New meaning for CARIMAC
Innovative programmes designed to drive growth
ALONG WITH a new name and structure has come more entertainment-related programmes at the institution which began in 1974 as the Caribbean Institute of Mass Communication (CARIMAC). After morphing years later into the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication, it last month became the Caribbean School of Media and Communication, maintaining the acronym CARIMAC throughout its existence at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.
“We cannot hold back the march of technology; we have to train and gear ourselves for the future,” CARIMAC’s director, Professor Hopeton Dunn, told me recently.
Two years ago, the institute launched the bachelor in fine arts (BFA) in animation and the BFA in film production. Shortly to come on stream are sports commentary and analytics, as well as media culture and sports. “It is important to train another generation in the kind of sport commentary and analysis that was available in the past, now that Jamaica, especially, and the Caribbean, generally, are doing so well in sport, particularly track and field,” Dunn said.
Another cutting-edge, multipurpose programme he wants to develop and grow quickly is social media marketing. “We just can’t produce enough students in this area to meet the demands. Once, social media was the province of the more frivolous interchange of young people. Now all of the social media tools are being utilised in corporate, commercial and government communication flow and promotion,” Dunn said.
SELF-SUSTAINING PROGRAMME
Dunn was particularly excited about that programme because it would be self-sustaining. “We at CARIMAC are interested in sustainability,” he said. “The university is no longer able to rely on government to provide large subventions to educate students.”
Calling CARIMAC “one of the more self-financing institutions on the campus”, Dunn added, “Our programmes lend themselves to that sort of income generation. We now earn more from our selffinancing programmes than we receive annually from the university in terms of its contribution to the School.”
Dunn stressed that the Western Jamaica campus in Montego Bay, where CARIMAC already has two degree programmes parallel to ones at Mona, is part of the growth effort. “We will be recruiting heavily from other Caribbean countries to get students for our Western Jamaica Campus,” he said.