Retiring Bermuda College President Dr. George Cook said academic growth is necessary for Bermudian access to the Island's successful economy.

Speaking with The Royal Gazette before leaving office later this month, Dr.

Cook said it is the right time to retire before the process to become a university/college starts.

He said the university/college conversion will lead to a future Bermuda College that utilises Bermuda's limited resources so the population can have access to higher education.

"It's going to be a fairly long process and it's going to be step by step,'' he said.

"The economy demands a different level of response -- our economy demands more people with degrees.'' The original "level of response'' was the formation of the college in 1976, said Dr. Cook.

In the late 1970s, the college was surrounded by controversy, much like last April's controversy when staff and students demanded Dr. Cook's ousting by protest action.

Dr. Cook said: "In a sense, it's the nature of the beast. Controversy is part of an educational institution.

"But the central strength -- the core strength, the programmes we had, the people held together and kept their eye on the ball and we went ahead.'' Dr. Cook is retiring after 25 years with the college, since the initial graduation of nine students.

He said: "I can see Bermuda College becoming an internationally recognised institution of excellence, of what can be done in small island states.

"We can be a trailblazer -- that's not to say we can't learn from anybody else. We can be an example for other jurisdictions in similar situations.

"We can be an example to others, with respect to what can be done.'' Dr. Cook initially announced his retirement on April 11 last year but noted the recent University/College conference at the Bermuda College put the college's situation into perspective for him.

The conference was attended by college administrators from similar educational jurisdictions as Bermuda, like small islands.

Dr. Cook said: "Twenty-five years (on the job) is a major milestone for me personally. This is a good time, having gone through this process, to step aside.

"It was all of the work coming through the conference that brought it to the head. Having come this far, the time was right.'' Dr. Cook spoke passionately about the earlier years, in the late 1970s, when the college was taking its formative steps -- while being chased by controversy.

"Well in the early days, the college was still quite controversial. People were saying it's a big white elephant.

"What I had to do, was student by student, build a network. I would say laying the foundations for establishing the academic creditability that everything else is built on top of.'' Dr. Cook explained that for every student who wanted to pursue further education abroad, he would contact that university.

"Then I would write and explain what it is the students were doing so that they could transfer credit.'' Technically, Bermuda College is a non-accredited college in the US and Canada.

The college is accredited in Bermuda by an Act of Parliament.

And only by the college holding foreign institutional standards are Bermudian students allowed to transfer credit abroad.

Dr. Cook is a historian by profession and admittedly, has never had the opportunity to pursue it.

He taught in Canada and one class in Bermuda before joining other education professionals in developing the Bermuda College at the Prospect properties in Pembroke.

Dr. Cook owns a home in Lincolnshire, England -- which he plans to use for launching travel excursions into Europe while actively researching Bermuda's history.