Monday, April 23, 2012
Johnson State College, Johnson,
VT
Johnson State is another small 4-year liberal arts college of
about 2000 students (seeing a pattern here?) located in the heart of the Green Mountains.
The college offers about 25 bachelor’s, 3 master’s, 3 associate’s, 1
certificate, and 11 teacher licensure programs.
Johnson State became well known back in the day
for its teacher training programs. In
1962, Johnson State College assumed its current name and changed its mission
from teacher-training to a college that teaches the liberal arts and prepares
students for a variety of different professions. It is clear that students come from all over
to major in a range of programs here.
Like many of the other colleges we saw, Johnson State
has a strong community service orientation.
The program SERVE on campus offers organized service opportunities that
address specific social issues and community needs. “SERVE Fri” is a program that offers many
different local service opportunities for students every Friday through the
year. “Break Away” is an alternative
spring break program that gives students the chance to engage in local,
national, an international community service projects.
While our tour we had the privilege to see Johnson State’s
athletic facility, SHAPE, which was recently renovated and includes exercise
classes and equipment, swimming pool, rock wall, and more. The campus also has 8 miles of cross-country
trails, a snowboard park, and an 18-hole Frisbee-golf course. Johnson
State offers many
Division III sports. Varsity sports
include cross-country, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, softball, and
volleyball.
Sterling College, Craftsbury, VT
Sterling
College was a bit
different than the other college’s we’ve seen thus far on the trip. Like some of the others, it’s a very small
liberal arts college (only about 125 students), but it’s located in a very
rural region called the
Northeast Kingdom (town of
Craftsbury has population of only 1,300). It has a heavy focus on environmental studies
and commitment to grassroots sustainability.
Sterling works on a year-round calendar, with 3 full semesters (fall,
spring, summer) and students are allowed to take any semester off and still
maintain their full-time status.
Also unique about Sterling is
that it’s one of the only 7 “Work-Learning-Service” colleges in the US. All students are required to work on campus,
earning a portion of their tuition fees while also serving the community. In terms of academics, as I mentioned it has
a serious environmental studies focus, the areas of study include Sustainable
Agriculture, Conservation Ecology, Outdoor Education, Natural History, and
Environmental Humanities. Sterling is a very
hands-on, experiential learning environment.
Frequent field trips are held and there’s a balance between the hands-on
and the traditional classroom experience.
While Sterling
is a very non-traditional college with a specific focus, it’s good to know that
90% of graduates find jobs or go to graduate school within 6 months of
graduation (the majority of graduates find jobs related to their field of
study).
Did I mention that
Sterling
is on a farm? Components of the Sterling
Farm include vegetable production, livestock management, woodlot management,
and draft horse management. The focus of
the farm is to support courses in the Sustainable Agriculture major, to produce
food and model what true farms must focus on (productivity), and as the work
program and general farm experience for the students of sterling as it serves
as a job site for many students working in the program.
Lyndon State College, Lyndonville,
VT
Lyndon
State was more of a
traditional style college and college campus.
Similar to
Sterling in that it has a
focus on environmental majors and experiential learning (many of the
Vermont colleges do),
although nothing alike in terms of the actual campus and a much different type
of student that attends. In terms of
academic programs, they emphasized their Atmospheric Sciences / Meteorology
program which seemed very impressive.
Their broadcast curriculum is known to be one of the best in the country,
as their Department of Electronic Journalism Arts is Emmy award-winning! The college has a student-produced daily
newscast (we saw the facilities, pretty cool!) which includes a forecast
prepared and presented on camera by student meteorologists. The college also has a
Weather Center,
providing live weather observations from the campus weather station. A notable alumni of Lyndon is Jim Cantore of
The Weather Channel! Lyndon’s network of
nearly a thousand alumni working across the country for organizations like
Time-Warner, ESPN, National Geographic, the Weather Channel, and local
affiliates of Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS networks help guide the curriculum and
place their graduates.
Another major that was emphasized was their Music Business
and Industry program. Concentrations in music, business, production, or digital
media provide students with the foundation for success in a variety of career
fields both in and outside of the recording studio. One of the well known faculty members of this
program is Joseph Gittleman, the bass guitar player for The
Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who students were raving about! Other program Partners include Halogen
Records, Tisbury Tours, Big Heavy World, Charles Eller Studios, and Tamarack Grill
at Burke Mountain Ski Resort.
Because so many students go into college
undecided, Lyndon has a special program called “Explorations”, which is an
experiential, comprehensive program for freshman and sophomores. This program supports students who are actively
investigating a variety of undergraduate majors and career options. They take elective courses in fields of study
they are interested plus required General Ed courses in the arts, humanities,
natural sciences, and social sciences.
Ultimately, the program helps students define and redefine their
interests, skills, and aspirations so that they can choose a major in
confidence.
New England Culinary
Institute, Montpelier, VT
NECI was a different type of college, as it’s a culinary
school. It’s located in downtown
Montpelier and has about
300 students. The school has three
different programs – culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and hospitality and
restaurant management. Every resident
program at NECI includes an internship in the industry that helps define a
student’s future career. At NECI, their
restaurants are their classrooms, and students are expected to perform under
real-life working conditions.
While NECI isn’t your traditional college offering a liberal
arts degree, students are still active on and off camps. Full-time students are provided memberships
at local health and fitness centers and of course there are abundant seasonal
opportunities for outdoor recreational activities including hiking, biking,
kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, etc.
NECI also has many different speakers and guest lectures come to campus
to introduce students to new trends in the culinary and hospitality fields, as
well as exposure to experts in all aspects of the food and beverage
industry. NECI also encourages students
to be active in community service events.
For example, students will cook for soup kitchens, conduct demonstrations
at local schools, assist at the local foodbank, and participate in community
events. There is a Service Learning
component in each program which helps foster a culture of community
involvement.
In regards to admission, NECI considers the following while
reviewing applications: industry understanding and experience (e.g., work
experience, vocational classes), academics, essay, interest, motivation, and
passion for the industry, extracurricular activities, vocational activities,
online learning survey, and an admissions interview.
If you are interested in a career in the field of culinary
arts, baking and pastry arts, or hospitality and restaurant management, NECI
may be perfect for you. However, make
sure that you have some kind of a job in the field before you apply. NECI wants students who are serious about a
career in this field and prefer students who already have some experience. Just because you watch the food network and
think you may enjoy a career in this area, doesn’t mean a whole lot! Get involved and try to get a part-time job,
internship, job shadowing experience, etc. in a restaurant, pastry shop,
somewhere you can really explore your passion and get an idea of if this
field is right for you.
Oh and by the way, we were lucky enough to be treated by a
3-course meal prepared by NECI students and believe me it was delicious!
Stay tuned for the next leg of the trip!!
Coming up next... Norwich University, Vermont Technical College, Landmark College...
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About the author: Laura Guarino is the Student Services Coordinator
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