NORTH ADAMS — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will hold a virtual information session on the college’s radiologic technology concentration on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Register by clicking here.

Prospective students looking to enter the healthcare field, or who are interested in health sciences, are encouraged to attend. MCLA’s Office of Admission and Health Sciences faculty will answer questions and give a brief overview of MCLA’s Radiologic Technology concentration. Graduates of the program have a 100% job-placement rate, and alumni earn an average starting salary of $72,000.

To learn more, contact the MCLA Office of Admission at [email protected] or call (413) 662-5410.

NORTH ADAMS — Caren Beilin, an assistant professor in the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) English & Communications Department, will offer a free community conversation via Zoom on Tuesday, March 9 at 5:30 p.m., in her role as this spring semester’s Hardman Scholar-in-Residence.

This event is free and open to the public; visit bit.ly/MCLAHardman to register. Beilin will also present a faculty talk via Zoom at noon on March 9.

Beilin is a creative writer working at the intersection of feminism and disability poetics. She is the author of the nonfiction book Blackfishing the IUD, a CLMP Firecracker Award nominee. Her other books include a memoir, Spain, and a novel, The University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to her work as a professor and author, Beilin has developed a new residency program in coordination with MASS MoCA that will invite young, emerging writers into the MCLA and North Adams community. Her talk will highlight this new programming and the ways the Hardman Special Initiative funding has been key to its launch.

Made possible through the Hardman Family Endowment, this series, which also includes the annual fall Hardman Lecture, presents in-depth discussions with some of the leading journalists of our time.

NORTH ADAMS — Ona Egbue, associate professor of Informatics and Engineering systems at University of South Carolina Upstate, will give a talk titled “Factors that Influence Electric Vehicle Adoption” as part of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ (MCLA) Green Living Seminar Series on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m.

Green Living Seminar Series webinars are free and open to the public. Community members can register for each lecture at mcla.edu/greenliving. All seminars take place weekly on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. through April 14.

Prior to becoming a professor at USC Upstate, Egbue was an assistant professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She received her PhD from Missouri University of Science and Technology, and is a certified professional in engineering management.

Egbue’s research interests include socio-technical system analysis, critical infrastructure resilience, management of sustainable engineering systems, technology and innovation adoption, optimization and decision making for complex systems, and engineering education. She has an extensive record of peer-reviewed publications and funding, including funding from the National Science Foundation.

Every semester, MCLA’s Green Living Seminar Series hosts lectures by local, regional, and national experts organized around a central theme related to the environment and sustainability. The 2021 series theme is “Individual Actions and Environmental Sustainability.” The series is a presentation of the MCLA Environmental Studies Department and MCLA’s Berkshire Environmental Resource Center.

NORTH ADAMS — Ralph Buehler, professor and chair of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, will give a talk titled “Cycling for Sustainable Cities” as part of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ (MCLA) Green Living Seminar Series on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m.

Green Living Seminar Series webinars are free and open to the public. Community members can register for each lecture at mcla.edu/greenliving. Seminars take place weekly on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. through April 14.

Most of Buehler’s research has an international comparative perspective, contrasting transport and land-use policies, transport systems, and travel behavior in Western Europe and North America. He is the author or co-author of over 70 articles in refereed academic journals, the books Cycling for Sustainable Cities and City Cycling, chapters in edited books, as well as reports to federal and local governments, NGOs, and for-profit industry organizations. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as chair of the Committee for Bicycle Transportation of the Transportation Research Board.

His presentation highlights that cycling is the most sustainable means of urban travel, practical for most short- and medium-distance trips — commuting to and from work and school, shopping, and visiting friends — as well as for recreation and exercise. The talk demonstrates that cycling promotes physical, social, and mental health, helps reduce car use, enhances mobility and independence, and is economical for both public and personal budgets. It highlights how cycling can be made feasible for everyone and not limited to especially fit, daring, well-trained cyclists riding expensive bicycles, and how to make city cycling safe, practical, and convenient for all ages and abilities.

NORTH ADAMS — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Leadership Academy will hold virtual information sessions on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. and on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Aspiring school leaders interested in pursuing their administrator licensure or certificate of advanced graduate study (CAGS) in educational leadership are invited to join MCLA’s Leadership Academy director and a panel of alumni for a discussion about the program and application process.

Prospective students will be able to discuss school leadership, receive an overview of the program leading to administrator licensure with or without CAGS, and learn about the application process. The Leadership Academy is currently accepting applications for 2021.

Click here to learn more and register for either information session.

NORTH ADAMS — The Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will hold a virtual information session on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. This information session will offer details about MCLA’s bachelor’s degree completion program; master of business administration, master of education, and teacher licensure programs; and the MCLA Leadership Academy.

