building a college residence, college president Dr. George Cook said yesterday.

Sharply higher fees are also part of the college plan.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Royal Gazette , Dr. Cook said the 20-year-old college was at "a new plateau'', and major changes were planned over the next five years.

The college would be guided by a "strategic plan'' approved by its board of governors in December.

Dr. Cook said his own vision was a "college/university'' offering degrees in hospitality, international finance and insurance, and possibly teacher education. It would be part of an education "consortium'', with students able to move between Bermuda College and a university in each of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.

Goals outlined in the new college plan include: Doubling non-governmental revenues to more than $2 million by 2001.

Hiking revenues from student fees to "at least 15 percent'' of the total college budget from the current level of seven percent.

Accompanying the tuition increases with an improved student aid scheme to assure needy students can still attend.

Establishing new academic programmes to attract foreign students to a "Bermuda Term''.

Encouraging more research by college faculty, individually and in cooperation with experts outside the school.

Creating a business plan that looks at the feasibility of building or acquiring a college residence, developing a Cultural Arts Centre with an auditorium, and relocating the Bermuda Archives to Stonington Campus.

Establishing space for display and celebration of cultural, intellectual, and historical contributions of leaders from Bermuda and abroad.

Exploring the set-up of a college day care facility.

Establishing a hairdressing/beauty programme and creating a salon at Stonington Beach Hotel to provide training opportunities.

Defining a new management structure for the hotel.

Establishing a Bermuda College Advancement Programme to seek public and private funding and support the college.

Establishing an autonomous Student Council to represent the student body.

Inviting former students to form a Bermuda College Alumni Association.

Making the college the institution of first choice for 75 percent of public and private high school graduates.

An appendix to the plan said the board of governors had also agreed in principle to expanding its powers through amendments to the Bermuda College Act 1974 which would "reflect the college's growing maturity and reputation, both locally and internationally''.

Specifically, the board wanted powers to borrow, raise, and invest money, set fees, and confer degrees.

Dr. Cook said his own idea of a university/college that would be part of an international education consortium had not yet been approved by the board.

If approved, the school would continue to fill the community college role it did now, but would be enhanced by certain degree programmes. "We would add a new dimension,'' he said.

Of the college's full-time enrolment of about 500, only about 25 students are from overseas.

But, "the benefit of having more overseas students here is almost self-evident'', Dr. Cook said.

They would pay higher tuition than Bermudian students. But, "quite apart from the fees, a cultural transfer can take place -- an exchange''. And, "if students were prepared to come from overseas to take courses here, then Bermudians would say, there must be a reason for it''.

Attracting more overseas students raised the "interesting idea'' of a college residence, which Bermudian students might also wish to use.