Mitchell College to Get $2 Million in Grants Over Next Five Years (The Day)

2008 Vocus Press Releases

7/28/2008

Mitchell College To Get $2 Million In Grants Over Next Five Years(The Day)

Mitchell College has received a $2 million U.S. Department of Education grant that will be allocated over the next five years, the college announced Friday.

The college was one of 55 higher-education institutions selected to receive the Title III grant this year, and one of 10 colleges to receive it at the maximum amount of $400,000 a year, according to a press release issued Friday by the college.

About $375,000 of the total amount will be put into the college's endowment to support need-based student scholarships. The college also plans to add three new staff positions: a director of institutional research, a college writing specialist and a position in the career center.

The college's eventual goal is to increase student-retention and graduation rates by 15 percent and lower by 20 percent the number of freshmen students with grade-point-averages below 2.0, according to the release.

Title III funds are designed to help colleges improve academically, institutionally and fiscally to better serve low-income students, according to the Department of Education Web site.

8/6/2008

Thriving Tourism Industry Welcomes Mitchell College’s New Hospitality Program

Mitchell College has introduced the first Hospitality & Tourism Bachelor’s degree to Southeastern Connecticut. It is also only the third of its kind in the state. Over the past ten years, Southeastern Connecticut has seen a boom in tourism. The area offers a variety of tourist activities including cultural events, historical places of interest, sporting activities, shopping, fine cuisine, leisure activities, and of course two of the world’s largest casino resorts. The region also provides a variety of lodging options including a beach resort, 3 and 4 star hotels, motel/inns, bed & breakfasts, and the mega casino/resorts. The large amount of activities and services provide the perfect learning platform for students.

Much of the momentum for the program comes from the June arrival of new department chair Robert O. Forcier whose experience includes 15 years in management and operations in the hospitality industry and 10 years as a manager in the Career Development Office & Hospitality adjunct faculty member at Johnson & Wales University.

Forcier explains that employment opportunities within our state far outnumber graduates who possess Hospitality & Tourism degrees. “The hospitality industry is in need of highly educated professionals and that need has remained even through this sluggish economy.” Forcier expects that the program will quickly become recognized as a leader in quality hospitality education.

Students can currently choose from concentrations in Hotel and Restaurants, Food Service or Event Management, with new tracks in International Tourism, Casino Management and even Eco-Tourism in the planning stages. Graduates will have training for careers in management positions in hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, private clubs, casinos, event locations, convention centers, catering, and contract dining services.

“I don’t expect every student to be a General Manager of a hotel, restaurant, or casino,” says Forcier, “but each student will find their niche in the industry in a position that is rewarding.”

The first students in this program entered last year and will graduate in May 2011. Based on the need for educated professionals, the willingness of regional industry leaders to assist in the educational process, and the desire by entering college students for this type of program, early projections should make this program the largest in the state by 2010. Forcier expects roughly 50 – 60 students to enter the program in 2009, and by 2012, to have over 250 students in the program.

Forcier has tapped into his vast network of contacts within the industry to establish collaborative relationships aimed at strengthening and expanding the fledgling program. Students will have access to employment opportunities, internships, guest lecturers, employment visits, study abroad options, case studies, and other industry related activities.

He has also identified off-site learning venues and employment venues for students, such as a structured internship for Hotel/Restaurant majors being planned with Waterford Hotel Group.

The program is quickly gaining strength through strategic alliances within the region. A Mitchell College Hospitality & Tourism Advisory Board is also currently being formed with representation from a cross section of industry executives and national, regional, and local hospitality and business associations.

Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut President Tony Sheridan sees a great need for more tourism professionals in the region. “We are inundated with calls from potential visitors. This program will provide much needed professional development for future industry workers and leaders and the means to handle a greater volume of visitors.”

Forcier is a Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) Facilitator who provides educational institutions and industry a key job analysis tool to ensure that educational output meets industry needs. Forcier has also developed a variety of educational resources to assist students in transition from college to employment.

He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration, and his M.B.A. in Hospitality Administration from Johnson & Wales University.

Mitchell College is a private coeducational independent college offering bachelor and associate degrees in 20 programs of study, as well as the new Thames Academy post-graduate program. The College is dedicated to providing a challenging education in a caring and cooperative student-centered environment. In addition, Mitchell College has transitioned to a four year athletics program competing athletically with 13 varsity intercollegiate teams as a member of NCAA Division III. Located on a 68-acre waterfront campus, Mitchell's nearly 1,000 students come from 28 states and 12 foreign countries.

8/6/2008

Mitchell College Preparing To Restore Its Beach

Day, The

New London - Every sandaled foot that treads the paths worn by careless habit over the dunes of Mitchell Beach frays this sandy ribbon along the Thames River a little bit more.

Beaches are by nature changeable landscapes, seasonally eroded and rebuilt by the actions of storm surges, winds and tides. But Mitchell Beach, owned by Mitchell College and used by its students, faculty, staff and their families, and community groups with permission, hasn't been able to recover normally because of heavy human use and misuse.

"This is one of the disappearing habitats in Connecticut, so it's really important we preserve it," said Kristen Lester, associate professor of life sciences and mathematics at Mitchell. "We've lost at least 15 feet of beach in the last five years."

Lester and Kimberly Blake, also an associate professor of life sciences and mathematics at the college, are overseeing a project to restore the beach by fencing off the shrinking dunes, closing off all but one of the foot paths from the parking lot to the beach, replanting native beach grasses that hold the dunes in place, building a boardwalk and installing handicapped accessibility equipment. The five-year, $50,000 project will also entail removing the vast thickets of oriental bittersweet, mugwort, Japanese knotweed, tree-of-heaven and other nonnative, invasive plants that have crowded out the native grasses and shrubs that should be growing there.

