BDA College Awarded Prestigious Accreditation
The Bermuda College today [Nov 24] held a ceremony to celebrate a very prestigious milestone; becoming accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
The Bermuda College joins top ranked universities such as Harvard, Yale and MIT, and has become the first college in the Caribbean and Latin American region to be afforded this distinction.
Minister Kim Wilson congratulated the College, saying “Truth be told, this entire Country should all feel an enormous sense of satisfaction and fulfillment for what has been accomplished by the Bermuda College, particularly because of the lengthy process involved in such an undertaking.”
“This is no small feat. It was not an easy road. But the leadership of the Bermuda College forged ahead and reached the ultimate goal of success.”
“They have set a fine example for its students by demonstrating that great things can be accomplished if one has an attitude of commitment, dedication and determination.”
The path to accreditation took many years, the timeline follows below:
In December 2002, Dr. Charles Cooke, Commissioner of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) made his first visit to Bermuda and to Bermuda College in what would be a seven-year journey to accreditation.
In 2003, Bermuda College officially began the accreditation process, completing its first institutional self-study against the backdrop of the eleven standards set out by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education a year later in 2004. The resultant report comprised two documents: an internal discussion paper; and the actual self-study document. Faculty and staff played a major role in this process with ad hoc committees established to cover each of the standards. The eleven standards are: Mission and Purpose; Planning and Evaluation; Organization and Governance; The Academic Programme; Faculty; Students; Library and other Information Resources; Physical and Technological Resources; Financial Resources; Public Disclosure; and Integrity.
In March 2005, Bermuda College hosted its first Site Team Visit and within a month was notified of its success at being granted candidacy status – i.e., recognition that an institution is progressing steadily and properly toward accreditation.
As a result of the March 2005 visit and its award of Candidacy Status, the College then turned its focus to address areas identified in the Report of the Site Team Visit in preparation for a follow-up Focus Visit in March 2007.
A second, required comprehensive self-study was undertaken by Bermuda College in September 2008, and completed in January 2010. A final site team visit followed in March 2010 to validate the College’s second comprehensive self-study.
In September 2010, Bermuda College President, Dr. Duranda Greene attended a meeting of the NEASC Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and appeared before a panel of approximately 30 of her academic peers.
In October 2010 Dr. Greene was informed that the Commission is recommending to the Board that Bermuda College be granted the maximum 5 year initial accreditation. The final decision was pending ratification by the Board of Trustees after which the College was officially notified October 28, 2010. Bermuda College is only the seventh international institution to be accredited by NEASC and the first from the Caribbean region.
Comparing Bermuda College to Harvard, Yale and MIT? Is this an April fools joke?
I wonder how much Dr. Charles Cooke got paid?
Actually, no it’s not a joke. It’s a reality that required a lot of hard work, determination and commitment by a lot of people who had Bermuda’s students at heart. So who’s laughing? And by the way… that journey started after Dr. Cooke’s tenure, so maybe you should ask him?
Some people simply have nothing good to say. Well done and thank you to everyone at the Bermuda College that worked to make this a reality. What a great opportunity for Bermudian students who now have the ability to study at home and their credits transfer to almost any school of their choosing. For those students who cannot afford to go away to school for a period of 4 to 6 years, this means that they do not have to handicapped when compared to other students who can afford it. Again, thanks so much for all the work and effort.
Evelyn, I don’t think he’s talking about Dr. George Cook. The article mentions Dr. Charles Cook.
I’m not bashing the school at all, but rather how this article was written. Categorizing Bermuda College with schools like Harvard, Yale and MIT is a bit misleading. Even just for the fact that Bermuda College only offers Associate’s degrees. In fact, the other 7 overseas schools all offer at least Bachelor’s if not Master’s degrees.
Regardless, the accreditation of the school is a step in the right direction for the future of Bermuda’s youth.
No one was categorizing them all together in all senses – it was said they joined them – which they did as they all have NEASC accreditation. This is factually correct.
That statment was pulled from a direct quote from Minister Kim Wilson who spoke at the event: “What an impressive accomplishment this is, as you have now joined such prestigious universities as Harvard, Yale and MIT.”
Despite any complaints made, we think this is great news, not only for the College, but all of our students…