Status decision imminent

In an April 4 roundtable discussion, members of the Bridgewater State College Board of Trustees informed the audience that they were to go through with submitting a plan to move forward en route of becoming a university.

An ad hoc committee was formed so that the Board could research and come up with a clear plan on the process of becoming a university. The committee also held a faculty session similar on March 28.

''This is the next step that we are considering in the process,'' said Board Chairman David Ricciardi. ''We think that this is concurrent with the college's mission and the institutions motto. We want to provide postgraduates, and students in and out of the classroom setting the best education possible.''

Beacon Hill is the major obstacle that the plan currently faces. The legislature would have to approve any plan the college might have in becoming a university.

Legislators are concerned that faculty members would take on a larger course load and the colleges funding for college's appropriations would increase. BSC President Dana Mohler-Faria said that he will be making a presentation on this subject before the legislature later this week.

''Once they listen to this plan, they will see that the process will not use as many resources as they think we will,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''Many that we have spoken to already are relived that this will not be the case.''

The evolution of state colleges becoming universities have happened in 45 states so far. Mohler-Faria said that Massachusetts has currently not made that step. ''It has taken some time for the state as a system to consider this possibility,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''We feel that this is the next logical step in the evolution of the institution.'' Mohler-Faria said that the vote will hopefully take place before the state legislative session ends on June 30.

The Trustees wanted to try and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a move to university status. Mohler-Faria outlined to the audience some of the positive effects that Board will consider before making such a decision.

''We looked at the impact that the move would have on the town of Bridgewater,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''We wanted to offer doctoral degrees, to keep up with the changes that are taking place in higher education.''

Vice President for Academic Affairs, Nancy Kleniewiski, said that the college would not offer a full range of degrees like law school or medical school. Instead, the college would focus on its strengths like education.

''The college would like to offer a degree in Educational Leadership,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''A program like this would be beneficial to the community of Southeastern Massachusetts.''

One of the other things the Board looked at is the increase in federal funding for grants and programs the college might be able to use.

''You would be surprised at how more willing the federal government will support funding for universities, rather than colleges,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''For example, the state of Connecticut made its colleges switch to university status. Once this happened they saw an increase in grant activity.''

Mohler-Faria emphasized that the change wouldn't happen overnight. ''It will take about 4-6 years for the college to make this transition,'' he said. ''We would need to look at how this will affect the average faculty member's workload, the student life on campus. It will also take some time to develop doctoral programs.'' In switching to a university the college would not increase in capacity. The plan would be to add and grow, but the overall quality of the education would not be affected. ''If we added more than we could handle with limited resources, then the quality of the education would diminish,'' said Mohler-Faria.

It is projected that the college would balloon to 10,500 to 11,000 students in about 5 to 6 years time. The total enrollment in the fall of 2005 was 8,872 students. ''Over time there would be an increase of enrollment rates,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''Once we saw more financial support and resources it would increase the quality of the student's experience.''

Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Howard London, emphasized that there would be no increase in the cost to students in attending Bridgewater State. ''We had a meeting on this just the other day,'' said Mohler-Faria. ''It just goes against the college's mission. Student costs and affordability is our main concern.'' After the President's address, the floor was opened up for a question and answer period.

Student Trustee Elect Kaitlyn Greeley asked the President when the name "Bridgewater State University" would be on graduation diplomas. She said that it was a concern that a couple of accounting and finance majors had brought up to her. ''If the legislature approves and committee votes to go university over the summer, then the name change will take place for the graduation class in January,'' said Mohler-Faria.

Another student in the crowd asked if the college would join the UMass system with the move to university status.

''While there would be a lot of collaboration and involvement with the UMass system, we don't think it we would be 'UMass at Bridgewater,''' said Mohler-Faria. ''We would like to maintain our level of independence.''

If Bridgewater State College joined the UMass system it would be subject to the control of one president and board of trustees that governs seven different schools. Mohler-Faria said that we wanted the college to remain autonomous and control the way it did its business.

The Board of Trustees has developed a strategic plan that will soon be available on the campus website.