Page 2 - Faces O fBusiness 2017

Faces of Business
American International College
TeamI
work, Vision Have Put the School on Fast Track to Growth
n the Chronicle of Higher Education’s latest compilation of the fastest-growing private institutions in the country, American International College was ranked 16th, registering a nearly 124% growth rate.
This represents what most would consider a stunning turn- around for the 132-year-old institution in Springfield’s Mason Square neighborhood. And Vince Maniaci, who took the helm at the school in 2005, says this remarkable growth is certainly no accident.
Instead, it’s the result of teamwork at all levels — adminis- tration, a dedicated faculty, supporting alumni, and students — as well as rededication to the school’s mission and the cre- ation (and execution) of a strategic plan focused on three basic principles: access, exposure, and opportunities.
ture improvements — as well as new academic and athletic programs and articulation agreements with a number of area schools.
“We focused on attraction, retention, how we could
build programming though athletics, and on transfers,” said Maniaci, who always used that pronoun ‘we’ as he discussed his tenure at the school. “Those were the four key things we did, and we created a sense of stability; we’ve started many new academic programs, new athletic programs, and student life programs, and all of that has helped us a lot.”
These initiatives and many others have created a student- centric environment that resonates among young people and also helps enable them to not only attend college, but succeed there.
“You can get a great education almost anywhere you go if you apply yourself; in most places, the books are the same, what they teach you is the same stuff,” he said. “It comes down to whether the individual feels comfortable enough to apply themselves, grow, and develop.”
In a nutshell, the staff at the college has made it their mis- sion to create such a comfort zone. And as he offered a tour of the school, Maniaci pointed out some of the ways in which these efforts have manifested themselves.
He started in the dining commons, which received a much- needed makeover and overall improvement of what has become an all-important component of efforts to attract and retain students. From there, he moved on to the school’s renovated theater — students were rehearsing for this spring’s offering, Chicago — and one of many examples of how the school enables students to learn and grow outside the class- room, or a different kind of classroom in this case.
And from there, he moved on to the also renovated James J. Shea Memorial Library, starting in the recently created Learning Commons, a comfortable area, complete with a café, WiFi, and a host of other amenities.
He finished the tour in what he said is probably his favorite spot on campus, a display of national flags in the library — one for each of the countries represented by the student body. There are now more than 30 by his count, and they have become — as much as that lofty ranking in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s latest report — symbols of the school’s growth, diversity, inclusion, and mission.
Looking ahead, Maniaci said there will be a number of challenges facing all higher-education institutions, including smaller high-school classes, increasing regulatory burdens, affordability issues, and the high density of schools in many states, especially in Massachusetts.
AIC won’t be immune, but it has gained needed stability and flexibility to respond to these challenges.
It all comes back, as Maniaci said, to creating an environ- ment where students can learn, succeed, and grow. Those ini- tiatives at AIC, like the students’ efforts to reach their specific goals, constitute work in progress — in every sense of that phrase.
George O’Brien
Vince Maniaci
And it was this mission — “to prepare students for personal fulfillment, professional achievement, and civic engagement through educational experiences that transform lives” —
that Maniaci referred to early and often as he spoke with BusinessWest.
To carry out this mission, to create educational experiences that would truly transform lives, the team at AIC had to put the school on a more solid financial footing, while also creating an environment that would attract students and be conducive to learning — and succeeding, he went on, adding that these were the foundations of the school’s new strategic plan.
It called for steps that dramatically increase enrollment, create a greater sense of awareness within the community of what AIC has to offer both its students and the region it serves, and generate greater momentum moving forward.
There have been physical changes at the college — a new dining commons, a new learning center, and other infrastruc-
2 MAY 2017