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Transit Center Brings Education to RidershipBy Jennifer Thomas - December 10, 2007
 | | Mayor James Ruberto, MCLA President Mary Grant and BCC President Paul Raverta at the Intermodal Center in Pittsfield. |
PITTSFIELD - There's no excuse for missing class now.
On Monday, officials from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Berkshire Community College joined Mayor James M. Ruberto and members of the Berkshire delegation to unveil a new collaboration that will see students attending college classes at the Intermodal Transportation Center beginning in January.
In an attempt to address the issue of accessibility, the partners selected a central location that can be easily reached by public transportation.
"Access is absolutely critical and this project takes dead aim at access," said Tyler Fairbank, president of the Berkshire Economic Development Corp.
The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority - which operates out of the Intermodal Center - serves 23 Berkshire County communities, 12 with fixed-route service, and boasted an annual ridership of 572,378 passengers in fiscal 2007.
The new educational facility - called the Intermodal Education Center - will feature three classrooms, a computer lab, and a conference area in 3,000 square feet of space on the second floor of the station. Offering for-credit courses in the evenings as well as work-force development programs during the day, the new facility will allow Berkshire County residents to receive an education at their convenience.
"This is all about location, location, location," said BCC President Paul Raverta. "This is exactly where we need to be."
"Now is the time for the people of Pittsfield and the people of the county to take advantage of the offerings here at the facility," said Ruberto.
MCLA and BCC will begin offering courses at the facility for the spring 2008 semester, which begins next month. According to BCC's Dean of Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development William Mulholland, the college will offer criminal justice, English and math courses along with non-credit workshops and classes in English as a second language and computer skills.
MCLA will use the facility as a way to expand its fast-track accelerated degree program.
"Without a well-educated population, we will not be successful," said MCLA President Mary K. Grant.
The new facility will also help further the mission of the Berkshire Compact for Higher Education. According to Andrew Mick, the chairman of the Compact and the CEO of New England Newspapers Inc., the centrally-located Intermodal Center can help address all four of the Compact's major goals, which are:
- To raise the aspirations of all Berkshire County residents to view 16 years of education, or greater, as the accepted educational norm.
- To improve access to education, training and lifelong learning.
- To make Berkshire County a competitive location for the new technology and knowledge-based economy and make Berkshire County residents among the most technologically educated population in New England.
- To develop a new "social contract" among employers, employees, and educational institutions that encourages and promotes learning, earning, and civic engagement.
The Compact also determined that a presence for both BCC and MCLA were needed in downtown Pittsfield.
"As the hub for the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, the center will make it easier for more students to access education opportunities from anywhere within Berkshire County," said Raverta, who helped start the project last year.
"Gosh, this has been a long time coming but it's certainly coming at the right time for Pittsfield and for the Berkshires," said Ruberto, who celebrated his 61st birthday on Monday.
"This is the ultimate birthday for me," he said. "An open, accessible location is a tremendous opportunity for us to see remedial education all the way to fast-track programs, with literacy in the middle. It's really a great day for Pittsfield."
Calling the new programming a "win-win for everybody" and the station "the perfect space," Mulholland said he expected the biggest challenge looking forward was developing the site before the first students arrive. The classes, which will be priced at "community college affordable," will be small initially, he said, but will grow over time.
"I don't remember any other event that had so many key players saying 'This is a good idea,'" Mulholland said. "All the points of the compass are pointing in the right direction." |
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