of Business Administration programme, which will be housed in the Graduate Business Centre in the School of Business, will change this and will be the first such programme taught by full-time faculty and housed in a dedicated graduate building.
Prime Minister Ingraham pledges his government's support for The College of The Bahamas
"RBC's commitment to future business leaders and the economy of The Bahamas is to be commended," stated College of The Bahamas President Janyne Hodder. "Because of RBC's investment in The College, the country's best and brightest will now be able to receive top-level graduate training without having to go abroad."
The College is also proud to affiliate the RBC brand with its own programme in small business training. To address the demand for small business training, the School of Business at The College of The Bahamas runs an Entrepreneurship Lecture Series which specifically targets small business owners. The School of Business will offer this programme for the next three years supported in part by RBC's donation at no cost to small business owners. The programme will be called The RBC Entrepreneurship Programme for Small Business.
"We are pleased to continue our tradition of monumental firsts in the Bahamian business community," said Nat Beneby, Vice President and Country Head for RBC. Contributing to the construction of the Graduate Business Centre at The College of The Bahamas and supporting the RBC Entrepreneurship Programme for Small Business is another way for RBC to give back to the community in a tangible way that will have a lasting impact for years to come. We are excited to be a part of this historic moment for the college."
The Graduate Business Centre will be a two-story building of approximately 8,900 square feet and will house a 150-seat lecture theatre, 4 classrooms, a computer lab, student and faculty lounge space, and faculty and staff offices.
Architect's conceptual rendering of new Graduate Business Centre by Henry Hepburn
Total estimated cost to complete the Graduate Business Centre project will be $2 million. In 2007, The College announced a $1 Million gift from Mr. Franklyn and Mrs. Sharon Wilson whose gift will fund the remaining 50% of the project.
RBC $1 Million Gift to The College of The Bahamas: In Brief
- RBC's $1 million gift represents the single largest corporate donation that the college has received to date. This gift will go toward the creation of The College of the Bahamas Graduate Business Centre.
- The Graduate Business Centre will be the first 100% privately funded construction project in the history of the College of the Bahamas.
- This donation is also believed to be the largest single corporate donation that has ever been made to education in The Bahamas.
- This investment from RBC will enable The College of the Bahamas to attract the brightest students to enroll in graduate programmes in fields that are key to the Bahamian economy including Management, Accounting, Banking & Finance, and Human Resources.
- Presently, graduate business training can only be obtained through institutions abroad or through a limited selection of off-shore providers that are running MBA programs in The Bahamas. The Master of Business Administration programme, which will be housed in the new Graduate Business Centre, will change this and will be the first institution in the country to offer such a programme taught by full-time faculty and housed in a dedicated facility.
- The Graduate Business Centre will be a two-story building of approximately 8,900 square feet and will house a 150-seat lecture theatre, a computer lab for students, student and faculty lounge space, faculty and staff offices, as well as 4 classrooms.
- The total cost for the construction of The Graduate Business Centre is $2 million. In 2007, The College of the Bahamas was thrilled to receive a $1,000,000 donation from Franklyn and Sharon Wilson whose gift will be allocated to fund 50% of the Graduate Business Centre project.
The College of The Bahamas Quick Facts & Milestones
- As of January 2007, there were 224 regular full-time faculty. In addition The College employs about 70 part- time faculty each semester.
- As of January 2007, The College employed 373 staff in support and administrative roles.
- The College is the 16th largest employer in the country.
- The operating budget of The College for the year 2006-2007 was $41,396,400. It is $46M for 2007-2008.
- Between 2005-2007, The College invested $12,395,541 in infrastructure improvement.
- In June 2007, for the first time The College graduated more students with Baccalaureate degrees (211) than it did students with Associate degrees (186).
- As of Fall 2007, there were 4,844 part-time and full-time students enrolled.
- In Fall 2007, there were 2,681 Full Time Equivalents.
- 551 students are enrolled on the Northern Bahamas campus.
- At any given time the proportion of part-time students hovers around 40%.
- In 2006-2007 1,355 students received $3.3 million in financial aid.
University Transition Milestones
- 1961 The Bahamas Teachers' College is created
- 1974 The College of The Bahamas is created to allow the college to seek private funding
- 1977 Official Opening and First Graduation ceremony
- 1984 Nursing joins The College
- 1995 The College of The Bahamas Act
- 1995 First Bachelor degrees offered by The School of Business
- 1995-2005 Bahamas Hotel Training School amalgamation, Northern campus developed
- 2007 Acceptance into the International Association of Universities (IAU)
College Priorities 2007-2008
- Build Library and Northern Bahamas campus
- Offer students full programmes and continue to improve registration
- Adopt international standards of quality assurance for academic programmes
- Increase the percentage of faculty with terminal degrees by 5% annually
- Increase momentum in professional fundraising programmes
- Implement Strategic Plan
- Create faculty-based Strategic Plans
- Creation of an Enrollment Management Plan
- Increase research performance and support
- Intensify recruitment of high-performing students
- Retain our students and increase higher level course offerings
- Improve the student experience
Office of Communication
Tel: 302-4304
Email:communication@cob.edu.bs
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