It Starts with a Plan
AIC interim President Nicolle Cestero
Amid a shifting landscape for higher education, Nicolle Cestero says, colleges that are unwilling to change will be left behind.
That’s the idea behind a new, expansive organizational business plan at American International College, announced last month, that will guide the college over the next several years, said Cestero, AIC’s interim president.
Dubbed Pathway to Progress, the document presents an array of changes to AIC’s operational model, including revising the academic portfolio, expanding degree options, launching new enrollment strategies, and streamlining athletic programming, including cutting programs and moving the men’s hockey team from Division I to Division II in the NCAA.
“There have been many changes in higher education over the course of the past 20 years, and even over the course of the past three to five years. And if institutions aren’t changing and being nimble, then they are finding themselves merging or closing,” Cestero told BusinessWest in a wide-ranging interview regarding the plan.
“This institution, in the opinion of myself and others — senior management, faculty, staff, board of trustees — believe that we are really important to the students that we serve and to this community, and we want to make sure that AIC is here for the long term,” she added. “So we had to look at ourselves and say, ‘what we’re doing right now isn’t sustainable. So what do we need to do in order to make sure that AIC is here three, five, 10 years from now?’ That’s where Pathway to Progress comes in.”
“There have been many changes in higher education over the course of the past 20 years, and even over the course of the past three to five years. And if institutions aren’t changing and being nimble, then they are finding themselves merging or closing.”
Among the shifts in the higher-education landscape, according to the plan’s designers, are disruptions caused by the launch of a new federal financial-aid model, changes in demographics across the Northeast, and the nationwide conversation around the value of a college degree.
“We can’t continue to do the same things that we’ve always done and expect the same results,” Cestero added. “So we needed to say, ‘what are we good at? What’s making us money? What’s not?’ — and then make the tough decisions to say, ‘we’re going to cut here, and we’re going to grow here in order to maintain the institution.’”
To get to those decisions, AIC contracted with a consulting company for a market analysis, financial analysis, and program analysis for athletics and academics. Then Cestero and Michael Dodge, executive vice president for Academic Affairs, put together a steering committee, including representatives from various constituencies.
After months of work, “it got to the point where it was pretty clear the direction the institution should go, and then Michael and I made those final decisions, obviously with the support of the board of trustees — and the board had responsibility for making a few of those decisions, too,” she added. “Then we rolled it out.”
Michael Dodge says AIC leadership engaged with faculty in determining where to build on areas of strength.
For this issue’s focus on education, we break down the three main pillars of AIC’s new organizational plan and how its leaders feel the college will benefit from each.
Academic Changes
First of all, AIC, is changing its degree offerings, embarking on a multi-year plan to launch new programs based on industry demand and market research, while discontinuing some undergraduate and graduate programs as well. Faculty positions will not be affected.
Following the previously announced launch of seven new online degree completion programs, the college plans to expand the number of program offerings beginning in the fall of 2025.
“I think, being a small institution, we can maybe run faster than some bigger schools or state institutions might be able to.”
“We looked at what makes sense for us to expand on, as opposed to just adding a program. What are we good at?” Cestero said. “But at the same time, we’re sunsetting programs. We’re saying, ‘OK, if we’re going to do all of this, we don’t have the resources to do all of this as well. So, unfortunately, this is going to have to go away. Those are hard decisions to make … but you have to recognize that those things need to happen in order for these other things to grow.”
For students who wish to earn an undergraduate degree more quickly, AIC will also begin offering three-year, 120-credit options for a variety of undergraduate programs, which make use of less expensive summer sessions, to provide time and financial savings to students (see related story on page 29). It will also launch a comprehensive re-enrollment campaign to engage and recruit former students to return to AIC and complete their degrees.
Thinking about how to refocus the academic program didn’t start only with Pathway to Progress, Dodge told BusinessWest.
“We’ve spent the last three years figuring out where are those areas where we can be really good, where we have some skills,” he said. “In the last couple of years, we’ve built a fully online master’s in criminal justice program. We’re getting into the degree-completion space, where students who’ve earned an associate degree at one of the amazing community colleges in the Commonwealth can come to AIC and have a seamless transition and convert that right over into their bachelor’s degree.
“We’ve also really tried to engage the faculty and build in the things that they are good at and that we can lean into,” Dodge added, as well as spaces AIC had not previously competed in, like computer science and data analytics, where market demand for talent is high — while also continuing to strengthen core areas where the college already excels.
Pathway to Progress includes launching a re-enrollment campaign to engage and recruit former students to return to AIC and complete their degrees.
“We’re really good at the health sciences, education, criminal justice. We have a number of our students in our business programs, so we always want to continue to improve those. But then, we also want to think about what else is out there, what’s the next thing. And I think, being a small institution, we can maybe run faster than some bigger schools or state institutions might be able to.”
Cestero said everyone impacted by decisions on academic programs was informed personally before the plan was announced, and then a town-hall event was held on campus for all parties — students, faculty, employees, vendors, and partners — to discuss them further.
“Any student that is in an academic program that is going away, we are teaching out those programs,” she explained. “All we’re doing is not bringing new students in, and they will have the same faculty. The faculty aren’t going away, either.”
Impacts on Athletics and Faculty
The big news in AIC athletics is the return of men’s ice hockey to Division II after the 2024-25 season, following 27 years in Division I. In recent years, the team has recorded significant success, earning national rankings from 2018 to 2021 and winning the Atlantic Hockey America conference regular-season title in 2019.
According to a press release on the Plan for Progress, the decision was made to position the program alongside the majority of AIC’s varsity programs in Division II, and that “this transition will provide a more equitable distribution of resources among all athletic programs and will allow ice hockey’s legacy to continue within the AIC Athletics portfolio.” All scholarships for affected athletes will be honored.
“When put it in the perspective of ‘what does this institution need to do to stabilize itself?’ I think it becomes a simpler decision,” Cestero said. “If this is siphoning off money that is leading to the institution not being stable financially and you want the institution here, it makes the decision easier than just ‘should we take it from DI to DII?’ I think the harder part is that the students have found a place here, and they are happy here, and knowing that you’re disrupting it, that’s the really hard part.”
“Because there were so many changes coming forward, we felt as though, if we aren’t clear about what the whole plan is up front all at once, then you’ve got a culture of fear, and that’s not good for anybody.”
It’s also tough for athletes in AIC’s women’s tennis and wrestling programs, which are being ended “to better meet industry demand and provide additional resources to other varsity sports,” the release notes. Again, all scholarships for affected athletes will be honored, though some may choose to use their remaining eligibility elsewhere.
“A freshman wrestler may want to go somewhere else because they have so much eligibility left, whereas a junior tennis player, if they were to transfer, they could lose out on transfer credits and things of that nature,” Cestero said. “Plus, you have your home here, right? You’ve got your circle of friends, you’ve got your major, you’ve got your faculty, your mentors, etc.”
Meanwhile, the Plan for Progress impacts faculty as well. To support the ongoing growth of AIC’s academic portfolio, the college will expand faculty options by introducing multi-year contracts, including a new ‘professor of practice’ role alongside the existing tenure-track pathway and adjunct/part-time faculty roles.
A professor of practice is a faculty member who typically has a non-academic background, but is successful and knowledgeable in their field, enabling them to improve students’ knowledge by providing a practical perspective, along with the theoretical perspective provided by an academic professor.
“We’re bringing these real-world experiences into the classroom, but these individuals that are going to become these teachers don’t necessarily have a doctorate, nor do they necessarily want one,” Cestero said. “But we’re allowing them a pathway to be a professor in higher education without needing to have that terminal degree. And it benefits the students at the end of the day.”
In addition, most full-time faculty will shift to a 5/5 teaching load, meaning five courses per semester instead of four, to better meet academic demands. In return, some tasks will move to staff advisors.
“We still have work to do. I mean, this is only a piece of what we need to do from a long-term perspective, but these are the things that we need to do now in order to become stable and then be able to grow.”
“Right now they teach 4/4, but then they have these other responsibilities for scholarship and community service and registering students for classes and things of that nature,” she explained. “And we said, ‘OK, they’re spread in many different ways. What if we were to take this responsibility and shift it over here? That would give them more time to focus on the actual teaching.’”
A Transparent Process
AIC has been out front with its plan, publicly detailing its various elements, including in this article. Cestero said there are three reasons for that.
“The first is, I’ve heard for years and years that people in leadership aren’t transparent, and specifically at AIC, that’s been said a lot. Secondly, you have to get everybody on board when you’re trying to do something this major, and if you’re not very open and direct and clear about what that is, then you’re not going to be able to get everybody on board.
“Three, when you’re not transparent, you create a culture of fear. Because there were so many changes coming forward, we felt as though, if we aren’t clear about what the whole plan is up front all at once, then you’ve got a culture of fear, and that’s not good for anybody.”
As a small, private college, AIC has challenges that differ from public universities and private colleges with much larger endowments. Cestero noted. But in the current climate, all institutions likely need to be strategizing about how to adapt.
“We still have work to do. I mean, this is only a piece of what we need to do from a long-term perspective, but these are the things that we need to do now in order to become stable and then be able to grow.”
That said, “I think that AIC is a really special place, and I want us to be able to continue to serve these students,” she said. “I think the students that we have are so amazing, and that’s why it’s important that we’re doing all of this.”
