Three new UCCI board members appointed

(CMR) The Ministry of Education (MoE) has announced the appointment of a new chairman and two new members to the University College of Cayman Islands (UCCI) Board of Governors, effective from 1 September.

Gilbert McLean has been named Chairman of the Board. Other newly appointed board members are Ronnie Dunn and Nichelle Scott. Existing board member Jared Awe has been appointed as Deputy Chair of the Board.

Minister for Education, the Honorable Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, welcomed the new appointees.

“I’m pleased to welcome Mr. Gilbert McLean, as Chairman and Mrs. Nichelle Scott and Mr. Ronnie Dunn as members of the Board for the University College of the Cayman Islands,” said Minister O’Connor-Connolly.

“I am confident that their collective experience, along with the breadth of expertise, experience, and skill of the existing members of the Board, will ensure that the UCCI is positioned to continue providing accessible and affordable, quality education to youth and adults across the Cayman Islands,” she added.

 Mclean succeeds Mark Scotland, who served as Chairman since May 2019. Ronnie Dunn replaces Matthew Tibbetts as representative of the Minister of Finance. Jared Awe succeeds Shomari Scott as Deputy Chairman, while Nichelle Scott replaces Awe as an ordinary member.

Minister O’Connor-Connolly thanked the outgoing board members for their service. “We are grateful for the service of our departing Board members,” the Education Minister said. “Thank you all for your outstanding leadership and dedicated service amidst a time of great uncertainty.”

McLean, a former Government school educator, has also been employed to the Civil Service in varying leadership capacities, including Government Training Officer, Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Works, Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Planning, Lands and Natural Resources, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Aviation and Trade.

He also served as a Legislator for 12 years, the last four of which he was designated Minister responsible for Health, Agriculture, Aviation, District Administration, and Works.

His experience is not limited to the public sector. Mclean has also worked as a Civic and Government Consultant, Executive Director of the Cayman Islands Hotel and Condo Association, Human Resource Manager with Quarry Products Ltd, and a Talk Show Host with Rooster Radio.

More recently, he served as a member of the National Security Council and as Chairman of the Health Insurance Commission. The newly appointed Chairman expressed his gratitude for his new role.

“I thank the Honourable Minister for Education for the opportunity to serve in this capacity and look forward to meeting the other members of the Board and taking a careful and detailed look at what currently exists to build on it and to change those things that may require improvement,” he said

Dunn also brings a wealth of experience to the board. A licensed Certified Public Accountant with over 20 years post qualification experience,  Dunn has worked with the Cayman Islands Government for over a decade. Within Government, he has held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Director of Budget and Management and acted as Accountant General. The current Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Health Services Authority (HSA) has also served on the Civil Aviation Authority and the National Roads Authority boards and as Chairman for the Government’s Central Tenders Committee (now PPC).

Nichelle Scott also has the experience, which is expected to benefit the board. A Certified Public Accountant, Scott is Manager of Customer Services at the Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC), responsible for billing, collections, account management, and metering. She holds an MBA with a concentration in accounting and a minor in management information systems from the University of Miami. She has also been the Chief Financial Officer of CUC’s subsidiary, DataLink, since 2012.