UCC News & Updates

Dr. Haldane Davies – A Quintessential Caribbean Leader - Is the New President of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean

Dr. Haldane Davies

Dr. Winston I. Adams, JP, Group Executive Chairman of the UCC Group of Companies, has announced the appointment of Dr. Haldane Davies as the new President of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, UCC; the largest private non-affiliated higher educational institution in Jamaica with over 7,000 students locally. He assumes the role effective September 15, 2022, succeeding Professor Dennis J. Gayle, previous President who has since assumed the role of Chancellor effective September 1st 2022.
 
Dr. Adams said that “The UCC is pleased to welcome Dr. Davies who is the former Vice President for Business Development at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) where he served with distinction for the last sixteen years and was instrumental in securing major multi-million dollar grants and contracts, helping to initiate numerous high priority projects and enhancing the UVI’s presence in the Caribbean region & beyond through various partnership agreements”

UCC now also recognised by J-TEC as a teaching University

The University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) has now​ ​been formally Registered by the Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission (J-TEC) as a Teaching University, the first private institution to be so registered/recognized in​ ​Jamaica, effective July 2022.

Making the announcement, Professor Dennis J. Gayle, President of the UCC said “We are​ ​very pleased to have satisfied the J-TEC’s detailed inspection and due diligence processes​ ​and to have received this registration status as a result. This adds to the recognition​ ​of higher education quality already earned by the UCC including registration and​ ​institutional accreditation from the national accreditation body - the University Council of​ ​Jamaica (UCJ); institutional accreditation from the UK-based quality assurance body - Accreditation Services for International Schools, Colleges and Universities (ASIC) as well as​ ​recognition from the University of London and Sunderland University, which are both located in the UK and Florida International University in the USA.”

UCC BSc in Internal Auditing will fill a major gap in Accounting and Finance - Minister Williams

Kingston, Jamaica, July 27, 2022 - The BSc in Internal Auditing, a new degree programme launched by the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), will fill a major gap in the accounting and finance industry, the Minister of Education and Youth - The Hon. Fayval Williams has said.

The 4-year degree programme is endorsed by the international body of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) based in the USA, the Caribbean Directorate covering 11 Caribbean chapters, the local chapter of the IIA in Jamaica and the Internal Audit Directorate covering all government ministries and agencies in the Jamaican public sector. Internal Auditors employed by companies, perform independently of their operations, allowing the Internal Auditor to give Management and the Board of Directors an unbiased assessment of the internal control environment.

Speaking at the launch of the programme on July 20, 2022, Minister Williams congratulated the UCC for the addition of the degree to its long list of programme offerings, noting that “there is a huge need for professionals trained in the area of internal audit, that allows for separation of duties and reporting independently on matters of compliance, governance and risk management.”

UCC confers honorary doctorates on three Caribbean professionals

_{^{University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) President Professor Dennis Gayle (left) stands with (from second left) Leighton McKnight, Sandra Reid, and Godfrey Dyer as the three display certificates confirming their honorary doctorate awards presented by UCC at its graduation ceremony on Sunday.}}

THREE outstanding Caribbean professionals who have distinguished themselves in the fields of accounting, hospitality and tourism, and in medicine were on Sunday presented with honorary doctorates by University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) at its graduation ceremony in Kingston.

The three are Leighton McKnight, who last month retired as territory leader, PwC Jamaica; Godfrey Dyer, tourism and business titan and a distinguished governor of the Kiwanis Movement in Eastern Canada and the Caribbean; and Sandra Reid, deputy dean for clinical programmes and senior lecturer in psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad.