MCLA to Host Information Session for Graduate Programs

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will host a virtual information session for graduate programs – Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Education (MEd) on Dec. 5 at noon. 

Prospective students can meet with faculty and staff to learn more about continuing education in three of MCLA's programs that are designed to support the rising workforce needs both in the Berkshires and beyond. 

The MBA program offers a broad-based, multidisciplinary education that combines the strengths of MCLA business faculty with those of practicing managers actively involved in day-to-day decision-making in the field. It is a part-time 30-credit program designed for working professionals and in partnership with the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). 

The MEd Program offers a thoughtful blend of classroom and fieldwork experiences that prepare students to make a meaningful impact in their school communities. Programs include: MEd with Initial Licensure, Professional Teacher Licensure with MEd, MEd with Individualized Plan of Study Non-Licensure, Accelerated +1 Bachelor's Degree with MEd 

To register visit lnk.mcla.edu/gradinfo or contact the Office of Graduate and Continuing Education at 413-662-5575.  

MCLA in Talks With Anonymous Donor for Art Museum, Art Lab

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Monday, April 29, 2024

Andre Lynch, the new vice provost for institutional equity and belonging, introduces himself to the trustees, some of whom were participating remotely.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts may be in line for up to a $10 million donation that will include a campus art museum. 

 

President Jamie Birge told the board of trustees on Thursday that  the college has been in discussions for the last couple years with a donor who wishes at this point to remain anonymous.

 

"It's a donor that has a history of working with public liberal arts institutions to advance the arts that those institutions," he said.  "This donor would like to talk with us or has been talking with us about creating art museum and an art lab on campus."

 

The Fine and Performing Arts Department will have input, the president continued. "We want to make sure that it's a facility that supports that teaching and learning dynamic as well as responding to what's the interest of donor."

 

The college integrated into the local arts community back in 2005 with the opening of Gallery 51 on Main Street that later expanded with an art lab next door. The gallery under the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center had been the catalyst for the former Downstreet Art initiative; its participation has fallen off dramatically with changes in leadership and the pandemic. 

 

This new initiative, should it come to pass, would create a facility on MCLA Foundation property adjacent to the campus. The donor and the foundation have already split the cost of a study. 

 

"We conducted that study to look at what approximately a 6,500-square-foot facility would look like," said Birge. "How we would staff the gallery and lab, how can we use this lab space for fine and performing arts."