Dr. Karl Dawson addressing members of the media and other attendees at the press conference held earlier today, August 30, 2012.

The briefing was held in the Video Conference Room at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.

According to Dr. Dawson, as part of the strategic plan laid out for the college, the college mission statement was revised and a vision statement is now in place.

Mission Statement

H. Lavity Stoutt Community College provides quality higher education and lifelong learning that is responsive to changing community needs, the global economy and evolving technology. The offerings promote individual growth, economic, social and cultural development.

Vision Statement

H. Lavity Stoutt Community College will be a regional college of choice for higher education and lifelong learning. It will aid in the improvement of life, a vibrant economy and nation building.

Dr. Dawson further stated, that in executing a plan, the college must have competent people on board, and in light of this, the college has recently filled two positions with capable individuals.

The new Dean of Work Force Training is Mr. Derry Hodge and the new Vice President of the college is Dr. Bryan Penn.

The College, which opened its doors to the public in 1990, initiated the process to become accredited by The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in 2004 and subsequently made its first application for candidacy to the Commission in 2006.

HLSCC’s President added that “Accreditation was something that was always seen as desirable by the institution... but we were way out of line, we were just a new institution, there was a lot of ground work to be done, and a lot was done through the years. As far as accreditation is a concern, it was visionary for the college at the time, [as] it was not something other colleges in the region were thinking about.”

He added that “coincidentally, the college started in 1990 and that was the same year of the inauguration of the Associations of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions Act (ACTI) and one of their aims was to look towards the development of recognition for the region. In the academic year 2014/15 according to schedule that is when we hope we receive another team visiting to assess whether or not we are ready to be accredited. In 2006, our application was received by the commission, where they responded in 2007 and indicated some areas we need to address before we can be accredited.”

Completion of the strategic plan is very high on the college’s agenda Dawson added, “one of the things to be achieved by the institution, is for us to be accredited and things will be monitored to see how we are doing in achieving this goal.”