Members of the community interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree, advancing in their education careers, or completing their undergraduate degree are encouraged to attend. Representatives from each postgraduate program will present information and answer questions about degree paths, enrollment, balancing responsibilities while pursuing a degree, and more. For more information or to register, visit mcla.edu/infosession.

NORTH ADAMS — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Center for Teaching and Learning will present a virtual event with Robin DeRosa, co-director of the Plymouth State University (PSU) Open Learning and Teaching Collaborative, on Monday, Nov. 23 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. With a talk titled “Zooming Humans: A Framework for Teaching During Times of Crisis,” DeRosa will discuss how educators can respond to the challenges of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This event, geared toward faculty, staff, and the MCLA community, is also open to the public, and local educators are encouraged to attend. For more information and to register, click here.

DeRosa is a national leader in open pedagogy and an advocate for public infrastructures and institutions for higher education. She was a professor in the English Department at Plymouth State University for 15 years before becoming the director of the Interdisciplinary Studies program, a position she held for four years. As the new director of the Open Learning and Teaching Collaborative, she works with students, faculty, staff, and administrative colleagues on exploring learner-driven architectures for projects, courses, partnerships, and programs at PSU.

COVID-19 has pushed students, faculty, and institutions into new learning patterns. These patterns are at various times exciting, exhausting, and exasperating. As we struggle to navigate unfamiliar online environments and the fallout of maintaining educational continuity during a global pandemic, we may find ourselves adrift in a sea of technology tools and a sense that our core mission as educators and learners is lost in the chaos of just making it through each week. In this presentation, DeRosa will present a framework for organizing educational responses to crises like coronavirus, and help faculty and staff find a practice-based rudder to guide the development of assignments, courses, and institutional structures. Ultimately, she will suggest that how we respond to the challenges that COVID-19 presents can set us on a path for an educational future that is more adaptable, connected, and equitable — and more humane — for learners.

NORTH ADAMS — In support of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and in recognition of the public health crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the MCLA Office of Admission will be waiving the SAT/ACT testing requirement for students who apply for fall 2021 and fall 2022. MCLA will also pilot a test-blind/test-free policy for fall 2021 applicants.

“We do not want students to worry about sitting for the tests if it is unsafe for them to do so,” MCLA Director of Admission Kayla Hollins said. “As an office dedicated to creating a clear and transparent college admission process for students, the next logical step in our efforts toward an equitable process is to waive standardized-test scores. We decided to take it a step further, after months of data collection and research, to become test-blind/test-free.”

National and institutional data point to high-school work being indicative of student success in college and a more equitable means of assessment than standardized-test scores. For many years, research studies have found that wealthy students have significant advantages through the college-application process. A 2013 study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern California, for example, found that the difference in SAT scores between high- and low-income students was twice as large among black students compared to white students.

MCLA’s application is free, and students are considered for merit-based scholarships at the same time as they submit their application. MCLA has an early-action deadline of Dec. 1. Those who apply must submit their official high-school transcript, including first-quarter senior grades and any transcripts for college-level courses taken, as well as a personal statement/essay. To find out more, visit mcla.edu/apply.

NORTH ADAMS — For Berkshire County STEM Week, Oct. 19-23, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) and other county partners will offer virtual programming for local public-school students, K-12 educators, and the general community.

A complement to the statewide STEM Week initiative, Berkshire County STEM Week’s theme is “See Yourself in STEM.” Free and open to the public, the week will feature a virtual series of unique panels, workshops, speakers, virtual tours, and information about opportunities that exist in science, technology, engineering, and math in the Berkshires and beyond.

MCLA will offer three programs during the week: “Fun with Physics,” a workshop for middle- and high-school students on predictive motion; an ecology session for educators conducted by Professor Eric Doucette; and an ornithology presentation by Professor Daniel Shustack on the migration behavior of the dark-eyed junco.

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Adams Community Bank will host a college-planning webinar with admission professionals from MCLA, Berkshire Community College, Williams College, and Pittsfield High School as a support for local high-school students and their families as they navigate the college-application process.

Pittsfield Community Television (PCTV) will be the platform host for the week’s series of events, and community members can access programming on cable access or at www.pittsfieldtv.org. See a full program schedule at www.mcla.edu/stemweek.

Each day of STEM Week will kick off with “Live at the BIC (Berkshire Innovation Center),” featuring award-winning host Jeremy Brisiel introducing viewers to local innovation partners. Berkshire Community College faculty and students will share a virtual lab tours, Williams College seniors will conduct an astronomy workshop, and Dr. Mark Sprague and Dr. Ashley Miller of Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates will conduct an orthopedic-surgery demonstration. MassHire will also run a virtual STEM Job Fair on Oct. 21-23, and the Berkshire Museum will offer “Be a Chemist,” a live virtual event where students can conduct safe experiments with items in their kitchens. Hancock Shaker Village will offer a virtual tour, and General Dynamics has developed a website for students featuring 15 different at-home science experiments suitable for every grade.

