From the President

Dear Friends,

You are holding a passport. Fisher Today gives entry to Fisher College, where the past, the present, and the future are on display.

Fisher Today is a celebration of Fisher College, and I am proud to be a part of the College during this exciting time. As you will read, the campus has grown, degree programs are being added, our students are more diverse than ever, and there is a renewed energy as we begin our second centennial.

Fisher Today is our chance to bring the College closer to you, and I hope it will strengthen the bonds of our community. To that end, I invite you to share your comments or memories (you may even be published in a future issue!) and to contact us if you’re looking for a classmate:

Spotlight…on DCE

Fisher College’s Division of Continuing Education (DCE) is celebrating three decades of excellence. Amplifying the College’s aim to serve as a point-of-access to higher education, DCE continues to jump-start and advance careers.

Janet Harrington, Vice President for Continuing Education and Distance Learning, who has been a part of DCE since its inception, said, “I am proud that the College offers adult learners, and especially women, this unique educational opportunity. Continuing and online education is truly a ‘higher degree of convenience’ for students with families, jobs, and high aspirations.”

With the advent of technology, Fisher was one of the first accredited institutions to enter the virtual learning arena, creating Fisher Online in 1997. Today, Fisher Online serves students across the country and around the world.

More than ever, economic mobility is tied to educational credentials. For women, who make up 80% of the DCE population, this fact was highlighted in a recent report issued by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Relying on census data, the Commission found that women in Bristol County, where DCE supports satellite campuses in New Bedford and North Attleboro, earn only 70 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts (the national average is 77 cents).

“This data demonstrates the urgency of empowering women and nontraditional learners. DCE will continue to serve students looking to establish or reestablish themselves in the job market,” said Harrington.

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Fisher Today

c/o Office of Institutional Advancement Fisher College 118 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02116

Enjoy this inaugural issue. Best wishes for the New Year. Very truly yours,

Dr. Perkins’ speech set the stage for the October 11, 2006 visit by Fidel Moreno, a Native American filmmaker, whose discussion about citizenship was punctuated with the viewing of his critically acclaimed film, “This Land Is My Land, Blood, Bones, and All.” Mr. Moreno spoke eloquently about the place of his people in the American story as well as his own view of activism, both local and global, as an expression of citizenship.

On October 18, 2006, the College hosted a panel that included Will Onuoha, a Neighborhood Coordinator from Boston City Hall; Denise Simmons, Cambridge City Councilor; and Marcony Almeida, Policy Associate at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refuge Advocacy Coalition, each of whom spoke to the question, what makes a citizen in my community?

Taking up the question of identity within a community was the aim of Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan. Together, Lehrer and Sloan interviewed over 100 individuals from Queens, New York, the most ethnically diverse county in the nation, where over 138 languages are spoken. Their multimedia compilation—“Crossing the BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America”—was well received at their campus performance.

The College’s affiliation with the Commonwealth Legislative Seminar (CLS) is another demonstration of its efforts to nurture a mindfulness of citizenship. CLS “opens the doors of the State House” and, in the words of Executive Director Joel Barrera, provides a “neutral space” to educate and empower rising community leaders on how to engage the State House.

Several Fisher employees, including Neil Trotta, Campus Director-DCE Boston, and Arghavan Madanipour, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions, are graduates of the CLS program. The College hosted events for CLS graduate and recently elected Boston City Councilor-at-Large Sam Yoon and Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill in the past year.

Dr. Charles C. Perkins

President

My Campus, My Community, My Country, My World

The Fisher community tackles citizenship

Poet and environmental activist Gary Snyder said, “Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.” For Fisher College, this was an apt place to begin a discussion about citizenship.

Citizenship is on the front pages. The national conversation is of immigration, corporate scandals, patriotism, grassroots activism, and civil liberties. Turning these issues into articulated learning is the goal of Fisher College’s “Advocates for Citizenship Awareness,” a yearlong theme linking academic affairs and student affairs.

