A cooperative effort

LLU enters partnership with Northern Caribbean University

Partnerships at Loma Linda University are entered into at many levels. It is routine for faculty members to partner with colleagues from similar disciplines around the United States and the world. Recently, the Graduate School department of microbiology and molecular genetics entered into a cooperative program with Northern Caribbean University (formerly known as West Indies College), located in Mandeville, Jamaica. Northern Caribbean University is a coeducational boarding school situated on 200 acres of land about halfway between Kingston and Montego Bay. Northern Caribbean University received university status from the government of Jamaica in early 1999. As a part of its new university status, Northern Caribbean University is partnering with Loma Linda University in establishing a master of science degree in biology with an emphasis in microbiology and molecular biology. "Loma Linda welcomes this opportunity to cooperate with Northern Caribbean University in their new master's degree program," says Barry L. Taylor, PhD, vice president for research affairs, and former chair, department of microbiology and molecular genetics in the Graduate School, who is overseeing the partnership project. "We expect that this partnership between our two institutions will provide research space and mentoring for up to 12 students from Northern Caribbean University each year as our cooperative effort is developed." It is anticipated that the students who enroll in Northern Caribbean University's microbiology and molecular genetics program will complete their basic course work in Jamaica and then come to Loma Linda for one year. Three or four students are anticipated to be accepted during the first session at Loma Linda beginning January, 2001; more Northern Caribbean University students will receive their training at Loma Linda as the cooperative effort progresses.
		Northern Caribbean University is located at Mandeville, in central Jamaica. Approximately 2,000 students enroll each year at the university.
		Students from Northern Caribbean University will complete basic course work for a master of science degree in biology in Jamaica before coming to Loma Linda University for about a year of training. Pictured is the Hiram S. Walters Resource Centre.
		Flags representing a few of the countries represented in the student body at Northern Caribbean University greet visitors to the campus.

"It is hoped that most students will be able to complete a research project and thesis or publishable paper in approximately 12 months," Dr. Taylor says.

"We expect that some of the students who complete the master's level program through Northern Caribbean University will then apply for admission in Loma Linda's doctoral program in these fields."

Northern Caribbean University faculty are committed to encouraging the students who enter the cooperative program to engage in research projects to benefit the economic development of Jamaica.

"They hope their students will look for solutions to problems in the agricultural and endangered species arena," Dr. Taylor relates.

A team of four individuals headed by Leslie N. Pollard, DMin, special assistant to the president for diversity, made an initial visit to the Jamaican institution in early October, 1999, to work out the partnership agreement between the two institutions.

Other team members included Dr. Taylor; W. Barton Rippon, PhD, dean, Graduate School; and Hansel M. Fletcher, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.

As part of the working venture, the Loma Linda University School of Medicine department of pathology and anatomy donated an electron microscope to Northern Caribbean University to use in the new master's degree program.

The microscope was disassembled at Loma Linda University and shipped to Jamaica where it was reassembled by a field service engineer who had maintained the Siemans electron microscope at Loma Linda.

With the donation of the microscope to Northern Caribbean University, this makes only the second electron microscope in Jamaica.

"This cooperative venture is consistent with the mission of Loma Linda University," Dr. Taylor says, "where we assist our sister institutions where and when we are able."

The president of Northern Caribbean University, Herbert J. Thompson, PhD, is very familiar with Loma Linda, Dr. Taylor states. Dr. Thompson received his master's degree in physiology from Loma Linda University's Graduate School in June, 1979.

Dr. Taylor believes that both institutions will benefit from this agreement. "Not only is this program consistent with the worldwide mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but we expect that the students will contribute to scientific publications that will enhance both Loma Linda University and Northern Caribbean University," he says.

LLU will offer the research training and mentoring at no cost to Northern Caribbean University students.

The island university has an enrollment of more than 2,000 students. This is an increase of approximately 800 students more than last year's enrollment when the institution was a college.

The institution was founded in 1919 as West Indian Training School, when it opened as a secondary school with five boarding students in a rented house. The following year, the school admitted about 20 students.

In June, 1923, the first class of three students graduated.

In 1924, the school upgraded from an academy to a junior college. In 1959, the school became a four-year college and adopted the name West Indies College, a name it kept until last year when it obtained university status.

Northern Caribbean University has a full-time faculty and staff of approximately 150. Its 2,000 students come from more than 40 countries around the world-- most students, of course, coming from surrounding islands in the Caribbean. All classes are taught in English.

The vast majority of students at Northern Caribbean University are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. One out of every 13 residents in Jamaica list their membership with the Adventist Church.

"We are looking forward to implementing this cooperative venture," Dr. Taylor says, "and hope to find other areas where it might be mutually beneficial for us to cooperate."

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