"We want to maintain the community access to the beach," Lester said, "but we want it to be used correctly. But the crucial thing now is to stop the erosion."

One purpose of the project, she said, is to turn the beach into more of an educational asset for local schools and the college, by recreating a more natural habitat that will attract nesting seabirds.

"We really would like this to be more of a resource," said Blake.

Much of the planning and labor involved - from the planting of more than 30,000 stems of beach grass plants the first year, and another 10,000 each year after to the removal of the invasive plants and construction of the fence and boardwalk - will be done by Mitchell students in two environmental science classes, making the project itself an educational tool. The students will also design signs, help write grants to fund the project and work with state and local agencies. One student, Lester said, is currently doing a summer internship researching how the beach looked historically so that it can be restored as closely as possible to its original condition.

Friday afternoon, as Lester and Blake led a tour of the beach to describe the project, groups of children from summer programs at the B.P. Learned Mission and the college's child care center engrossed themselves in sand-castle construction and water play, blissfully oblivious to the nearby discussion about environmental degradation and repair. Yet without the plans and the work that will follow, the beach would eventually all but disappear, and with it, the chance for future groups of children to enjoy this place where the land meets the water.

The 600-foot-long beach is located at the foot of the Mitchell campus off Pequot Avenue, and looks out over a busy urban harbor filled with moored sailboats, passing ferries and the Electric Boat shipyard.

"I love coming down here and seeing it used like this," said Lester, as she watched some of the children practice swimming with one of the B.P. Learned staff.

Thus far, the project has received a $5,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection for the project, and another $5,000 grant is expected. Lester said she's working on finding the remaining $40,000.

The project will begin Sept. 20 with a beach cleanup by student volunteers, followed by grass planting and fence installation this fall and winter. Lester said she expects the beach will remain open throughout the project.

In the announcement last month of grant awards to the Mitchell project and other Long Island Sound projects, state DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy cited it as one of "three high-quality habitat restoration projects" receiving funding.

"Physical habitat restoration activities are critical to the improvement of our coastal environment," she said, adding that DEP staff will be working with Mitchell and the other groups.

Published in The Day on 8/4/2008

8/16/2008

Mitchell College names chairman for new four-year tourism program

Mitchell College has named a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry to head its new hospitality-and-tourism initiative - the region's first four-year academic program dedicated to those growing industries.

Robert O. Forcier, whose experience included serving on the faculty of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., will serve as the new chairman overseeing the New London college's bachelor-degree program.

Besides 15 years of industry experience, Forcier has 10 years of experience as the manager of Johnson & Wales career development office and as a hospitality adjunct professor with the Providence school.

The four-year program's first class of students will graduate in May 2011.

Forcier said he hopes to soon name a 15-member advisory board to assist with the program. He said 10 of the 15 members have committed to serve as advisers and said both of the region's casinos would have representation on the panel.

Mitchell's four-year program offers various academic concentrations, from hotel and restaurant to food services and event management. In addition, Mitchell will offer new academic tracks in international tourism, casino management and eco-tourism.

The four-year bachelor's program should mesh well with eastern Connecticut's growing multibillion-dollar tourism industry. The tourism and hospitality industries across Connecticut are estimated to be a $10 billion economic engine.

The hospitality-degree program will include industry internships, guest lecturers, study-abroad options, case studies and other industry-specific activities. Forcier is already readying an internship program with the locally based Waterford Hotel Group.

Forcier holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts and holds a master's in business administration from Johnson & Wales University.

Originally publised in The Day on August 16, 2008.

8/21/2008

Mitchell College gets welcome mat ready for students at new residence hall

New London - Smelly communal showers? Gross, encrusted stains on the dorm-room carpet?

Not for the 116 upperclassmen who lucked out in the housing lottery and get to move into Mitchell College's brand-new, $5.8 million residence hall next month. The as-yet-unnamed four-story hall on De Biasi Drive is so new, in fact, that it is referred to simply as "New Residence Hall."

Student move-in date is Sept. 2, two days before classes begin. There's a lot left to do before then - construction materials still inhabit the interior of the dormitory, wires still hang from the ceilings and carpets have not been installed.

But the walls and doors of the suite-style double rooms have been freshly painted green, blue and yellow. Bathroom fixtures and kitchen cabinets are in, and furnishings are on their way.

Construction of the new residence hall is one of a handful of facilities projects Mitchell undertook this summer. Formerly a two-year college, Mitchell began offering bachelor's programs in 1998 and has shown substantial growth since.

The college's other major project - the $3.8 million Ric and Dawn Duquès '64 Academic Success Center - was completed in the spring but will open to students this fall.

There are now about 900 students attending Mitchell, with about 80 percent on a bachelor's track, said Renée Fournier, director of public relations and marketing. Enrollment for 2008-09 is expected to rise by another 5 to 6 percent.

Robust growth, while welcomed, also meant the college was out of on-campus residential space, forcing it to house some students in temporary living quarters, including the Radisson Hotel.

The new dorm, which will give the college the ability to accommodate all students who choose to live on campus, has 18 six-person suites with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and three four-person suites with two bedrooms and a bathroom. Amenities include air conditioning and wireless Internet service.

The suites' common areas, which include kitchenettes, were kept intentionally small to promote student interaction, said David Peduto, the college's director of facilities.

"They didn't want the big living space, where you just hang out with your six buds and that's it," he said.

The new dorm is a modular design that arrived in pieces in May and was assembled onsite. The college has poured another $600,000 in ongoing improvements - including burying utility lines and adding a traffic circle to enhance the area's residential appeal - to De Biasi Drive, where the college's other three traditional dorms are located.