UTech, Jamaica’s impact – teaching, research and service
Impacting ICT development
AS NEW technologies emerged requiring effective integration for social and economic productivity, the curricula within the Faculty of Engineering and Computing have been made adaptable to deliver the requisite knowledge and skills for the labour force. The curriculum has been revised and new courses have been added in Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, and other areas needed for the digital age of Industry 4.0.
CONTRIBUTION TO ARCHITECTURE IN THE CARIBBEAN
The Faculty of The Built Environment maintains a close relationship with the industries it serves to attract keen interest from governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders to collaborate in consultancies, research, and special projects that impact the built environment. Sustainable development remains at the core.
OUR PLACE IN LAW
The Faculty of Law opened its doors to the first cohort of students pursuing the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) on January 12, 2009.
UTech, Jamaica has made the study of Law more accessible to Jamaicans with its flexible timetable, which allows students to remain in Jamaica for the duration of the Bachelor of Laws; choose classes either in the days or in the evenings to accommodate students who work during the day – without having to leave Jamaica. The faculty looks to the external environment to see the needs in society and to how these can be filled. This is exemplified by courses like Sports Law, Entertainment Law, and Media Law.
OUR IMPACT ON ORAL HEALTH IN JAMAICA
UTech, Jamaica has been at the forefront of revolutionizing oral health education and training in the country, leaving an indelible mark on Jamaica’s oral health landscape. The impact of UTech, Jamaica’s College of Oral Health Sciences extends far beyond the confines of academia. Through extensive community service and outreach initiatives, faculty, staff, and students have made tangible contributions to oral health development in Jamaica. From remote villages to urban centres, UTech, Jamaica’s presence is felt through free clinics, oral health education programmes, and preventive care initiatives.
LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC HEALTH
UTech, Jamaica is the only local institution that trains public health inspectors and the only regional institution that trains public health nurses, two key professionals that have served as vanguards of the nation’s health. Since 2000, the public health training courses produce an average of 30 public health inspection and 15 public health nursing graduates per year, positively impacting the lives and health outcomes of individuals and communities in our nation.
FULFILLING THE SHORTAGE IN THE NURSING AND MIDWIFERY PROFESSIONS
According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN) (2021), 13,000 nurses will be required by 2030 to bridge the nursing shortage gap, globally. In Jamaica, the health system is functioning with less than 60% of the nurses needed. UTech, Jamaica prides itself on the training of work-ready nurses to reduce this gap. The Caribbean School of Nursing has graduated 1,770 nursing professionals. Our graduates are sought after, across Jamaica, regionally and internationally, and are making their contributions in the public-health system, private-health sector, schools, and industry. Graduates are working as clinicians, charge nurses, educators, entrepreneurs, and are being recognised and awarded as exemplary leaders at their places of work.
FROM INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT TO SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT
In September 1958, the university recorded its opening and beginning as the Jamaica Institute of Technology with one of the four departments being the Institutional Management Department. The name of the department remained when the forename of the institution was changed to the College of Arts Science and Technology (CAST) in 1959 but was later amended to the Institutional Management and Food Science Department to incorporate the food-science courses. However, in 1990, the department was renamed the Hospitality and Food Science Department to reflect a new focus and subsequent response to emergent training needs for the development of tourism in Jamaica. The name of the school was once again changed in 1995 to the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM), coinciding with the name change of the institution from CAST to the University of Technology, Jamaica. The name change to SHTM was also in keeping with the growing demands for training at the baccalaureate level, not only locally and regionally, but internationally. The school was positioned to fill the existing gap of trained professionals at the supervisory and managerial levels in hospitality and tourism, parallel to the growth of the industry.
UTECH, JAMAICA’S PIONEERING ROLE IN SHAPING THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN JAMAICA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGION
The UTech, Jamaica-trained pharmacists have been satisfying employment needs locally and regionally. In Jamaica, over 500 registered community pharmacies, all tertiary-, secondary- and primary-care institutions have employed pharmacists trained by the institution.
IMPACT ON TVET EDUCATION IN JAMAICA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGION
For over 50 years, the Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies, through The School of Technical and Vocational Education (SOTAVE), has played a key role in national development by training TVET teachers for the secondary and higher-education sectors in Jamaica and the region. The School of Technical and Vocational Education continues to support the Ministry of Education of Jamaica and the education system by preparing TVET teachers in industrial technology, business and computer studies, and food service production management. Over the last 15 years, SOTAVE has trained an average of 177 TVET teachers per year. This amounts to a total of 2,656 teachers.