Press Releases, January 2008

HCC offers spring semester registration
It’s not too late to sign up for college…
January 4, 2008 

HOLYOKE – Spring semester classes at Holyoke Community College begin the week of January 28. Anyone interested in enrolling at HCC is invited to the college’s Welcome Center on January 9 or January 12 for Registration Express.

Representatives from HCC’s admissions, financial aid, career services, and transfer affairs will be at both Registration Express events to help prospective students arrange testing, registration, and financial aid. Prospective students may also stop by the Welcome Center any weekday, during business hours, for more information.

On January 9, Registration Express will be held in the Welcome Center of the HCC’s Frost Building from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Placement testing will be available until 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, January 12, Registration Express will be held from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Testing will be available until 10:45 a.m. Both events are free.

For more information, call (413) 552-2000 or visit HCC at www.hcc.edu

Patrick appoints Morrissey to HCC Board of Trustees
January 7, 2008 

HOLYOKE – Holyoke Community College this week announced that Springfield resident Sister Jane F. Morrissey has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the college's Board of Trustees by Governor Deval Patrick.

Morrissey currently serves as co-director of Holyoke's Homework House of Hermano Pedro. She is a past president of the Sisters of St. Joseph where she also served as the pastoral minister and the director of the organization's Peace and Justice Office.

Morrissey is expected to be formally introduced to the HCC board at its January 22 meeting. Morrissey fills a slot most recently held by Holyoke resident Edward J. "Ned" Barowsky, whose term on the board expired in December.

HCC appoints Belanger of Westhampton to Kittredge Center post
January 8, 2008 

HOLYOKE – Holyoke Community College this week announced that it has appointed Westhampton resident Arthur E. Belanger, Jr. to the position of business account representative for the Kittredge for Business and Workforce Development.

In his new position, Belanger will be working for HCC's Workplace and Business Solutions (WBS) division to help local businesses identify and pursue training and education opportunities. He is also the president of the West Springfield-based Attain Skills, Inc.

For more information about the WBS or the Kittredge Center, call (413) 552-2730.

Free college prep class for adults at HCC
January 8, 2008 

HOLYOKE – Holyoke Community College's ABE/College Transition program is recruiting adult learners for a free college preparation class, February 4 - May 9. The priority registration deadline is January 30.

Co-sponsored by the Community Education Project, the class prepares high school graduates (or GED recipients) for college-level work. Classes run at the college three days a week, 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and a free PVTA bus pass will be provided.

For more information about this Adult Basic Education (ABE) program or to sign up, call Elia Dreyfuss at (413) 552-2852.

Nominations sought for teaching award at HCC
January 17, 2008 

HOLYOKE – The public is invited to submit nominations for Holyoke Community College's Elaine Marieb Award for Teaching Excellence. Nomination forms are available in the college's Office for Institutional Development or in the Academic Affairs Office, or any division office. They should be submitted to the Institutional Development Office by Friday, February 15.

This award has been established to recognize a member of the HCC faculty who exemplifies the characteristics associated with outstanding classroom teaching. All full-time faculty with five or more years of service are eligible to receive this award. Anyone can nominate an eligible faculty member for this award.

For more information, contact the Office for Institutional Development at (413) 552-2546

Citizens Bank Foundation $10,000 Gift to Holyoke Community College Foundation, Inc.
Supports Advanced English Class at HCC’s Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center
January 31, 2008 

LUDLOW – The Citizens Bank Foundation has reached out to fill a critical need in adult education in Ludlow, making a $10,000 donation to the Holyoke Community College Foundation, Inc. to support advanced-level ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses at HCC’s Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center.

“When we asked our students how we could better serve them, the number one response was: ‘a higher level English class,’” said Kermit Dunkelberg, the center’s program coordinator. “A couple of years ago, the federal government cut funding for advanced ESOL classes, creating a gap between what we can provide with government funding, and what adult learners really need to pursue their goals of a higher education, job training, a better job, and full participation in society as citizens, family members, and productive workers. Citizens Bank’s contribution will help us close that gap, and bring our students closer to their goals.”

The gift will support the Citizens’ Bank Advanced English Class: Next Steps, which focuses on transition to a student-defined “next step” (higher education, job training, better job, and financial independence.). The class will feature a student-directed out-of-classroom component to connect students with community-based resources (including mentors) in pursuing their “next step.”

“If I could learn more English, I would like to work as an interpreter in schools or in nursing homes, helping people,” says Amy Chan, a native of China who speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese fluently. Sandra Pereira, from the Dominican Republic, is opening a new restaurant on East Street in Ludlow. “I need more English in order to manage my place, and communicate with customers,” Pereira says. Seungwon Kwon, from South Korea, looks forward to transitioning to college, where she would like to study Sociology.

On Friday, February 1, Cheryl Shattuck, assistant branch manager of Citizens Bank, presented the check for $10,000 to William F. Messner, President of Holyoke Community College, at HCC’s Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center, 221 East Street, Ludlow. Representative Thomas M. Petrolati, Speaker Pro-Tempore of the Massachusetts House of Representatives; Brad Sperry, Director of Youth and Education Programs for the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County Inc., Michael A. Szlosek, Town Administrator of Ludlow, and many adult learners were present. Representative Petrolati and President Messner affirmed the importance of adult education to the region’s economic and social well-being.