Learn more about regional events managed by the regional STEM networks across the Commonwealth in collaboration with local museums, nonprofits, schools, and local business partners at www.massstemweek.org.

NORTH ADAMS — Frances Jones-Sneed, emeritus professor of History at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), will moderate a 14-week virtual community read of W.E.B. DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk, held by Clinton Church Restoration in Great Barrington. The community read will feature guest scholars who will discuss each chapter as well as enduring themes and concepts in African-American life and culture.

The community read begins on Tuesday, Oct. 13 aat 7 p.m. and runs weekly through Feb. 16, 2021, the week before DuBois’ birthday. MCLA Associate Professor of Psychology Ruby Inez Vega will be a featured scholar on Jan. 26.

This event is held by Clinton Church Restoration, which began in 2016 as a nonprofit effort to preserve the historic A.M.E. Zion Church in Great Barrington. Clinton Church Restoration’s mission is to restore the historic property for reuse as a heritage site and visitor center that interprets the life and legacy of DuBois, celebrates the rich African-American heritage in the Berkshires, and honors the church’s history. The nonprofit’s work was featured in Architectural Digest in June. In addition to being a noted historian and scholar, Jones-Sneed is a member of the board of Clinton Church Restoration.

Learn more about the series and the featured scholars by visiting clintonchurchrestoration.org/souls-community-read.

NORTH ADAMS — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) will hold virtual information sessions on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. for community members interested in the following academic programs:

• Master of Business Administration/Graduate Certificate in Business Administration;

• Master of Education/Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study/Leadership Academy; and

• Degree Completion.

DGCE’s academic programs embrace MCLA’s mission of access and affordability, and are designed for those looking to advance their careers through higher education no matter what stage of life they are in. These sessions are free and open to all interested community members.

MCLA’s MBA program is among the most affordable in the Northeast. Its most recent cohort scored in the 89th percentile on Peregrine’s national examination, which is taken by all graduates at accredited business schools. MCLA invites non-matriculated students to enroll in MBA courses and see if they are ready for graduate work.

The 45-credit MBA program offers a broad-based, multi-disciplinary education that combines the strengths of the business faculty with those of practicing managers actively involved in day-to-day decision making in the field. Courses include a blend of classroom experience and practical, hands-on field work.

The graduate certificate in business administration is an option for those who hold bachelor’s degrees in areas outside of business administration. The five-course certificate provides either a standalone advanced certificate in business administration or fulfills the first 15 credits toward an MBA at MCLA.

To register, visit mcla.edu/graduate.

NORTH ADAMS — For the third consecutive year, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is ranked as a Top Ten College by U.S. News & World Report. MCLA ranks ninth on the organization’s list of top public colleges and also appears on U.S. News’ list of Top National Liberal Arts Colleges.

The college also is ranked among the top 50 public and private schools on U.S. News’ Top Performers on Social Mobility list, which measures how well schools graduate students who receive federal Pell Grants, typically awarded to students whose families make less than $50,000. Only eight other public colleges are ranked higher than MCLA on this list.

The college has appeared on U.S. News’ list of top public colleges for eight of the last 10 years.

“I am especially proud that MCLA has continued to be ranked among the nation’s top public schools,” MCLA President James Birge said. “This year, during a pandemic, in addition to providing a high-quality education, we were able to distribute more than $257,000 to students who found themselves dire economic circumstances due to COVID-19 through the MCLA Resiliency Fund. MCLA was also awarded a federal TRIO grant, which will provide $1.3 million to enhance our support for under-resourced students for the next five years. These grant activities will enhance MCLA’s commitment to equity for our students by providing support services to help students achieve their academic goals. I am thankful to my colleagues for their ongoing commitment to providing our students an accessible, affordable education that elevates lives.”

U.S. News and World Report ranks colleges based on indicators that reflect a school’s student body, faculty, and financial resources, along with outcome measures that signal how well the institution achieves its mission of educating students. For more information, visit usnews.com/colleges.

“The Commonwealth is lucky to have an institution like MCLA, and we are proud of this achievement and the impact MCLA has on our community,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said. “As the Commonwealth’s public liberal-arts college, MCLA has demonstrated enormous commitment to access, equity, and academic excellence. MCLA is a key partner in driving the economy of the Berkshires and sustaining Massachusetts’ national leadership in higher education.”

NORTH ADAMS — In partnership with the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), the MCLA Institute for the Arts and Humanities plans a two-part webinar series on consecutive Thursdays, Aug. 6 and 13, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., featuring Aruna D’Souza, Genevieve Gaignard, and Ben Ripley, who will address conversations on race and transformation within art institutions.

