The president of Bermuda College yesterday congratulated participants in the Strategic Direction Initiative programme and promised to start implementing suggestions by the end of the year.

Dr. Charles Green was addressing participants in the programme at the Bermuda College and described the day?s events as ?a great success?.

Members of the public, businesses and Government officials made up the group of some 200 who participated in workshops discussing ways in which the college could improve.

Dr. Green told the group that the day?s events had been an ?eye-opener? for him and he was pleased to have sat in on group discussions and heard about the college?s successes and well as its failures.

A special committee, set up in September last year, drew up a list of questions covering a variety of topics which were discussed by participants.

Some of these included ways in which the college could better market itself, the role of the college in technical education to the adequacy, quality and quantity of current programmes and the preparation of students for employment in Bermuda.

A summary of all the suggestions stemming from the workshop was made available at the end of the day.

In the communications section, participants felt that the media could be used more in marketing the college and that the college wasn?t selling itself as much as it should.

One group also felt that current salaries offered by the Hospitality industry largely influenced the number of Bermudian students who pursued careers in that field, while another group felt that an education type column in the local newspaper could be beneficial to the college which had suffered some ?media bashing? in the past.

Groups also felt that there was a lack of public support for public education and that a strategic communication plan was needed which involved parents.

As to the role and function of the Two Year Community College, groups felt that more accredited baccalaureate and graduate degrees were needed at the college as well as training in the medical profession and that courses should be based on career trends.

Groups felt that the college needed to cater to the needs of all Bermudians and not just the academically strong and that technical courses were needed to keep Bermuda running ? transport, electricity, butchers, mechanics or plumbers as well the IT industry.

They also felt that science and accounting programmes needed to be increased and tied to the needs of business and technology in Bermuda and that the college needed to ensure that students were able to enter any profession upon successful completion of any program.

It was also felt that day care needed to be provided and weekend courses would be beneficial to non-traditional students and that on-campus housing for international students needed to be considered.

Dr. Green said the college would be analysing all the information and would be meeting within two weeks to draw up a plan of action at which time he would be meeting with the College Board.

?I hope to have a plan of action approved before the end of the year so that we can start implementing as many of these suggestions as possible,? he said.

He promised to keep the public informed on progress and said he was hoping to have a list he could simply ?tick off?.