History of the College
The Bermuda College was created by the Parliament of Bermuda through the passage of the Bermuda College Act in 1974. Under this Act, a Board of twelve Governors has the responsibility for the direction and management of the College. The members of the Board are appointed annually by the Minister of Education. The Chief Education Officer of the Ministry of Education and the Chairman of the National Training Board are ex officio members of the Board.
This provision for the governance of Bermuda's only post-secondary educational institution was patterned after similar governing Acts of state-funded universities in the USA and Canada. This helps to isolate the academic activities of the College from the political process, and enables the College to accept cultural and leadership roles in the community, which would be denied if it were an arm of Government.
The College began with the amalgamation of three flourishing institutions: the Bermuda Hotel and Catering College established in 1965, the Bermuda Technical Institute (1956) and the Academic Sixth Form Centre (1967) Some of these institutions had even earlier antecedents. They had provided opportunities for education and training in the main areas needed by Bermuda in its developing economy. Under the energetic leadership of the Board's first Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mansfield H. Brock Jr. (1974-1977), the College made great strides in upgrading and developing curriculum for the education and training of young Bermudians. Advisory committees, established with memberships drawn from professionals in local businesses, helped develop programmes for major trade areas to ensure that Bermuda College graduates were well equipped for employment. Similarly, the basic programmes for hotels and for business offices were developed. The university-preparatory work of the earlier Sixth Form Centre was developed by the construction of a programme which would match the educational pattern of North American universities and enable students to obtain credit at an advanced level for the work done in Bermuda College. This programme was initially offered as an alternative to the GCE 'A'-levels and its success in gaining recognition in North American universities soon made it the primary programme for university transfer.
In 1974 the College had separate facilities which its components used during their previous independent existence. But from its formation, the Board had contemplated a single College campus for all its programmes and to this end acquired the Stonington property in 1978. A master plan was developed, and the Bermuda Government provided funds to commence the construction of the campus in 1979. The Stonington Beach Hotel and the building housing the teaching kitchens and hotel service laboratories were finished and occupied in September 1980. The Stonington Beach Hotel was built primarily to give the students in the several hotel-oriented programmes practical experience. This facility, and the opportunity it provides, distinguishes the College's hotel-oriented programmes from similar programmes elsewhere.
The building programme continued with New Hall (1988), the Student Centre (1990), the College Centre (1991), the Library (1992) and the Faculty Centre (1993). The opening of North Hall and Technical Hall in 1996 completed the single College campus envisaged by the Board.
Bermuda College is committed to "Transforming lives through innovative education". We welcome everyone who has ever held the dream of further education...and the desire to learn. We are a community college dedicated to offering the highest standards of academic and professional excellence, based not so much on one's background coming in...but on what one has been able to accomplish upon graduation.