KINGSTON, Jamaica— The University of Technology (UTech) said it has applied to the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ)for institutional accreditation to cover all its courses of study.

Approval would mean that UTech would no longer have to seek accreditation for individual courses of study being offered to its students.

In response to concerns raised by students UTech President Professor Stephen Vasciannie said that the university was seeking general accreditation, across the board, for all courses of study and it was expected that in coming months the UCJ team would be visiting all its campuses to examine whether the university has been carrying out its mandate.

Vasciannie was addressing new students at the UTech Western campus at their induction ceremony on Thursday, August 24, at the St John’s Methodist Church Hall in Montego Bay.

“It means that the university will not have to apply to the University Council Jamaica every time it introduces a new programme or every time it wants its programmes assessed; it will automatically be accepted as accredited and this will be of great value to the institution from the point of view of giving assurance to the wider public that our courses are of the requisite international standard,” he said.

Among the course of study offered currently by UTech, Jamaica’s Western campus are Business Administration, Hotel Management, Engineering, Computing, Health Sciences, Dentistry and Law. While some courses of study have been accredited, Vasciannie said application has not yet been made for others. “So it would have been a problem if people started to say why aren’t you accredited, and so we are now seeking to get that accreditation done so that that question does not arise,” said Vasciannie.

“UTech, Jamaica has a reputation in the Caribbean for producing work-ready graduates in several disciplines who are making their mark as professionals. We also produce graduates who are world-ready, ready to contribute to productivity and development anywhere in the world they may find themselves,” he added.

Regarding tuition costs, the UTech president told students that except for two courses of study, there has been no change to fees for courses of study this year. He said those attracting modest increases were Technical and Vocational Education and Hotel Management.

“And the reason for the increase, especially in the case of Hotel Management, is that the students do a lot practical work in food preparation and so on and the cost of material for the practical work has continually risen, so we have had to seek to cover our cost,” he explained.