Bermuda College president American-born Charles Green is to mentor his Bermudian replacement.

New chairman Nalton Brangman said recent advertisements for the position of college president ? asking for minimum qualifications of a PhD and five years? teaching and five years? leadership experience ? had been published in order to have a seamless transition when Dr. Green leaves in August 2007.

?The board has agreed to a proactive management strategic plan for reselecting the next president so as to give sufficient time for proper mentoring,? Mr. Brangman said yesterday. ?The next president, we hope, will be a Bermudian.?

Dr. Green ? a US Army Colonel with over 30 years of teaching experience ? became President of the Bermuda College on August 1, 2004 and replaced Dr. Michael Orenduff.

Yesterday, Mr. Brangman said the selection of a president before Dr. Green had finished his three-year tenure would help to create a seamless and productive transition period which would be beneficial to the College?s clients.

While he did not say if there were any front-runners for the post, Bermudian College vice president and chief academic officer Larita Alford, who lost out to Dr. Green in 2004, could be considered a leading candidate.

However, Dr. Alford was off the Island yesterday and did not respond to questions last night.

?At this stage we are still in the collection phase for the post,? Mr. Brangman said. ?The board is in the process of selecting a review committee.?

He said the review committee will work independently of the board to come up with a shortlist, which will later be given to the board to consider.

?We are being careful, so the process is clean and thorough to avoid any possible negative inferences about questionable practices,? he said.

Director of Communications at the College, Evelyn James-Barnett, confirmed this week the college had already begun its search for a new leader.

?No, there is nothing to be read into about the ad,? she said.

Mr. Brangman admitted the College had its share of problems in the past. However, it was now positioning itself to be Bermuda?s lifelong learning centre.

In future the College would reach out not only to teenage school-leavers but also mentor Middle School students and teach those already in the workforce.

?The College is positioning itself ? with the proper resumes ? to increase Bermuda?s greatest asset, its human capital,? Mr. Brangman said. ?We need all of the community to work together. The board would like to move the College to the centre of life-long learning in Bermuda. We are moving very carefully to get the College in the position so it is in the centre of that.?

The application deadline for the post of president is March 31.