BCC Adds Associate Degree in Natural and Physical Sciences

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) has added a new associate in science degree in Natural & Physical Sciences (NPS), available beginning in the fall 2023 semester. 
 
The NPS program was developed as an opportunity to offer students studying the sciences an associate in science degree that included meta-major style pathways in biology, biotechnology, chemistry and physics. Previously, students studying biology and biotechnology earned an associate in arts degree in the liberal arts program. 
 
These pathways will allow students the ability to explore the sciences while staying aligned with their degree program, saving the student time and money while increasing overall degree attainment, explained Associate Professor of Life Sciences Gina Foley, the NPS program advisor. All pathways explore science as a way of learning about the natural, physical and technological worlds.  
 
"When I discuss the future with my students, they often tell me they are unsure about what they want to do, but they like science," Foley said. "The new NPS program provides students with a unique opportunity to explore the sciences while working toward a fully transferrable associate in science degree within the UMass system." 
 
Through the process of scientific inquiry, especially in the laboratory, students will learn to use observation, testing, data analysis and interpretation as essential tools for making personal and public policy decisions. Each biology, biotechnology, chemistry and physics lab course will contain a minimum of one lab-based or observational experiment that requires the student to question, construct a hypothesis, conduct an experiment or observations, collect data, analyze the data, draw conclusions and write a formal lab report.  
 
Foley said the "truly exciting part" about the new degree program is its built-in flexibility to move from one pathway to another. For example, a student can start in the biology pathway and discover they prefer the hands-on nature of biotechnology or the fundamental connections of life in the chemistry lab. In most situations, students do not lose time toward their degree or the cost of additional courses if they change pathways in the first year.  
 
"We created this program by listening to our students and put forward a program that encourages scientific exploration and flexibility," she said. 
 
Students graduating from the NPS program are encouraged to continue their education at a four-year state institution. Careers fields include medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, genetics counseling, medical laboratory work, chemical analysis, materials science, forensics, engineering, science writing and more.   

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Child-Care Providers Want Mental Health Support, Better Wages

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler and Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw host a listening session on early child care at BCC on Wednesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Local child-care providers called for mental health support and equitable pay at a listening session with state officials this week. 

"We don't provide resources for our educators so that they have a strength in the classroom. They're putting out fires constantly. How are they educating? How are they teaching?" said Elise Weller, senior director of child care services at 18 Degrees.

"The social-emotional development of these children is so important."

Katherine Von Haefen, director of community impact at Berkshire United Way, said a single parent with school-aged children needs to make between $70,000 and $80,000 annually just to meet basic needs and a great many local parents are not making that mark — including teachers.

"Just over half of our population now in Berkshire County is considered to be economically challenged, working yet still struggling to make ends meet. Too many of our local educators are part of this economically challenged population," she said.

"Frequently we hear directors sharing stories of staff refusing raises or bonuses so that they do not lose out on key benefits. This is not OK. Early childhood compensation is truly a very complicated issue and one that frankly, has not yet been fully successfully addressed across the country. It's one that's complicated yet, we still need to look at a variety of possible solutions. Multiple solutions that can be piloted and road tested before engaging in large-scale efforts."

Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler and Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw hosted the childcare listening session Wednesday at Berkshire Community College. The panel also included state Outdoor Recreation Director Paul Jahnige, Alvina Brevard of the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and Undersecretary of Education Mark Reilly.

"We know that there are some really difficult barriers facing this particular field: accessibility, affordability for families, opportunity, and so we will be discussing, I'm sure, all of that," BCC President Ellen Kennedy said.

"I am particularly committed to this. I am the parent of a son who is now in his thirties with a son who was at a child-care center but my son went in at eight weeks old and I have shared on one or two occasions that it was the professionals in the child-care center that made me a better parent, that actually taught me how to parent, and I am forever in their debt for the ways in which they helped me help my son."

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