Dr Irving Berkowitz is the new vice president of academic affairs at Bermuda College. Writer Nadia Arandjelovic talked to him about the state of the Island’s education system and how he hopes it can be improved for the benefit of all Bermudians.Q: What brings you to the Island?A: I was in the California State system for 14 years and I decided it was time for me to leave and this was entirely of my own volition. Then I saw the position advertised for a VP of Bermuda College and I put my application in. I have always valued intercultural learning and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for me, not only to learn more about the culture here in Bermuda, but to contribute my wisdom and experience to the college as it faces a future full of academic and economic and other challenges this being the only institution of higher education on the Island. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to become intimately involved in the dialogue about education on the Island at all levels primary, secondary and postsecondary.”Q: What will be your role at the Bermuda College?A: [As Vice President of Academic Affairs] I will be overseeing all matters relating to teaching and learning including academic policy, programme planning, evaluations and financial and material support.”Q: What are the differences between what you have observed in the US education system and the one on the Island?A: What I am noticing is Bermuda is faced with many of the very same challenges that American community colleges are facing. One big issue is the disparity between male enrolment and females. Making sure it’s clear I do not think more women going to college is a problem, but fewer males going to college is. And it’s up to us as a college to work with people in Bermuda to not only assess the reasons why there is this decline, but to think strategically of ways in which we can encourage more males to pursue a college education.I don’t think it’s a coincidence Bermuda has seen this rise in gang-related activity and violence and this concomitant decline in male college going. That is one of the parities I am working on to create a pathway our high school students need to not only earn college credit before graduating but to also conceivably complete the requirements of an associates degree at the same time they graduate from high school.Another similarity is in the unpreparedness of students. Seventy-five percent of community college students in the US will enrol in at least one developmental and basic skills class in English, math or reading. We have the same challenge here of students that must first enrol in pre-collegiate classes in order to successfully complete their college classes and earn their degree.”Q: What is your mission or aim during your three year term at the College?A: Getting them in the door is one thing but when they are here doing everything a college can do short of doing their homework for them to make sure they are successful, not only in the programme level but the college degree level. That they have the knowledge and skills to complete the requirements of the programme.Q: What do you hope to accomplish here in Bermuda?A: I have never been in a place where I don’t belong and didn’t make a difference and I intend to seize the opportunity in the next three years to join the people in Bermuda College in making an even bigger difference in this Country.I hope to do things to strengthen the college’s ability to impact the quality of life for Bermudians through its system of higher education whether that’s for preparing them for employment here on the Island, preparing them to go off for advanced degrees and returning to this Island to ply their knowledge and skills.I hope to work with my President Dr Duranda Greene in shaping or influencing education policy on the Island and I hope to provide the faculty who teach in this college with the tools and resources and ongoing training that they need to do what they do best. Students do not choose a college based on the quality of its administration in the end it still comes down to excellence in teaching and learning. I think of myself as not only a student of life but a student for life and what I would love is for the college to be viewed as a vehicle for life long learning for everyone on the Island who desires it. That is really important.Q: Why is education so important to you?A: To me college isn’t just about earning a degree. Education is a means of empowerment and that empowerment comes from the knowledge we derive for ourselves about our society and our world. And it not only empowers us by helping us to understand but enabling us to change ourselves and our environment. Education for me, as I think for anyone, can transform your life and what I hope is we can make a quality education on the Island, a high quality one that is accessible to anyone who wishes.