Mr Ikbal Jannif, (centre front row, white shirt) and on his right is the Hon. Fiame N. Mata'afa.
In the second row is Mrs Fekita 'Utoikamanu (third from left) and on the far right in the
front row is Tonga's Minister of Education, Dr 'Ana Taufe'ulungaki.

The University of the South Pacific Council meeting in Vanuatu from 16-17 May appointed Mr Ikbal Jannif of Fiji, as the new Pro-Chancellor and the chairman of the USP Council.

Ikbal has been the Deputy Chair of the Council since 2007, and is taking over from the Hon. Fiame N. Mata'afa, the Minister of Justice for Samoa, who has been the Pro-Chancellor and the Chair of the Council since 2006.

The new Deputy Chair of the Council is Mrs Fekita 'Utoikamanu of Tonga. Fekita is the current Deputy Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

The Council meeting was attended by government representatives of the 12 member countries, the Vice-Chancellor and President, academic staff, students, community and business leaders; and representatives of Australia and New Zealand.

During the two days meeting there was a half-day Strategic Planning Consultation Workshop on seven priorities to be included in the USP's six-year Strategic Plan 2013-2018.

The seven priorities to be presented to the November council meeting for approval were:

1. Learning and teaching
2. Student support
3. Research and internationalization
4. Information and communication technology
5. Regional and community engagement
6. Human resources
7. Governance, management and continuous improvement.

The Council also approved the following:

• That member country contributions of $47,946,642 for 2012 are maintained for each of the years 2013-2015
• Requests the University Grants Committee to call on development partners to increase their assistance and support the University's aspiration to move from good to excellent
• An Observer Status for the Asian Development Bank for the duration of the loan period. The Council had approved the seeking of a loan from ADB in November 2011 for a number of capital projects
• Adoption and implementation of the 8/8/8 degree structure effective from January 1, 2013
• Adoption of a Credit Point System, effective from January 1, 2013
• The new Bachelor Degree, Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma nomenclature, effective for all students beginning their programme in 2013
• Minimum duration of Joint Degrees at 5 years
• Establishment of a formal and regular monitoring and review process of the implementation of these initiatives.