Spreading the good news of Bermuda College’s resources is the mission of new vice-president Phyllis Curtis-Tweed, who is elated after the institution’s boost of financial aid.

“It comes at an excellent time, as many of our people are still dealing with the economic downturn,” the former Berkeley Institute principal said of the $300,000 government grant this month, which “provides opportunities for people who otherwise might not feel they can pursue an education”.

Calling it “a great first step for the new government”, Dr Curtis-Tweed voiced hope that the support would continue.

“I want to be clear about this: my vision is for Bermuda College to be a school of choice as an affordable first step in tertiary education, in retooling skills, for workforce development, and in generally meeting the higher education academic needs of our island community with local and international partnerships.”

Enrolment is a priority in her new role — “channelling our community to make the best possible use of the opportunities that Bermuda College offers”.

Asked about the insights she brought from her tenure in the public school system, Dr Curtis-Tweed said the college “has to market itself, to make sure it is well known by the people who might not have previously taken advantage”.

She added: “We have special work to do when it comes to encouraging the development of our young black men. There are also many positive things that occur and, unfortunately, much of the things we see in the media are negative. We have many who are doing well and moving forward in a positive manner. But we don’t want to lose anybody.

“It’s important for us as a college to do everything we can to reach out to the population who might not feel they have been able to access the opportunity. We do have programmes that they can benefit from, whether it is arts and sciences to pursue a degree programme or to acquire qualifications in business, hospitality or technical education. They have a broad range of appeal.”

With extensive work in the United States, Dr Curtis-Tweed believes that while experience overseas is good for Bermudians, “it’s important for them to come home”.

Developing articulation agreements with institutions overseas is another priority: the partnerships detail academic transfer policies, enabling Bermuda students to take their qualifications abroad. At present, Bermuda College has no such agreements with UK institutions.

Dr Curtis-Tweed said she also wanted to work closely with students “both traditional and non-traditional with the transition into college and beyond, whether into a baccalaureate programme or into the workforce”.

Bermuda College offers both credit and non-credit programmes, ranging from 31 associate degree, diploma and certificate programmes, to 12 professional designation programmes, more than 30 distance education courses, and seven workforce development and training programmes.

Its technical training has grown to fill some of the void left by the much-missed Bermuda Technical Institute, she noted.

“I’m really happy that the college has a programme with the high schools that focuses on technical education,” she said. “They had 26 students who completed their first year and approximately the same in the cohort. That’s a really positive move for us.

“As a community and a college, we simply need to shore up opportunity to ensure that skills that used to be staples of the island are not lost — masonry, plumbing and carpentry that were once passed down through apprenticeship. We don’t have that happening much today.”

Emphasising Bermuda College’s variety, Dr Curtis-Tweed added: “We really want our community to come to this school, whether it’s to take a course or a programme. We believe we have something for everyone.”