BCC Hires, Promotes Staff

10:59AM / Friday, April 16, 2021Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) announced the hiring and promotion of staff to the College.

Damien Boutillon has joined BCC's TRIO (Talent, Resources, Initiative, Opportunity) Student Support Services Program as an Academic Advisor. Previously, he was a Strategic Planning Associate at Williams College and a Research Fellow at Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching. A resident of Williamstown, Boutillon received a master's degree and a PhD in social anthropology from Durham University, England, a master's degree in linguistic anthropology from the School of Advanced Social Studies, Paris, and a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Cambridge University, England.

Ashley Carter has joined the Office of Student Affairs as an Academic Success Coach. Previously, she was a retention specialist at a Contra Costa Community College in San Pablo, California. A resident of Tempe, Ariz., Carter holds a master's degree in education administration and leadership and a bachelor of arts degree in international relations, both from University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

Julie Hannum has returned to BCC as STEM Starter Academy Program Coordinator after recently retiring with 25 years of service. Most recently, she was BCC's Director of Continuing Education and South County Programs and had previously served as Director of Off-Campus Sites and Director/ Coordinator of Career and Technical Education Partnerships. A co-founder of the Berkshire STEM Career Fair, Hannum received a master's degree in science education from MCLA and a bachelor's degree in general science/ chemistry from Westfield State College. She is a native and lifelong resident of Sheffield.

Kelsey Jones has joined the Office of Student Engagement as an Academic Success Coach. Previously, she was a community and civic engagement intern at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. She recently earned a master's degree in higher education student affairs administration from Nazareth College and holds a bachelor of arts in history and political science from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She resides in Mendon, N.Y. in the Rochester area.

Richard Kovarovic has joined the Jonathan Edwards Library as a Library Assistant III, with responsibilities in technical services and interlibrary loans. Previously, he worked for several years as a cataloging specialist at Croton Free Library in Westchester County, N.Y., where he was most recently the Temporary Reference and Circulation Supervisor. A resident of Pittsfield, Kovarovic holds a master's degree in English literature and a bachelor of arts degree in English, both from Mercy College. He is currently pursuing a Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS) degree from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Julie Krzanik has joined the Administration & Finance Department as Assistant to the Vice President of Administration and Finance/Divisional Support Manager. Previously, she was a registrar at Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield. She received a bachelor of science degree in business administration and economics from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) and an associate's degree in environmental science from BCC. She resides in Adams, MA.

Matthew Martin has joined BCC's Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI) as Coordinator of Learning Experience Design, a position shared between BCC and Greenfield Community College. Since 2019, he had been an academic support coordinator at Buxton School and was an online social studies instructor with Virtual Virginia for more than 10 years. A resident of Williamstown, Martin earned a master's degree of arts in education from The College of William and Mary and a bachelor of arts degree in history from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Abby Powers has joined the Office of Student Engagement as an Administrative Assistant. Previously, she was a member services coordinator at 1Berkshire. A resident of Pittsfield, Powers received a master of business administration degree from MCLA and a bachelor of arts degree in mass communication from Westfield State College.

Deborah Thayer has been promoted to Database Administrator for the Information Technology Department. Previously, she was a database analyst/programmer. Thayer received a bachelor of science degree in computer science from MCLA and an associate's degree in computer information systems from BCC.

Taylor Woodward has joined the Office of Advancement as an Administrative Assistant. Previously, he was a development associate at Kaufman Music Center in New York City. He earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Elon University in North Carolina. Woodward resides in downtown Pittsfield.

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PCTV Turns 40, Anniversary Celebration This Friday

By Breanna SteeleiBekshires Staff
03:30PM / Monday, September 14, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Television is turning 40 this week, and it's celebrating with its viewers and listeners.

This Friday, Sept. 18, PCTV will celebrate at the Berkshire Hills Country Club. Ryan Peterson, WTEN News10 ABC anchor and Pittsfield High School graduate, will give the keynote address.

Executive Director Shawn Serre, who has been with the station for over 32 years, said it's their chance to celebrate all they have been able to bring to the community.

"It's a chance to reflect on everything that the organization has done over those years, all the people that have been involved. From board members to volunteers to producers to crew people to staff members, and all the different programs that we've produced," he said. "Everything from public programming to education, sports, graduations, parades, government meetings and forums, and election night coverage, and all kinds of other things that just year upon year of history that we've been able to create and document here for the Pittsfield community over those years."

Serre took over as executive director about nine years ago. Originally a volunteer fresh out of college.

The original board included former mayor Edward Reilly, Dan Dillon, Diane Morgenstern, Bernard Avalle, and John Fukes of the Berkshire Athenaeum. The operation was all-volunteer until PCTV hired the first executive director in January 1989.

PCTV has operated out of its station on Federico Drive since 1999. But originally they worked out of a basement.

"The first location that we ever had, we had all of our equipment stored in cardboard boxes in the basement of the Berkshire Athenaeum, because the Berkshire Athenaeum at the time was very gracious and allowed us to have some space while we sort of got our feet on the ground and sort of got things organized," he said. "But we had no location. We had no studio. We just had this equipment that was ordered with the money that we had from the original cable franchise grant."

"So that lasted a couple of years, and then we signed and got a lease over in our first studio location, which was over on Fourth Street in Pittsfield," Serre continued. "That was around the time that I first got involved, just before we moved to Fourth Street. So I was there in the basement of the library, opening those boxes up and seeing what we had for equipment. So we stayed there at Fourth Street for about 10 years, and then this building that we're currently in now, over on Federico Drive, was constructed in 1998. It was built kind of custom-made for the cable company and for us and for one other company."

Serre said one of their proudest moments was saving the radio station WTBR-FM back in 2018. PCTV made space for them so they could continue operation.

"We carved out some space here in our facility for that, and we've been operating that radio station ever since. So those are some of the big milestones of growth of the organization over the years, and the things that we've done," he said.

They have also invested in advanced technology to keep their programming accessible to all.

"Technologically, there's another whole series of things that we've gone through," he said. "We've started out with a single cable TV channel. We grew to three cable TV channels. We started out as standard definition on videotape, and we grew to digital, and then to high definition, and then everything went to the internet. So we're able to offer video on demand and live streams and video on social media. And then with the radio station, we also have a live stream there and podcasting. So we've seen a lot of technological change and tried to roll with that over the years."

Serre said that PCTV strives to keep people informed while also allowing space for people to create their own media.

"The whole idea behind PEG [Public Education and Government Access]...the whole idea behind that back in the 70s and 80s was that people could be left behind with the technology that's available to the big corporations," he said. "So, if you had a cable system at the time, ordinary people maybe they had camcorders at home, but they didn't have access to a TV studio; they didn't have access to the kind of technology that we had to allow them to create programs and share it with the community. So we filled that gap, and that was one of the main things that we did. And then also to be able to create programming for viewers and for the city, so that the municipal meetings can be shown, and so school committee meetings can be shown, and it really brings people in and involved."

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