Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
(MCLA)
The MCLA logo is patterned after the original gates from Murdock Hall that now serve as the college gates.
Established	1894
Type	Public
President	Dr. Mary Grant
Vice-president	Dr. Cynthia Brown
Dean	Dr. Monica Joslin
Academic staff	87 full-time 42 part-time
Undergraduates	2,100
Postgraduates	2 graduate
Location	North Adams, Massachusetts, United States 42°41′30″N 73°06′14″W / 42.691672°N 73.103921°W / 42.691672; -73.103921Coordinates: 42°41′30″N 73°06′14″W / 42.691672°N 73.103921°W / 42.691672; -73.103921
Campus	Rural, 105 acres (0.4 km²)
Former names	North Adams State College, State College at North Adams, North Adams Teaching College, North Adams Normal School
Colors	Navy and Gold
Athletics	Trailblazers
Affiliations	Massachusetts Dept. of Higher Education Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges
Website	www.mcla.edu

The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is a public, residential, liberal arts college that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. Located in North Adams, Massachusetts, it is part of the state university system of Massachusetts. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Originally established as part of the state's normal school system for training teachers, it now offers a wide variety of programs leading to Bachelor of Science and Arts degrees, as well as a Master of Education track. MCLA is the smallest college in the state system.

History

Murdock Hall, the college' s flagship classroom building.

MCLA was founded in 1894 as North Adams Normal School, and it offered first instruction at post-secondary level three years later. In 1932, North Adams Normal School became State Teachers College of North Adams. Along with the name change, it added an upper-division curriculum and awarded the first degree (baccalaureate). Four years later, the school instituted an upper-graduate program. In 1960, the college changed its name to North Adams State College and, later in 1997, to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, the latter name reflecting its position as the public liberal arts college within the Massachusetts state university system.

In 2004, President Mary Grant initiated collaborations with other institutions to strengthen MCLA's leadership position. The college launched the Berkshire Compact for Higher Education and MCLA Gallery 51. MCLA also is the lead partner in the Berkshire STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Pipeline Network.

In 2008, Governor Deval Patrick signed the Higher Education Bond Bill that includes $54.5 million for a new Center for Science and Innovation at MCLA.

Location

MCLA is located one mile from the center of North Adams, Massachusetts, a city of 13,708 people, in the northwestern corner of the state that borders both Vermont and New York. Travel time from Boston, Massachusetts is around three hours, three and a half hours from New York City, about one hour from Albany, New York, and two hours from Hartford, Connecticut. It is located 50 miles from Albany, 180 miles from New York City, and 135 miles from Boston.

Degrees

MCLA awards the bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science on the undergraduate level and also confers master's degrees in both education and business administration, as well as a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS). MCLA offers 19 major programs of study and 35 minors. On average, MCLA offers 300 academic courses each semester.

Athletics

MCLA has more than 40 student clubs and 11 competitive NCAA Division III teams: active intercollegiate female teams are Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, Cross-Country, Soccer,and Softball while active intercollegiate male teams are Baseball, Basketball, Golf, Cross-Country, and Soccer. MCLA competes in the MASCAC league.

From the 1960s, the college's athletic teams were known as the Mohawks after the Mohawk trail which runs along Rt 2. The name was changed due to an overreaction by the faculty, even though the Mohawk Nation repeatedly stated that they were not offended by the name.

M.C.L.A. Hockey was the most successful team in the college’s history until it was cut in 2003 due to title 9. The players were not informed until the school year started which made it too late for transfers. This cost the players a year of eligibility.

Institutional structure

MCLA is governed by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. Beyond that, MCLA has extra-institutional representation of 11 voting members and the Board of Trustees, whose members are appointed by the governor which has 11 voting members. A student representative to the board of trustees is elected every spring by the student body to sit for one academic year. Administration positions include 12 men and 24 women. Academic affairs is headed by the vice president for academic affairs. Business and finances is headed by the vice president for administration and finance. Student affairs is headed by the dean of students. The full-time instructional faculty has 52 men and 36 women, and there are 100 students, which leads to a faculty/student ratio of 1 to 1. The academic governance body, All College Committee, meets an average of nine times each year.

Admission

MCLA has a rolling-admissions plan but requires graduation from an accredited secondary school or a GED. MCLA uses SAT or ACT composite scores for entrance consideration. MCLA accepts transfer students with grade-point average requirements or with an associate degree.

Degree requirements

Graduation from MCLA requires completing 120 credits of academic work. From these 120 credits, about 40 should be college-wide core curriculum credits. Another 40 credits are required to complete a major. Like many higher education programs, 40 upper-division credits are also required. MCLA has a college residence requirement saying at least 45 credits must be earned in residence at the college. Students must earn at least a 2.0 grade point average overall and a 2.0 in their major.

Distinctive educational programs

MCLA offers internships for undergraduates through the Berkshire Hills Internship Program. It also offers undergraduates coursework in other countries through its travel abroad program. MCLA belongs to the Massachusetts Council for International Education (MaCIE), College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS), and the National Student Exchange (NSE). Through these associations and connections, students are sent on semester- or year-long programs to colleges around the world.

The college Honors Program includes ten percent of the student body for whom it offers special interdisciplinary courses in such topics as "The Mathematics of Fairness," "Ethics and Animals" or "The Romantic Movement." The college is authorized by the state to grant the distinction "Commonwealth Scholar" to students who complete the honors program with a capstone thesis.

Publications

The school has two student publications: The Beacon, a weekly newspaper, and Spires, a literary magazine published each year. Radio Station WJJW broadcasts for 140 hours each week. MCLA also has one faculty publication: The Mind's Eye, and one alumni publication, Beacons & Seeds, which comes out twice a year.

Notable alumni

• Daniel E. Bosley - member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1986 - 2011)
• Thomas Calter- member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 2007 - present)
• Jane Swift - former lieutenant governor under Governor Paul Cellucci (1999–2001), and served as acting governor (April 2001 to January 2003).
• Mary Grant - current president of MCLA and the first alumna to serve as president.^[1]
• Anton Strout - urban fantasy novelist.^[2]

Notes

1. ^ http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/President/fullbio/
2. ^ Anton Strout. Anton Strout's official Facebook page, accessed June 6, 2011.

External links

• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts