Summer Makeovers on MCLA's Syllabus

President Mary K. Grant said the college has seen an increased and more diverse student body.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The new science center may be one of the most anticipated projects at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, but plenty of other work will be happening on campus this coming summer.

President Mary K. Grant detailed some of the plans for updating Hoosac Hall, the Amsler Campus Center and the new facilities building on Ashland Street. Also on the agenda are a number of conferences, including "Shaping Role of Place," a National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Institute.

"We have had big increases in full-time students, increasing the number of residential students on campus," she said. "So we're building this living, learning community which is an important part of the education experience."

The college has seen growth in its diversity, including geographical with 16 states represented, said Grant. With these changes in mind, the college community will begin reviewing and reformulating the current five-year strategic plan this February.

MCLA, lead by Grant, has not only broken through the town-gown wall, its actions now directly affect the fortunes of the city whose name it once sported.

"The city moves in lockstop with the college," said Mayor Richard Alcombright, pointing to the investment in capital and concepts the college has sparked such as the recent announcement of the Partnership for North Adams. "Your growth is our growth."

Investment was the watchword on Tuesday morning as legislators and campus leaders spoke to the lighter-than-usual breakfast crowd; sleety snow fell from the sullen sky beyond the windows of the Centennial Room in the campus center.
 

Sen. Benjamin B. Downing	Mayor Richard Alcombright
Rep. Gailanne Cariddi	Rep. Paul Mark

"It takes an entire school to educate a student; that is why it is particulary significant that at the start of each semester, we all gather together at this opening breakfast," said trustees President Jane Allen. "All working together for the education and well-being of our students."

Dana Rapp, president of the Faculty Association, said a conversation with a parent had impressed upon him not only the importance of educational access but about the opportunities for students once they graduate.

The father had been "amazed," he said, at how well the college had prepared his son to be passionate, thoughtful and civic-minded. But, continued Rapp, he was concerned that "many corporate, economic and political elites had not fulfilled their end of the bargain."

Corporations had undermined tax policy rather than pay their fair share; sought ways to outsource for cheap labor rather than invest in job creation; doled out record salaries and profits at the top rather than share with the people who were their backbone, he said, and failed to support the nation's troops by providing them access to higher education.

"The point is, accountability is a two-way street," said Rapp, who dismissed ideas that "jobs will magically appear." "We must insist, no we must do more, we must demand access and opportunities for graduates to have meaningful work and livable wages once they leave the campus." 

State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, held out hope that the state, and college, will provide higher-educatin models for the future.

"We know where we are now; it's how we get to where we ought to be," he said, describing it as similar to his drive through snowy Cheshire that morning. The state's still 47th to 49th in support of higher education.

Concept for the new cafe in the campus center.

"What's worse is we continue repeat the facts without making progress to address it," said Downing, who pledged the Berkshire delegation's support for higher ed and for MCLA. "I am confident that in the future, we'll talk about how Massachusetts was the model for the rest of the nation and that MCLA in the Northern Berkshires was a model for the rest of the commonwealth in showing what an investment in higher education can mean to the community ... ."

Also in attendance were new representatives Gailanne Cariddi of North Adams ("I'll be batting cleanup for you.") and Paul Mark of Hancock ("I'm going to be a champion for this school and all public schools in the commonwealth.").

Both Charles Cianfarini, president of the local chapter of the Association of Professional Administrators, and Liz Manns, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, both expressed thankfulness that contracts had been funded and their unions commitment to the college's students. Cianfarini, referring to the mental health issues of the alleged shooter in Arizona, said "we must also watch out for their well-being and that of our co-workers so that no one suffers from the enormous stress and pressure of everyday life - in work and in our private lives."

Grant said the college "will do our piece here" in advocating for higher education opportunities and providing students access. Among the college's initiatives are wide range of speakers and programs, including a new cross-cultural studies and justice minor this spring.

"As we look budget that's coming up ... we know we're not out of the woods yet," said Grant. "We have to be looking at all of these issues as we move forward. But these are some of the things that are going to keep us busy."

Hoosac Hall will be getting some "unsexy" infrastructure work in preparation for a new entranceway and expansion of residential space (similar to the Berkshire Towers) in 2012. The campus center will be transformed into a marketplace with "branded" dining concepts like Subway.

"The campus center redesign will start work in summer," said Grant. "It will be a much better environment for all of us and for students to gather."

Also in the works is a replacement of the gym floor in the campus center, she told students, faculty, staff and guests gathered at the traditional breakfast to kick off the new semester.

"We've done everything we can to patch it to — used baling wire and duct tape — but we cannot let the gym floor go the way of the soccer field," she said, referring to the $1.5 million that was spent at the Zavatarro Athletic Complex a few years ago. "We have to invest in these facilities."

The former A. Shapiro & Sons Inc. property on Ashland Street, purchased by the Massachusetts State College Building Authority for $310,000 last Nov. 2, will be renovated into new digs for the facilities department. The building will provide work space, offices and equipment and motor vehicle storage. The purchase also offers more parking for the landlocked campus.

Facilities' current location next door in the former Brewer-Perkins auto dealership will be turned over to public safety. The new site will give public safety a more visible presence and between that and the new signage, said Grant, "when you come up Church Street and Ashland Street you'll know you're on the campus."

New signage directing motorists to the college also will be placed on the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 91.

"We're casting a wide net," laughed Grant.

Are your protection plans in place?