“For decades, academics and student affairs were in silos, which prevented colleges and universities from creating integrated learning experiences,” said Vice President for Co-Curricular Life and Dean of Students Dr. Bonie B. Williamson. “At Fisher College, the term ‘co-curricula’ denotes the connections between the classroom and the wider experiential learning that occurs in a student’s life.”

The outcomes of joint academic–student affairs endeavors are well researched. Alexander Astin, whose 31 years at UCLA’s Cooperative Institute Research Program put him at the forefront of this research, said, “[T]he key to an enriching college experience is to get the student engaged, [to] get the student to invest time and energy in the process.” As opposed to lectures and passive learning, Astin preaches “active learning modes”—reflection, community service, and field experience that enrich academic and personal development.

The common experience of Citizenship-related activities is the foundation for active learning. Kicking off the year, Dr. Charles C. Perkins, the College’s President, at a convocation session on September 13, 2006, implored students to “think creatively, critically, and to explore the full meaning of ‘citizenship.’”

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Additional Citizenship programming has included attendance at a reading of freedom-themed poetry at the Boston Public Library and a tour of Boston’s Holocaust Memorial. The Office of Co-Curricular Programming also featured a video of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor speaking about citizenship and a documentary based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” which examines mankind’s relationship with the environment.

“In describing his department's participation in the NAIA's “Champions of Character” program, Athletic Director Scott Dulin said, “Our players are learning that leadership is needed both on the field as well as in the community.”

Turning inward, the College established the Diversity Initiative Group (DIG). Reflecting the College’s tremendous diversity, the goal of DIG, according to Diversity Affairs Coordinator Ashley Pushkarewicz, is “to make diversity a fuller part of the language of education and student life.” To be a citizen of the College is to accept a philosophy of inclusion, and DIG has examined programs and the College’s diversity policy in order to set new standards and expectations.

In the future, four rotating themes will expose students to several concepts (Citizenship will return to campus for the 2010-2011 year). Meanwhile, the creation of a first-year experience program—to be piloted in the upcoming year—will ensure a deeper embedding of the theme in the academic program.

As President Perkins said after his convocation speech, “While finding their place may take them far from the College, Fisher students are being given a foundation to shape their views of themselves as citizens.”

One Arlington Street

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In describing the advantages of the new building, President Perkins said, “One Arlington Street is an elegant space that defines the next century of the College – an institution of vision that is committed to furthering its mission of serving as a point-of-access for all students.”

Renovation and restoration work began last summer. A ribbon-cutting event is planned for early 2007.

Portions of “History of One Arlington Street,” an article in Showcase Magazine (February 1997), were used in this story.

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Featuring

The world premiere of “A Work of Fiction,” a film written, directed, and produced by Dan Faneuf ’04, was December 6, 2006, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusetts. This romantic thriller follows a writer’s challenge to occupy the mind of the murderer-protagonist of his fiction assignment. In describing the film’s production, the Coolidge Corner Theatre wrote, “The goal of this two-year effort has been to provide an example of what can be accomplished when the universities of Boston work together to carry out the monumental task of creating and producing a professional grade feature film.” See the trailer at

http://awofmovie.com.

L. to R. Lauren Shea, President, Student Government Association; Kyle Grenier,Vice President, Student Government Association; Dr. Charles C. Perkins, President.

L. to R. Dr. Charles C. Perkins, President; Joel Barrera, Executive Director,Commonwealth Legislative Seminar; Dr. Maryalice Guilford, Associate Professor of History and Honors Program Director; Honors students Ashley Ellis, Katie Lucier, and Whitney Shirley; Senator Jarrett Barrios, Co- Founder of the Commonwealth Legislative Seminar; Jim DuPont,Vice President for Enrollment Management at the Commonwealth Seminar’s End-of-Year Gathering held on campus on December 8, 2006. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5