Caribbean Maritime Institute
“the Institution of Choice”
The Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) has had a memorable year with many triumphs and accomplishments. These would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the Minister of Transport and Mining, Lester ‘Mike’ Henry and his team at the Ministry, who have provided guidance, endorsement and advocacy throughout these past months. This partnership has resulted in the achievement of key milestones. Chief among these are the following:
Approval of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) Bill
The Ministry of Transport and Mining successfully piloted the CMU Bill, which was approved in Parliament in January 2017 and was a momentous occasion. After years of campaigning, the transition will become a reality before the end of 2017. This Bill establishes the CMU as a degree granting institution and defines it as a specialized university providing education, training and consultancy in maritime, logistics, engineering, customs, immigration and related fields. As a university, the institution will also be embarking on a physical development and expansion programme to enable it to increase its student population to approximately 4,000 persons. This will strengthen its capacity to offer specialised maritime related services such as dry docking; ship building and construction; naval architecture; underwater welding; marine electronics repair; aviation and ground transportation repair; marine equipment repair and maintenance; plumbing; and carpentry.
Scholarships Programme
The CMI has connected directly with high schools to ensure access to specialised higher education through scholarships and developed a pilot partnership with the Denbigh High School. This partnership secured 10 scholarships for high school graduates to pursue bachelor degrees. The Denbigh Scholarship programme will be used as the template for other similar development programmes.
FACT Centre
The establishment of a FESTO Authorised and Certified Training (FACT) Centre at the CMU which the Ministry of Transport and Mining has long supported, as an avenue of economic development, will result in highpaying jobs in the maritime and logistics industry thereby contributing to increased revenues for the country. The FACT Centre will serve the needs of the wider Caribbean and dovetail seamlessly with Jamaica becoming one of the main logistics hubs in the region. Besides the maritime and harbour/port industry, the FACT Centre will focus on the improvement of national skills and knowledge in the field of industrial automation and mechatronics. This method integrates technologies such as pneumatics, industrial safety, programmable logic control and a full automation laboratory, addressing commissioning, troubleshooting, closed loop control and robotics. This facility is currently being constructed at the main campus and is scheduled to be completed by June 2017.
Increased Enrolment
There is a growing demand for the CMI programme offerings and this is as a direct result of the employability of its graduates - 85 per cent of whom gain employment (locally and abroad), start their own businesses or matriculate into higher studies within six months of graduating. The student population now stands at over 3000 with 24 core programmes, along with numerous customised courses. This figure is expected to increase in September 2017 (in the new academic year).
36th Graduation
The CMI hosted its 36th annual graduation ceremony on November 10, 2016 at the Jamaica Conference Centre. On this occasion, approximately 300 internationally certified, industry ready graduates, received their prestigious degree certificates, to further shape the logistics and maritime landscapes. This year was the first graduation exercise that was held under the leadership of the recently appointed Board of Directors.
Maritime Awareness Week
The Maritime community, both locally and internationally once again celebrated World Maritime Day under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under the theme “Shipping – Indispensable to the World” during September 26 and 30, 2016. Jamaica played its part by undertaking activities to create awareness locally, which included a service at the Haven Hill Baptist Church, a two (2) day open house career exposition and Guidance Counsellor logistics Symposium hosted by the CMI and the Lantern release abroad the Caribbean Queen hosted by Women in Maritime Association Caribbean to recognise World Maritime Day.
Mokpo National Maritime University
During the period, the institution actively pursued its capacity building thrust through international certification of its management team. Two members of the CMI management team; the Director of the School of Academic Studies and the Head of Logistics pursued a one-month training programme in Shipping and Logistics in South Korea. They also secured a partnership arrangement with Mokpo National Maritime University through the signing of a memorandum of understanding. The key tenets of the MOU are: - Joint research initiatives and programme offerings especially doctorial studies. A new Doctorate of philosophy will be offered jointly in September 2017 - Exchange programmes for staff and students between
institutions - Appointment of visiting professors at both institutions - Comparative analysis of curriculum and market demands towards the development of new programmes especially in logistics and engineering - Placement opportunities for CMI cadets pursuing
marine transportation and marine engineering A part of this enhanced collaboration will include offering Korean as a foreign language at the Institute under its new name, the Caribbean Maritime University. The CMI’s role, beyond institutional development, is to facilitate a larger more expansive partnership with the maritime and shipping sectors in Korea. The Ministry of Transport played an integral role in this agreement and supported it as a part of the country’s economic growth strategy. From this initial institutional agreement, Minister Henry met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Jamaica, Mr Lim Jong Seonto, on August 5, 2016 at the Ministry and engage in talks about bilateral collaborations, using CMI as a vehicle of transformation and deepened partnership. Additionally, the Minister was invited to join other Ministers of Transport from around the world, to be invited to participate in a transport and logistics conference hosted by the Busan Port and its partners.
American Caribbean Maritime Foundation
The American Caribbean Maritime Foundation (ACMF) was established with a mission of providing scholarships for Caribbean students and support for the development and sustainability of the maritime industry within the Caribbean. During the year, the CMI positioned itself to receive support from the AMCF, it being the only institution of its kind in Jamaica and the fact that many of its students are from challenging economic circumstances.
Minister Henry was again actively involved in engaging
the Foundation to muster support for future maritime professionals. He later led a team to a New York-based meeting to strengthen Jamaica’s appeal for funding. During his visit, Minister Henry met with several executives of the Foundation, including Mr James Luce, president of the Luce Foundation, an entity which is keen to establish a Jamaican Education Fund to be managed by Goldman Sachs.
CMI UWI Partnership
On September 8, 2016, the CMI and the University of the West Indies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate joint research, programme offerings and sharing of resources at UWI’s open campuses islandwide. The UWI Open Campus, appropriately fits into the country’s wider thrust to advance schools and cater to the needs of students through collaboration among key stakeholders. The agreement paves the way for future collaboration between both institutions in the areas of programme development, instructional resource sharing, teaching and research. The partnership creates a powerful means for engaging maritime skills and academics through research oriented curricula. Additionally, it supports the bid to sustain, expand and strengthen capacities across the institutions and to encourage the development of innovative initiatives. It also encourages the sharing of expertise to supplement internal competencies and broker novel areas of specialization.
Socrates Awards
Executive Director, Dr Fritz Pinnock, recently won the Socrates Award for outstanding achievements in professional activities and contribution to intellectual development in government management, business and the economy of today’s society. This is a significant achievement not just for Dr Pinnock as leader of the CMI, but also a win for the entire country as he is the first Jamaican to be awarded this prestigious award. He is now considered ONE of the WORLD’S 20 BEST PROFESSIONALS FROM ALL CONTINENTS.
Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation
Both the Executive Director, Dr Fritz Pinnock, and the Deputy Executive Director, Mrs Vivette Grant were the recipients of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education.
The Majestic Falcon Award
This award was received for quality and excellence and was presented to the CMI in 2016.
International Accreditation
Universal accreditation for all programmes (in logistics, engineering, customs processes, freight forwarding and immigration, marine transportation and engineering, security administration and management and other customised industry programmes) from the Accreditation Service for International Universities and Colleges (ASIC, UK).
Representing Jamaica in Sports
The Ministry was pleased to learn that the CMI Cheerleaders (The CMI Spatans) represented Jamaica in January 2017 and the World Cheerleading Championship at emerged the winners in the following categories (out of 35 universities and 300 teams): Open Mascot Exhibition Large Co-ed Division The All Girls Division The CMI Cheerleading Team was the first and only University team representing the Caribbean at the Florida Championships and was placed within the top 10 schools overall.