In August the School
of Nursing and Allied
Health Professions
welcomed a new
Chairperson, Ms. Laura
Knowles, following the
resignation of Dr. Shane Neely-
Smith. One of Ms Knowles'first
acts as Chair was to attend the
American Council on Education
conference. Convened in San
Antonio, Texas, the conference
proved especially useful for new
chairs.
 January 2005 saw Ms. Shirley
Curtis coordinating a midwifery


programme, one of the school's
cyclical offerings. This is the first
time since 2001 that Princess
Margaret Hospital has asked the
school to run this programme.
Twenty-one students are enrolled
at the present.
 In the fall of 2005 another
cyclical programme commenced:
the Trained Clinical Nurses
Programme. Fifty students are
enrolled and Ms. Fay Johnson,
seconded from the I i!'ti, of
Health, is the coordinator.
 Two faculty members, Leah
Rolle and Yvonne McKenzie, are


currently at the University of the
West Indies in Jamaica pursuing
master's degrees in nursing.
 The Lippincott Company,
specialist publishers of materials
for the health care industry,
donated a number of books on
nursing to the faculty.
 In November 2005 nineteen
third-year student nurses sat the
Nursing Council Examination,
an assessment, which determines
whether or not the student nurse
is legally employable. The school
is happy to announce that there
was a 100% success rate. I


School of Nursina & Allied Health Professions


From the RESEARCH UNIT
 The COB Research Unit exists to advance "research through the provision of
quality research services" (COBRU Mission Statement) and within the last twelve months members
of the unit and lecturers from a number of different departments have actively fulfilled that mission. By attracting
clients from within The Bahamas and from overseas, the unit has designed study methods and facilitated work on
projects as diverse as a market research study for local wines and spirits dealer, Bristol Cellars, to "Determine the
Relationship Between a Decline in Sales Volume and Market Variables in Distributing the Product HPNOTIQ_
in New Providence"; a Ministry of Tourism Hospitality Industry Human Resources Needs Assessment and a
study entitled "Determining the Regulatory Impediments to the Establishment of Small to Medium Enterprises
in New Providence" for the Nhn 111 tr\' of Finance.
 The market research study was conducted by Ms. Denise Samuels of the COBRU, Mr. Michael Rolle and
Mrs. Marcia Seymour-Miles, lecturers in the School of Business. The Small Business Enterprises Study was
conducted by N I Denise Samuels, Mr. Daniel Thompson, lecturer in the School of Business and Dr. Joan
Vanderpool, Director of Research and Grants at COB (also of CHMI).
 The researchers and consultants for the Hospitality Industry Study that involved all stakeholders and
which is likely to have a far-reaching impact on that industry were Faith Butler, Ph.D, Lecturer in the School
of Education; Mrs. Valderine Hamilton and Sophia Rolle, Ph.D., Lecturers in the Culinary & Hospitality
Management Institute and Chef Vanessa Riley, Lecturer and Apprentice Coordinator (also of CHMI; School
of Business faculty Olivia Saunders, Senior Lecturer, Economics and Jose Velasquez, Ph.D., as well as COBRU
personnel Denise Samuels and Dr. Joan Vanderpool.
 When we add to this other research studies that will be reported in next month's paper, the monthly meetings
 of The Research Edge Forum Series and the ongoing research training and professional
 development in which members of the unit regularly engage, we can see that this
 small but deeply committed unit is contributing a great deal to the College of The
 Bahamas' bid for university status by fall 2007. 1


15... The ( :C' of The Bahamas