December 2 Staff Forum Recap
President Pelton started off the staff forum on December 2 with an invitation for new staff to introduce themselves. After the introductions, he spoke in great detail about his November 6 announcement regarding the College’s alliance with Marlboro College in Vermont.
He estimated that perhaps 60 percent of Marlboro’s rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors may enroll at Emerson. Marlboro students’ academic environment features an open curriculum, portfolio-based instruction, and a 7:1 student to faculty ratio. The students’ programs of study are similar to Emerson’s Individually Designed Interdisciplinary Program (IDIP), which is housed in the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Pelton described Marlboro as culturally distinctive and tied to its rural community. Every community member is given agency in decision making: students, faculty, staff, alumni, Trustees, and community members come together for a weekly town hall meeting to discuss topics of interest. He noted that Marlboro and Emerson students share a culture of “speaking their minds.”
Pelton said that Marlboro realized a few years ago that it would need to do something different, as the college faced a declining enrollment and eroding endowment. It began to seek arrangements with other colleges and universities in order to keep its legacy alive. In July, Marlboro and University of Bridgeport started pursuing an agreement, but they mutually ended the discussion.
Marlboro’s president, Kevin Quigley, had been in touch with President Pelton over the last two years, and in September, they spoke more seriously about Marlboro’s needs for an alliance with another higher education institution: (1) preserving Marlboro’s legacy; (2) ensuring Marlboro students could complete their degrees; and (3) finding a home for Marlboro’s tenured and tenure-track faculty.
Emerson and Marlboro eventually entered an agreement: Marlboro would transfer its assets and property to Emerson, and Emerson would rename the Institute the Marlboro Institute, invite Marlboro students to enroll at Emerson, and invite tenured and tenure-track Marlboro faculty to teach at Emerson.
Pelton said that the colleges are in Phase 4 of the agreement, which entails creating working groups. Emerson is putting together groups that will discuss governance, fiduciary, student academic support, and faculty concerns. Their work is slated to be complete by February 14. Then the colleges’ legal departments will work on a contractual agreement that will be voted on by both schools’ Trustee groups in mid-May.
Pelton opened up the floor for questions and then the audience was asked to share campus announcements. Jaqi Holland (Lacerte Family WARC) encouraged attendees to nominate community members for the Spirit of Emerson Award as well as a new Kindness Award. Jim Delaney (VMA) invited everyone to an annual Holiday Party after-party at Shojo in Chinatown. Clare Wilson Pelton (HR) ended the forum on a fun note, giving out five gift cards in a raffle.
Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)