THE University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica has applied to the University Council of Jamaica for institutional accreditation to cover all its courses of study.

In a release yesterday, UTech said approval would mean that it 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’s president, Professor Stephen Vasciannie last Thursday said the university was seeking general accreditation across the board for all courses of study and it was expected that, in coming months, the University Council of Jamaica team would be visiting all its campuses to examine whether UTech has been carrying out its mandate.

Professor Vasciannie was addressing new students who have enrolled at the UTech’s Western campus at their induction ceremony at St John’s Methodist Church Hall.

“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 courses currently offered by UTech, Jamaica’s Western Campus are: business administration, hotel management, engineering, computing, health sciences, dentistry, and law. However, Professor Vasciannie said that while some courses have been accredited, 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,” Vasciannie said.

“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 continued.

Meanwhile, the UTech president told the students that, regarding tuition costs, except for two courses of study, there had been no change to fees for courses of study this year. He said those attracting 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 of 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.

According to him, “after nine years the University of Technology, Jamaica has firmly planted roots in teaching and learning and service outreach in the west. I can assure you that the university is in western Jamaica to stay and we remain committed to expanding access to education and training in this beautiful part of Jamaica”.

In the last academic year, 498 students were enrolled at the Western campus. This year’s enrolment of 140 new students represents the largest batch since the campus was established, UTech said.