A complaint about Bermuda College president Charles Green?s behaviour has been made to the quango?s new chairman, can reveal.

A spokesman for the Department of Education confirmed last night that Education Minister Randy Horton was aware of the grievance. ?The chairman of the board of governors will be meeting with the two parties in an attempt to resolve the matter,? he added.

A source said the complaint was made after under-fire Dr. Green spoke to staff about information being leaked to this newspaper regarding college finances.

?The president, in anger, has threatened members of staff for leaking information,? said the source, who would not be named. ?His outburst was so bad that he has received a written complaint that has been sent to the board and the Minister.?

Former Attorney General Larry Mussenden, who was appointed chairman of the board of governors last week, said yesterday: ?I don?t comment on those kinds of matters.? Dr. Green could not be contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, this newspaper has discovered that college staff raised concerns about Dr. Green?s spending of public funds almost two years ago.

An unofficial staff morale survey conducted by the Bermuda College Educators? Association (BCEA), which represents faculty staff, uncovered worries about perks being enjoyed by Dr. Green, renovations to his grace-and-favour campus home, the number of trips abroad he was making on college business and the effectiveness of the chief financial and operations officer (CFOO) Lloyd Christopher.

The Government?s Public Accounts Committee is currently investigating whether the president?s perks, including membership of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and payment of his utility bills, were approved by the publicly-funded college?s board and whether any cap was put on spending on the renovation work at Shamrock Cottage.

It has been alleged that the college failed to abide by the Government?s Financial Instructions which, as a quango, it is expected, though not required by law, to do.

The internal staff survey leaked to this newspaper was carried out in March 2005 and 54 members of college staff took part. Participants were asked a series of questions, including how the college could be improved and what they thought of the president and other executive officers.

One staff member wrote simply: ?Cease wasting the public purse.?

Another, who described morale as being ?at an all time low?, alleged in the report: ?The president is not a team-player.

?The CFOO is not an effective manager and follows instructions given by the president and VP (vice-president), instead of ensuring accountability in terms of financial expenditures.?

One staff member criticised the president for cancelling the traditional employee Christmas party in December 2004 and instead hosting a private function for some staff and their spouses at the yacht club.

The cost of that lunch ? $1,038.13 ? was revealed by last month after purchase requisition forms signed by the president and Mr. Christopher were passed to this newspaper.

In a section of the survey devoted to comments on Dr. Green, one participant asked: ?What about his costly renovations??

A number of comments related to visits abroad made by Dr. Green. This newspaper revealed last week that in November the college spent more than $6,000 on his business trips.

One staff member wrote: ?Keep the president at his desk. Stop the president from spending all the taxpayers? money on travel and house renovations. Use presidential spending for students.?

A further participant said: ?The president is never here.?

Another comment was: ?The president needs to stay on campus and spread his ?wisdom? instead of taking excessive overseas trips at the expense of the taxpayer.

?I thought that he was hired for his expertise, not to travel and gain expertise on the dime of the Bermuda taxpayer.?

In a section on Mr. Christopher, a staff member wrote: ?He must control the excessive spending of the president on discretionary items.?

One staff member also wrote about their fear of ?retribution? if they spoke out about their concerns.

Dr. Green told this newspaper last month that he knew nothing about the survey or its findings. He said: ?I don?t even know what you are talking about. The results were never passed to me. Unequivocally, never.?

But Cathy Ziepniewski, BCEA chairman at the time of the survey, said the results were copied to the executive, including Dr. Green.

College vice-president Larita Alford sent an email to Ms Ziepniewski on April 20, 2005, which has been seen by this newspaper.

It read: ?With regards to the BCEA survey...this survey was not sanctioned by the executive nor do we have any assurance that this was a valid instrument. This was definitely not a collaborative effort.?

Ms Ziepniewski told the survey was done for the benefit of the association and was never intended for publication.

?It was something we did for ourselves in the hopes of opening some communication with our college executive,? she said. ?It was passed to the executive. It did not result in anything. There were no meetings.?

Current BCEA chairman Ann Parsons would not comment.