Bermuda College manager Constance Ridley Smith has won the 2018 Chair Academy’s Idahlynn Karre Exemplary Leadership Award in the United States.

The award recognises achievements of peer post secondary leaders and/or leadership teams that advance academic and administrative leadership.

Dr Smith is the Coordinator of Training and Professional Development and External Programmes at Bermuda College, and has been a two-time presenter at the International Chair Academy Conference, presenting both times on her doctoral research on the SYM-Q model.

Her research examined the five factors that present the most significant intercultural issues for cultural intelligence in the SYM-Q exemplar.

Bermuda College’s Institutional Research and Planning Coordinator, Cordell Riley, designed the survey and collected and analysed the data used in the research.

Dr Smith plans to do a similar study at Bermuda College.

She said: “We would like to run the study at Bermuda College, as a mirror image of Bowie State University.

“They accept international students as newcomers, whereas Bermuda College prepares students to become newcomers at overseas institutions.

“The most important aspect for us, Bermuda College, is that it fosters measurement using another yardstick. By looking at the measurement piece from a value-added perspective, we can begin to measure the worth of the Bermuda College experience by how well we prepare students for successful matriculation in other jurisdictions.”

Dr Smith and Mr Riley will travel to Denver next month to receive their award.