Curry College's growing 'southern' investment
by Cape Business staffIt’s Monday at 5:30 p.m., and almost spontaneously, the downtown Plymouth classrooms of Curry College come alive with scores of students. They’ve rushed from jobs on Cape Cod and in New Bedford to study subjects ranging from managerial accounting to strategic global marketing in an e-commerce world.
A business law professor who practices in Hyannis and lives in Mashpee enters one packed classroom balancing a pile of pizzas, while a student follows with enough sodas to sustain the next four hours. Over coming weeks, this diverse group of mostly mid-career professionals will delve into employment law; business organizations and regulations; purchase, sale and lease of goods; real and personal and personal property; consumer and credit protection; insurance; negotiable instruments; and e-contracts.
Elsewhere other students are working toward bachelor’s degrees, professional certifications and a two-year MBA degree.
Even though Curry College’s main campus is only 35 minutes away, the Milton-based institution is increasingly investing in Plymouth and the extensive business growth forming across the county – and beyond.
Curry’s commitment to Plymouth also reflects emerging realities about today’s economic climate and the ever-changing demands placed on businesses – from giant corporations to self-employed firms. Young professionals need advanced degrees to compete for the best jobs; established companies require employees to constantly stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies; and many workers choose to move from one field to another – either because they encounter dead ends or see greater potential elsewhere.
Overseeing Curry’s Plymouth strategy are three people in particular: Judith Stoessel, who is dean of the college’s division of continuing and graduate studies; Gail Arch, director of its MBA program on both campuses and who teaches courses at Plymouth; and Anne Berriault, who directs the Plymouth campus.
Stoessel came to Curry three years ago with nearly 30 years of experience as a higher education administrator at Northeastern University, Wheelock College and Wheaton College. Her reach extends from her Milton office west to Worcester and south to Plymouth, where the college offers master’s degree programs in criminal justice, management, and education. As a member of Curry’s senior leadership team, she is involved in overall strategic planning, budgeting and management issues.
The MBA program was instituted a year after she arrived and was rolled out only last spring in Plymouth, where Curry has been located for more than a dozen years. Its proximity to Milton has introduced clear synergies, uppermost the willingness of professors like Arch to teach at both campuses.
Stoessel revels in a job that requires her to work at the juncture of college and business worlds. “Continuing education is more like business than any other part of higher education, other than the finance department,” she explained.
“It rings true to me. I like being an entrepreneur and marketer and not being locked away in an ivy tower. And because we are a small enough institution, I am required to be thoroughly mired in day-to-day matters ranging from student and staff recruitment to program development.”
In many ways, Stoessel’s job reflects the confluence of demographic and workplace changes affecting all of the Massachusetts economy. “The state has the highest percentage of people over 25 years old with bachelor’s degrees than anywhere in the country,” she said. “If they have BAs, what does an institution of higher learning do? We develop graduate programs to meet their need for continued learning.”
The biggest feature of today’s economy, she noted, is the speed of change. “How many times in a professional life does a person need to retool skills? The need for continuous learning is driving people back to school. We must figure out what they need to learn and then meet those needs.”
To succeed, Stoessel has become a continuous learner herself – talking to as many businesses as possible, attending as many networking events as time will allow, and establishing advisory groups that encompass fields from residential property management to nursing.
“It’s terribly important to have outside representatives from business and industry bringing their perspectives into the college,” she said. It’s equally important that faculty know what is going on in the business world, she added. That’s why Stoessel works hard to make sure her teaching staff is a balance of full-time professors and working professionals.
“Our output must meet the immediate needs of employers,” explained Stoessel. “That said, this is still an area we don’t do well enough. We don’t always respond to employers’ training needs quickly enough. There are ways in which we still get hung up in the ivory tower.”
Because its MBA program is so new, Curry is addressing real-world relevancy with two particular innovations.
Students learn within cohort groups. They all take the same classes together for the two years. It creates an environment emphasizing teamwork, which is greatly valued by the business world. And since most MBA candidates also work, it allows for them to teach each other and connect to many different fields.
Students also participate in a culminating capstone course. They will work with a faculty mentor and a sponsoring organization to define, analyze and hopefully solve a major business issue facing that sponsor.
Who are Curry’s students in Plymouth?
The largest student population represents undergraduates; and most of these are making career changes or returning to school to complete a degree. The most popular majors are nursing, management, criminal justice and psychology.
Others are only seeking formal certificates to enhance their careers. These can encompass accounting, human resources management, corporate and business communications, and technology in the workplace.
Those who are retraining themselves tend to be in the late 30s and 40s. The college also is beginning to see baby boomers who want to leave the corporate world and buy or start their own businesses.
As students get older, Berriault sees a new opportunity for Curry’s continuing education program – certificates for managing volunteer and nonprofit organizations. Other possible certificate programs could encompass finance and global business.
One challenge that Stoessel and her colleagues face is convincing businesses of the value of educating and training their employees.
It is easier with larger companies because they often have many opportunities for advancement, are willing to subsidize the education and can better afford the time away from an actual work assignment. It is harder for smaller businesses with less flexibility and for fear that a better-trained employee will leave them after completing a degree or even a certificate.
Berriault, who manages the Plymouth programs, addresses that challenge this way: “I try to explain to businesses the risk of not providing employees with more education. ‘What if you don’t train them, and they stay?’”
She also struggles with the small business owner’s concern about limited time to spare not only for employees, but also for themselves.
Plymouth’s location, for one, aims to address saving time driving back and forth to class. Evening hours represent another answer, as are Saturday classes that meet every third week for a full day, with online coursework in between. “This is very compelling for people who have a long way to travel. Students seem to like it,” said Berriault.
MBA candidates are working online, especially since Web-based collaboration has become such an important, if not necessary, skill in the flattened business world, emphasized Berriault. “Think how many small businesses are developing online networks with customers and colleagues around the globe.”
Published in Cape Business July/August 2007
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