For more than a year, Marlboro College trustees and staff have been exploring measures to improve programs and strengthen our finances, including relocation of the Graduate and Professional Studies program. At the November 2016 board meeting, trustees voted to move the graduate program to our campus on Potash Hill, where it can share classrooms, staff, and other resources with the undergraduate program.
“The co-location of our programs in one beautiful place will have many benefits,” said President Kevin. “It builds on much of our recent work to better unite the two campuses, expands the recreational and academic opportunities for graduate students, diversifies our learning community, and, most importantly, enriches our educational offerings for both undergraduate and graduate students.”
The administrative hub for the graduate school will soon be moving to a peaceful, light-filled house, known as “On the Way,” adjacent to the president’s home on South Road. Graduate classes, scheduled over the summer and monthly weekends, will take place on campus in the library, Dalrymple, and the new Snyder Center for the Visual Arts as of March of this year.
To facilitate the transition process, Kevin has asked GPS director Kate Jellema and head-selectperson Solomon Botwick-Ries to form an Integration Committee that will consist of members from both campuses. In response to input from students, faculty, and staff, the committee will work together to organize a smooth relocation, explore ways where we can integrate with ease, and highlight new ways to collaborate socially and academically as one campus.
“I understanding that relocating the grad School to Potash Hill will ‘impact the felt experience of students,’ in the words of student representative to the trustees Ben Rejali,” said Kevin. “While I know that change creates challenges, I firmly believe that relocating is the right decision for Marlboro College, and will generate important benefits for both the undergrad and grad programs.”
In tandem with this move, Marlboro College is preparing the graduate center building in Brattleboro for sale and locating new renters to occupy the first and second floors currently used by the grad school. The college is exploring options that might include establishing a smaller downtown presence that includes office, seminar, and classroom space.
“Brattleboro has been an important place for the college for decades, and will continue to be our home town—a hub for great restaurants, movies, art, culture, shopping, and charming places to stay,” said Kevin. “Many of us call Brattleboro home, and that won’t change.”
