December 14, 2003

Over 700 students were conferred certificates and degrees from 14 Diploma programmes, four Associate Degrees and one Bachelor Degree cohort, the IMP/UCJ Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Resource Management programme at the second annual Graduation and Awards Ceremony of the institute of Management Sciences/ Institute of Management & Production (IMS/IMP), held recently at the University of The West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus.

Ambassador Dr. Dennis J. Gayle senior advisor to the Pro Vice Chancellor, UWI, and keynote speaker, charged graduates to be the change they want to see in the world. He encouraged them to be both clear-sighted vision and the capacity for effective action, in support of their personal goals as well as those of the Jamaican society. Ambassador Gayle also highlighted the impact of the process of globalization on the international environment for higher education.

The former vice chancellor of UWI said, "the region's future economic growth will be principally dependent upon human resources and effective knowledge management and thus upon the Caribbean 's tertiary education institutions."

IMS/IMP chairman and chief executive officer, Winston Adams, in his address, spoke to the institutions efforts to continue to effectively respond to the increasing demands for high quality education at affordable costs. He stated the IMS/IMP, being cognizant of its responsibility for quality assurance in the delivery of all of its programmes, both locally and those offered in conjunction with its overseas partners, has begun to engage in a process of upgrading and reinventing itself so as to become more relevant and responsive to this new global paradigm. Mr. Adams also encouraged graduates to take courage in all that they do and not to fear mistakes but rather to fear only the absence of creative responses to those mistakes.

Howard McCalla, the IMS/IMP 2003, valedictorian, congratulated the graduating class on fulfilling their own individual needs for "educational upgrading". He encouraged his fellow graduates above all to embrace the concept of "lifelong learning" as they looked ahead and to take full advantage of opportunities as they arose.