UTech, Jamaica 2015-16 Annual Report

Page 94 University of Technology, Jamaica ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT DIVISION COMMUNITY SERVICE & D VELOPMENT cont’d Hanover – 3 projects; St Ann – 2 projects; and St Thomas & St. Mary - 1 project each. F ive (5) projects are medical missions/clinics which will be providing a range of services, for example, heart screening, vision screening, dental screening, audiology screening, blood pressure check, blood sugar test, foot care for diabetics etc; t en (10) projects are education-based. One (1) project is maintenance- based and will address general clean up and repairs to a medical health centre. Avasant Digital Employment Initiative: June 22,2015 The division successfully partnered with the Avasant Foundation - a Youth Digital Employment initiative - to deliver a six-week pilot training program for thirty (30) community students, as part of the community service and development outreach. The programme, which was launched in June 2015, came to an end in August 2015, providing six weeks of training to 29 underserved youths from the Kingston/St Andrew region, inclusive of Papine. At the end of the programme, 27 persons graduated, 25 were offered jobs in the industry; one (1) had to wait until age 18 to start working and one (1) was offered a job but chose to pursue tertiary education . Internal Community Service Activities: The division continued to implement a number of projects and programmes geared at bringing together an inter-professional group of UTech, Ja., of faculty, staff and students to foster service-learning collaborations, and to recognize and reward excellence in community service learning within UTech, Jamaica. In support of this, two initiatives were pursued as follows:-  Ubuntu Group: As part of the divisional mandate to foster volunteerism, community service and development, another community service initiative of the division is the formation of the “Ubuntu” Group. Using the South African concept of “Ubuntu”, the object of the initiative is to create a better understanding of the interconnectedness Graduates of the Avasant Youth Digital Employment Initiative pose for a group photograph with stakeholders of Avasant Foundation after the ceremony on August 4, 2015 at the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), Papine Campus.