UB’s Research Conference Engages Minds, Empowers Success
A series of papers were presented and discussed today at the annual research conference of the University of Belize. The topics varied encompassing many facets of development of the country as well as issues of governance. The papers, according to UB, won’t be collecting dust, but will be available to interested parties. Here is News Five’s Duane Moody.
Duane Moody, Reporting
“Engaging Minds, Empowering Success” was the theme for the ninth edition of a research conference held annually by the University of Belize. Today, the conference attracted students from across all four campuses and looked at various areas as it relates to the development of the country. The research papers being presented touched on micro-financing for entrepreneurs as well as alcoholism at the university campus in Punta Gorda. Micro-business challenges in Belmopan and the relevance of a bachelor’s degree in social sciences in hotels and resorts were also discussed.
Bernard Watler
Dr. Bernard Watler, Dean, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, UB
“This annual research conference started in 2011 and it was the brainchild of one of our professors at the time, Doctor Jane Perriott. At that time she was teaching a course by the name of research methods for the social sciences. And what she found out was that within that course, the students were doing some excellent research pieces and she felt that these pieces needed to be shown to the rest of the Belizean community, if not to the rest of the world. The students that were doing thesis, which is a requirement for some students for graduation from the bachelor’s programme. So we decided let us showcase these very relevant research that these students were doing on the Belizean landscape to the Belizean community.”
One of the presenters for the day is Frank Paco Smith. While Smith is well known as the chair for the Belize Progressive Party, in his capacity as an educator today, he shared his literature review named, “The Enemy Within; Selective Governance Practices, Belize’s Greatest Security Threat.”
Frank Paco Smith
Frank Paco Smith, Presenter
“The research in and of itself looks at six different selective governance practices that have taken place since independence and fundamentally it looks at key elements such as security, good governance—the lack thereof—and other elements such as the fundamentals that underscore good governance. And then it takes a look at the different instances. The reason or the purpose behind this particular research—which I must say remains a working progress cause I can see where I can dove tail off into other aspects with regards to this particular research—but the fundamental thing that I wish to get across is to start a dialogue across the citizenry so that they can appreciate the importance that governance and good governance holds for Belize in terms of our sustainable development.”
According to the Dean of the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Doctor Bernard Watler, the information gathered from all research papers can be accessed by the populace.
Dr. Bernard Watler
“After these papers are presented, we store them in our libraries at the University of Belize. But in addition to that, we are working on getting these researches on our UB website so that those individuals out there who are interested can access these researches, go through them, see the findings and in some cases take the recommendations or policy developed out of the research to assist them in their own cause.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
