News

On 13th July, Charles Sturt University Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES) in Australia, and the Cayman Islands Customs and Border Control Services (CBC) began a new collaborative venture with the start of an 8-week course on Intelligence-Led Risk and Compliance Management.

Twenty Cayman Islands CBC employees from the rank of Deputy Directors to Senior CBC officers undertook the course which was delivered on-line using the Moodle learning management system. The programme had representatives from every Portfolio section of the Department.

The course involved the study of on-line materials, four webinars delivered by course tutor Mark Harrison, and assessment activities including a workplace project. This course provided participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to identify, analyze and evaluate risks relating to their administration’s objectives, and to identify effective risk-based compliance management strategies in a variety of workplace settings.

Students involvement in the course was very enthusiastic and engaging. The facilitators hoped that this will be the start of a long and fruitful collaboration between CBC and the CCES.

CBC Director Charles Clifford states, “ I am very pleased with this partnership with CCES as it is helping CBC to fulfil a commitment to use an intelligence-led, risk management approach in our procedures rather than the traditional gatekeepers method of operation. This cultural transition within CBC is the cornerstone of our new 5 year Strategic Plan which will be launched this year and therefore this partnership with CCES is timely and tactical.”

Course participant and Deputy Director Marlon Bodden who has portfolio responsibility for training explains – “Training is critical to business outcomes. The context sets the stage for success or failure, so it is important for leaders to model what they expect all staff to do. Even well-trained and motivated employees enjoy the camaraderie and satisfaction of seeing senior leaders experiencing the rigor of a classroom environment. This training will significantly help us to move forward in our intelligence- led risk management approach of operation”.  

Senior Customs and Border Control Officer- Don Parsons, a course participant said,  “I benefited a lot but was particularly gratified and encouraged by the inclusion of senior managers on the course. Their  participation was welcomed as we saw them trying to work on their assignments, interacting in the webinars and discussion forum and thus provided a  boost to our morale. Senior Managers also offered their assistance if staff needed any additional help.”

On successful completion of the course, each participant will receive a Certificate of Completion issued by CCES, which may be used for recognition of prior learning for further academic study in customs and border management at Charles Sturt University.