This webinar series is free and open to the public. Participants can register by clicking here.

In part one on Aug. 6, artists Ripley and Gaignard will participate in a live Zoom conversation where they will introduce each other with images of their work to explore the intersections between their artistic practices. Each artist will pose questions to one another to establish a conversation around ‘unlearning’ socially conditioned ways of being; they will then open up the space to invite participant inquiry and dialogue.

Both artists are committed to exploring this platform and using it as a vehicle to address difficult questions around inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in the context of the art world as well in the Berkshires.

This joint session will be the basis for a follow-up panel discussion on Aug. 13 to be moderated by writer D’Souza, who will moderate a panel discussion between Gaignard and Ripley; each artist will continue the conversation by talking about how they address themes of race and transformation within their work while also expanding the conversation beyond art to involve inquiry from the audience.

Following the webinar series, participants will receive additional resources and suggested readings selected by D’Souza to continue the conversation within their own communities.

NORTH ADAMS —The Division of Graduate and Continuing Education at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will hold a webinar offering information about the college’s certificate programs on Wednesday, July 8 at 11 a.m. This webinar is free and open to the public. To register, click here.

MCLA offers three certificate programs with classes at the college’s Pittsfield location: network security, principles of accounting, and the graduate certificate in business administration.

For both network security and principles of accounting, applicants need only a high-school diploma or the HiSET credential. Both programs may be completed in just over one year for students attending part-time. All courses in the certificate programs are eligible for transfer to continued study in MCLA’s undergraduate programs. The five-course graduate certificate in business administration provides either standalone advanced certification in business administration or fulfills the first 15 credits toward an MBA at MCLA.

“This certificate is appropriate for working professionals who may or may not be interested in pursuing the MBA, but for whom graduate certification in business would enhance their career potential,” said Nancy Ovitsky, director of MCLA’s MBA program.

Funding for MCLA’s certificate programs may be available for those who qualify through the MassHire Career Center. Federal financial aid is available for the two undergraduate certificates for those who qualify.

For more information, e-mail [email protected], call (413) 662-5575, or visit mcla.edu/certificates or mcla.edu/mba.

NORTH ADAMS — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announced it has received two awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), a global nonprofit association dedicated to educational advancement. The college received an Educational Fundraising Award for Overall Performance in the category of Public Liberal Arts Institutions and a Circle of Excellence Award for its 2018-19 President’s Report. This is the first year MCLA has been recognized by this program.

The annual Educational Fundraising Awards recognize exemplary development programs based on a blind review of data submitted to the CASE Voluntary Support of Education survey. Winners are selected based on factors and variables that include, but are not limited to, patterns of growth, overall breadth of fundraising, amount raised per student, and alumni participation.

The Circle of Excellence Awards recognize institutions whose staff members advanced their institutions through innovative, inspiring, and creative ideas. The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism, and deliver exceptional results.

CASE judges commended the 2018-19 President’s Report, which was developed by MCLA’s Department of Marketing and Communications staff, on its theme and narrative flow, effective use of vintage and modern photographs and design elements, concise but not spare use of color, and the overall feeling of community it expressed, among other praise.

NORTH ADAMS — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Gallery 51 will hold an online conversation about artist Titus Kaphar’s painting “Analogous Colors,” which graced the June 15, 2020 cover of Time magazine. The gallery will explore this piece through the lens of the nation’s recent events on Wednesday, June 24 from 5 to 6:30 p.m., using VTS Visual Thinking Strategies.

During this event, art will be the vehicle to create and sustain non-judgmental dialogue, with an opportunity to learn from one another’s observations.

Gallery 51 is committed to creating safe spaces for discourse and dialogue with, about, and through art. If not now, gallery leadership asserts, then never will people be able to engage in honest discussion about race and the experience of black and brown people in the U.S.

To register for this event, click here. For more information about upcoming programs, click here.

NORTH ADAMS — This year, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Innovation & Entrepreneurship Challenge is going virtual, and the MCLA community is invited to serve as judges. The three finalists’ pitches are available to watch and review online. Voting will be open until 9 a.m. on Friday, May 8. Any member of the MCLA community (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) will be eligible to vote once during this period.

The three students who will be pitching their business ideas are seniors David Flight (“Settling the States”), Kimberly Granito (“Detailing Dream”), and Sierra Lamonde (“Pyrography Crafts”).

The students were coached through a series of deliverables — determining the solution to the problem, developing a budget and business plan as the road map for the project or business, and presenting before a panel of judges.

The winners will be announced at 6 p.m. on May 8. The first-place project will be awarded $7,500, second place $5,000, and third place $2,500 toward startup funding to cover inventory, equipment, and marketing for their business.