The acting dean of Bermuda College's Adult and Continuing Education has accused a Canadian education consultant of producing a "biased'' and "badly researched'' report.

Mrs. Helen Pearman Ziral was responding to a report written by the first full-time director of Extension at the college and former advisor in Curriculum Development, Dr. W. Michael Brooke.

In his report Dr. Brooke criticised ACE, saying it was "slipping further into an uninspired and uninspiring malaise where it has no clear mission, values, goals, or objectives.'' And he stressed that the situation "must change dramatically and immediately.'' Dr. Brooke, who is dean of the University of Victoria's Division of Continuing Studies, was invited by college president Dr. George Cook to provide advice on specific issues that emerged at the college due to "increasing demand by the public for more accountability, decreasing enrolment in certain areas, and decreasing financial resources.'' And after meeting with more than 20 people from the college and business sector during a week in January, he made several suggestions, including: amalgamating ACE and the Applied Science programme for the next few years "until they regain size and stature'' and; looking internationally for a "well-qualified'' dean "who has vision, high motivation and a proven track record in adult and continuing education.

Both college president Dr. George Cook and the acting dean of ACE Mrs. Pearman Ziral refused to comment on the internal report.

But in a 20-page response to the report, obtained yesterday by The Royal Gazette , the acting dean hit out at Dr. Brooke's report.

"A report of this significance should have been produced by a person who was willing and capable of putting personal biases and pre-conceptions aside in the interests of presenting reasoning and conclusion based on objective research and accurate data,'' Mrs. Pearman Ziral wrote.

And she went on to explain she and the entire ACE staff had to regroup and get on with "business as usual'' following the sudden departure of ACE dean Mr.

Peter Doyles in June last year.

"The need to establish a five-year plan, as would generally be the case with a new operating team, never materialised because the new leadership was from the outset slotted into the role of `caretakers' with uncertain tenure,'' Mrs.

Pearman Ziral said.

She also noted that December and January were critical periods for ACE and staff had to calculate and input final grades, and complete sponsors' reports, letters of completion, grade reports, transcripts, year-end reports, and registration for the next semester.

"It is time consuming and labour intensive,'' she said.

And the resignation of office staff at the beginning of December last year created a challenge.

"The situation was not made easier in December,'' Mrs. Pearman Ziral stated, "when the acting associate dean was obliged to take most of that month off when advised that she would forfeit any vacation not taken by the end of the calendar year.

"However, despite what could have amounted to a major crisis, ACE performed its many functions with very few glitches.'' While Mrs. Pearman Ziral agreed with Dr. Brooke that ACE needed a leader "who has vision, and high motivation,'' she said: "The consultant thus implies from brief and unsubstantive interviews that both the acting dean and acting associate dean have neither. We strongly resent this implication.

"One wonders how a supposedly weak, unmotivated leadership team was able to hold the department together, carry out day-to-day business, initiate new business, train new staff, initiate new programmes, and continue to forge new initiatives in the public and private sectors in the face of challenging circumstances.

"One might also wonder how any degree of motivation is expected when both are confronted with a badly researched, disparaging report such as the one tendered by the consultant.'' Mrs. Pearman Ziral said the ACE team had proposed a planning session in June with a view to developing and implementing its own strategic plan.

"However,'' she added, "there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the length of our tenure in these positions.

"It is difficult for a leadership team who has no certainty of what will happen over the next few months to attempt to put together an appropriate long-range plan.

"... had the consultant inquired, he would have learned of our intent, even if only in principle, of setting out a long-range plan, and our concerns regarding the temporary nature of our tenure.

"He would also have learned, despite these concerns, that although we have not broadcast our successes, we do indeed have goals, aspirations, and the long-term interests of our department and the college well in mind.'' She noted that despite Dr. Brooke's report: ACE enrolment had increased by 16.8 percent in January compared to January last year; An evaluation form was distributed twice a semester to obtain students' view of the quality of teaching and services offered at the college; All ACE lecturers had to submit detailed course descriptions by the end of the semester in order to compile accurate records of all ACE courses; ACE's "new leadership team'' has attempted to offer innovative scheduling and delivery through using weekends, distance education access, virtual classroom facilities; and In 1991, the acting dean advocated incorporating the distance education mode at the college to enable students and staff to take advantage of a wider range of courses and seminars at convenient locations off campus.

This suggestion, Mrs. Pearman Ziral said, was not acted upon.

In conclusion, she said Dr. Brooke's report "failed to take into account that a good many of its suggestions were already in progress, then goes on to assume that such initiatives do not exist.'' "Interviews conducted with ACE staff were scant, ineffectual, incomplete,'' she added.

"If the Bermuda College is to develop a viable programme for the future, then it is of paramount importance that its entire structure be examined by not one, but perhaps two or three professional, objective and experienced consultants who do not present subjective opinions and bring no biases based on previous relationships established in Bermuda.'' ACTING DEAN Mrs. Helen Pearman Ziral, at College.