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Albertus Magnus: Core Values, Continuous Evolution
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Business New Haven
10/1/2001
By:
Priscilla Searles
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New Haven's Albertus Magnus College may just be the collegiate version of the Little Engine That Could. The little college that has struggled for recognition for three-quarters of a century may at last have climbed the hill, coming into its own in time to greet the 21st century.
Albertus Magnus traces its beginnings to 1924, when the Dominican Congregation of St. Mary of the Springs purchased an estate at 700 Prospect Street to found a women's college - the first Catholic liberal arts residential college for women in New England. They named the mansion on the property Rosary Hall. The college's charter was signed on July 13, 1925. The first classes were held in Rosary Hall on September 24 of that year.
Albertus is still small if measured by the number of day students who attend, with just under 500 full-time. Of that number, 250 live on campus; the remainder commute. Committed to a liberal-arts curriculum, Albertus believes that a broad-based education “enriches one's daily existence and provides a firm foundation for lifetime learning.”
Since its founding the college has acquired several mansions which are now used for student housing and administration. An extensive building program has provided a free-standing chapel and a state-of-the-art, $6 million athletic complex.
Realistic about the necessity of changing to keep up with the times, Albertus survives on flexibility and creativity. In 1985 men were admitted to all programs, ending AMC's 60 years as a women's college. Another major decision that same year was the creation of the Division of Continuing Education, helping working adults to obtain a degree at an accelerated pace, a move that put Albertus in the forefront of lifetime learning.
The academic year for the Division of Continuing Education is divided into five eight-week terms, allowing student to take two classes each term and receive 30 credits. Approximately 400 students attend each term. Classes are small - no more than 25 students - and offered evenings, Saturdays and even online. Associates and bachelors degrees are offered in 13 majors and certificate programs are also available in AIDS counseling, business administration, human-resources management and management information.
The New Dimensions program is one that Albertus points to with pride. Designed for adult learners who have at least three years of relevant business experience and are seeking an associates or bachelors degree completion program in business management, students progress in fixed “cohorts” which meet weekly in a four-hour class with their professor and weekly with their student group/work team. New Dimensions Learning Centers are in New Haven, East Hartford and Stamford in addition to 10 other sites around the state.
In 1991 the school offered its first graduate-level degree, a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. A Master of Science in Management degree program was added in 1995 through New Dimensions. The newest of the college's four graduate programs, a Master of Business Administration, is being offered for the first time this fall, also through New Dimensions. Albertus also offers the only Master of Arts in Art Therapy degree program in the state.
Even the school's president, Julia M. McNamara, symbolizes changing times and changing attitudes. Cognizant of Albertus' role as a member of the community, McNamara serves as a director of many New Haven-area organizations. She is one of the five “proprietors” of the New Haven Green, an honor granted to few. In fact, McNamara was the first female ever invited to join the self-perpetuating board that has protected the New Haven Green from commercial development since the earliest days of the New Haven Colony.
Catholic colleges are faced with constantly evolving ideas about what institutions of higher learning with strong church affiliations need to give their students. The days of requiring students to attend Mass wearing white gloves and a hat are a thing of the past, and with those old traditions, control over every aspect of a student's life has also disappeared.
An example of changing times is the composition of the college's board of trustees, which was reorganized in 1969. Today 80 percent of its members are lay people, while the remaining 20 percent comprises members of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs.
Albertus Magnus recently wrapped up a year-long celebration of 75 years of growth, service and change. Today the school boasts a total enrollment of more than 2,100. The Little College That Could is still on the move.
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