NCU ALUMNI CHAPTER CAYMAN (ACKy)

17 August 2015

The Cayman chapter of the Alumni Association of Northern Caribbean University (NCU) launched its website Monday (17 August, 2015). Targeting not only alumni but also all friends and supporters of NCU, the website, www.NCUCaymanAlumni.com , is intended to play a key role in coordinating the chapter’s initiatives.

The website enables prospective members to sign-up; keep abreast of what is taking place in the local chapter and at Northern Caribbean University; make donations; and link to other Adventist entities.

Located in Mandeville, Jamaica, NCU is owned jointly by the Adventist (SDA) churches in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, and The Turks and Caicos Islands, 

The Cayman chapter of the Alumni Association of Northern Caribbean University re-launched on 18 June with the aim of contributing significantly to the Cayman community, among other goals.  The local chapter’s coordinating effort continues later this month when another general meeting takes place, on Thursday, 27 August, at the Cayman Academy Hall (adjacent to the SDA Conference Offices, off Walkers Road).  All interested persons are invited to the meeting that starts with a social networking hour at 6:30 pm.

NCU itself, which celebrated its hundredth birthday in 2007, places much emphasis on contributing to the strengthening of the social fabric of communities served by the university. 

The local alumni chapter aims to take advantage of these and other tools available through NCU.  “Our vision is that NCU’s social intervention programmes can be adapted to help support families and persons at risk in our own communities.  This will be an opportunity for NCU alumni to give back to our communities at home in Cayman,” explained Patricia Ebanks, president of the local chapter of the Alumni Association.

The Education Secretary for the Cayman Islands Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, Dr. Ivor Harry, agrees: “Through sponsorships of programmes available from the alma mater, the Cayman Chapter of the Alumni Association will offer an avenue for NCU graduates to make an important and needed contribution to the Cayman community.”

Among such available programmes is the Empowerment Training Project launched in 2010 by the university’s Community Counselling and Restorative Justice Centre (CCRJ).  The aims of the CCRJ’s Empowerment Training Project include supporting and training parents in their quest to achieve stronger, more supportive, responsible family environments; reducing teenage pregnancies and abuse, and neglect of children and youth; and fostering a stronger sense of self and commitment towards self-development among targets. 

“The proven track record of the Empowerment Training Project in achieving positive results in Jamaica’s schools and communities has created a demand for the programme in Jamaica and elsewhere, and we believe that it can have a similar impact here,” Pastor Harry says.

In addition to spearheading such social intervention programmes, the association aims ultimately to grant scholarships to Adventist youth to attend NCU, and to otherwise support the well-being of the alma mater.  Another key goal will be to offer opportunities for the educational, social, cultural and spiritual development of members of the local alumni chapter.

The Adventist church in the Cayman Islands is one of the fastest growing, with a membership of some 5,000.

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16 JUN 2015

With a view to contributing significantly to the Cayman community, the Cayman chapter of the alumni association of Northern Caribbean University will be re-launched on Thursday, 18 June. “With the large number of graduates here in the Cayman Islands, we believe that a local alumni chapter can make a significant difference to the social development of the Cayman Islands and for this reason we are particularly excited about this re-launch,” said Dr. Ivor Harry, Education  Secretary for the Cayman Islands Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

The university, which celebrated its hundredth birthday in 2007, places much emphasis itself on contributing to a strengthening of the social fabric of Jamaica in a number of collaborative efforts “The availability of these resources to the Cayman community is what makes this relaunch so exciting,” Dr. Harry said, pointing to one particular programme, “The Empowerment Training Project,” as offering potential for sponsorship by the Chapter for use in Cayman. 

The Empowerment Training Project was launched in 2010 by the university’s Community Counselling and Restorative Justice Centre (CCRJ).  The CCRJ is a community outreach entity operated by NCU since 2003 and works collaboratively with two Jamaica Government organisations – the Victim Support Unit and the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences. 

The CCRJ’s Empowerment Training Project, Dr. Harry says, can be easily adapted for use in Cayman.  More than 1,248 participants from over 25 communities and schools In Jamaica have benefitted from the project.  The aims of the project include achieving better educated and well-informed parents, and stronger, more supportive, responsible families; decline in teenage pregnancies; less abuse and neglect of children and youth; and a stronger sense of self and greater commitment towards self-development,  among other important social development targets.  

“The proven track record of this project in achieving positive results in Jamaica’s schools and communities has created a demand for the programme in Jamaica and elsewhere, and we believe that it can have a similar impact here,” Pastor Harry says.

Through sponsorships of projects such as this and others available from the alma mater, the Cayman Chapter of the Alumni Association, Pastor Harry says, offers an avenue for NCU graduates to make a real Explaining the resources and amenities available at NCU, Dr. Harry noted that the institution is headquartered in Mandeville, Jamaica, and operates extension campuses in Eastern and Western Jamaica.  Nearly 4,000 unique students from 26 countries are enrolled in its five colleges and one school The university is accredited by the UCJ (University Council, Jamaica), the same authority that accredits the University of the West Indies (UWI).  

“The majority of our programmes are accredited, and the others are in the process of being accredited by the UCJ.  In addition, the university administration is preparing for a self-study in pursuit of ‘institutional accreditation,’” said Dr. Trevor Gardner, President of NCU.  Institutional accreditation, a status that UWI itself only recently achieved, means that all the academic programmes and services as well as the operations of the institution meet the required standards of the national accrediting body within the country.  In essence, all the academic programmes of the university would be recognized internationally, Dr. Gardner said. “This would be a great accomplishment for NCU, as currently the only tertiary institution in Jamaica with full accreditation from the UCJ is the University of the West Indies,” said Dr. Gardner. Membership in the Cayman Chapter of the Alumni Association is open not only to alumni but to all friends of the university.  The chapter’s re-launch takes place on Thursday (18), at 6:30 pm, at the The Adventist church in the Cayman Islands is one of the fastest growing, with a membership of some 

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