MORE modern hiring methods need to be employed by businesses if they are to meet the challenges of operating within the island's global workforce, the Bermuda College believes.

The institution will next week offer a day-long workshop directed at managers and human resources' (HR) professionals to help determine whether the credentials a potential employee presents are valid.

The issue became a hot media topic last year after the reported that Abdallah Ahad, an IT officer within the Ministry of Education and former Bermuda College lecturer, had received his PhD from a diploma mill which sold degrees on the Internet for as little as $129.

"That was a high-profile case," said Dr. Eugenie Simmons, director of the Centre for Professional and Career Education (PACE), "but what we're finding is that this is something that's prevalent in the workplace and has probably been ongoing for a while because of Bermuda's success as a jurisdiction that uses a large guest worker population.

"It's important that employers and HR professionals recognise the credentials they're looking at, so they don't overlook valuable qualifications. It's important that they are able to distinguish what is valid and what is not valid.

"And, for those Bermudians who are seeking to become involved in distance degree education, for those who are seeking to upgrade their credentials, it is important that they know exactly what is a valid course of study and which perhaps might be a diploma mill."

Simmons' organisation, PACE, is an arm of the Bermuda College which focuses primarily on workforce development, accreditation and standards. The group offers ongoing professional development opportunities and certification through external programmes and also works with employers to provide customised training on the work site or in their own facilities.

"We've worked with the local workforce to ensure that ongoing professional development opportunities are available for people who are in the middle of their career, people who are geographically isolated, people who can't necessarily just drop everything ? their work, their families ? and go off and (pursue further studies)."

The body is presenting next week's workshop in partnership with an American organisation, Educational Credential Evaluators, which specialises in the assessment of international credentials.

According to Dr. Simmons, the idea for the present workshop stemmed from a conference attended by College president Dr. Charles Green, and the College's executive vice-president of academic affairs, Dr. Larita Alford.

"(They) had been to a regional conference on accreditation and standards in Jamaica that involved much of the Caribbean and South America and had the opportunity, first hand, to observe and meet with educational credential evaluators and get an overview of the types of services that they provide to the working world."

What was made evident at that conference, Dr. Simmons said, was how modern technology had made it easier to procure realistic looking, false documents.

"With the advent of the Internet, people started to see the offers everywhere ? get your professional licence online, get a degree online, get certification online. Some of the stuff is very, very clever. I've looked at some of these sites and it's pretty difficult to distinguish what's real from what's not, even when you have the background. The wording is so clever. The marketing is so clever.

"Even the qualifications presented to you in transcripts, technology makes it very, very easy to falsify credentials. And credentials ? accreditation, licensing, tangible evidence of a skill level or level of training ? are becoming more and more important globally."

She continued: "Sometimes it's not even the case that credentials are not valid. Sometimes it's just being able to understand what's acceptable for a certain category of work ? the level of skill, the level of licensing, the type of credentials. We have to know what you are legally liable for, in terms of accountability, in terms of your level of training."

to Dr. Simmons, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had caused some students to travel outside of America, Canada and England to complete advanced programmes of study and managers and HR professionals needed to be cognisant of that.

"We need to be aware that there will be people who will be looking at alternative venues and areas for study and (to obtain credentials) as opposed to subjecting themselves to certain restrictions (imposed upon) academic institutions because of the immigration laws. So we will start to see very valid and highly-skilled people coming from areas that, before, we hadn't considered as recruitment areas ? particularly, the Caribbean."

The need for such a workshop has evidently been felt throughout the business community.

"We've had an incredible response to it," said Dr. Simmons. "And, quite a diverse representation of the workforce ? Government officials, people who perhaps represent recruitment from the legal community; representatives from international business, representatives from the financial sector.

"The public offering deals mostly with the type of management licensing, financial credentials or technical qualifications you would see in the workforce. So we've also decided, because of the very large demand from our own staff, to go ahead and do a special offering for them that will focus more on academic credentials."

The workshop, Assessment of International Qualifications for a Global Workforce, will be held at the Bermuda College in the West Hall on the ground floor, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Registration, $275, includes workshop materials, tea breaks and a hot lunch. For more information, contact Dr. Simmons on 239-4075 or by e-mail, esimmonscollege.bm