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About NMH The Future
October 2004 E-news bulletin
NORTHFIELD
STEWARDSHIP
President Richard
W. Mueller and the Northfield Stewardship Committee (NSC) of the
board of trustees have been meeting since last spring to discuss and
plan future uses of the Northfield campus. They have hired
Bidwell Advisors of
Northampton, Mass. and
LandVest of Boston, Mass. to study the property and develop a list of
feasible reuse options. Phase I of their report will be completed
this month.
In an effort to
keep area residents apprised of the planning process, the NSC met
with the town of Northfield’s NMH Transition Committee in July. An
article about the meeting was published in the Northfield and Gill
community newsletters. The two
groups will meet again in late October.
At the NMH alumni
Volunteers Weekend in
August, more than 80 alumni, friends, and parents met with President
Mueller and Director of Northfield Campus Initiatives Carol Lebo for
an update on the Northfield campus. Attendees broke into smaller
discussion groups and provided feedback to President Mueller.
The NSC is forming the Northfield Campus
Advisors, an evolving list of alums and friends who have expertise
in particular fields and to whom the NSC can turn for specific
advice and feedback. Carol Lebo is contacting approximately 80
volunteers and collecting information about how they may support the
stewardship effort.
FACILITIES
PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
The foundations
for two new cottage-style dorms are being poured and construction
will begin soon.
Erland Construction
of Burlington, Mass. has been hired for the project. The dorms,
which were designed by architect Julia Nugent of
Sasaki Associates, Boston,
Mass., will each house 28 students and three faculty families. They
are located near Memorial Chapel as an extension of Cottage Row.
The
Office of Michael Rosenfeld,
Inc. (OMR), an architectural firm from West Acton, Mass., has
conducted an analysis of our program goals and values as well as our
facilities needs based on that study. They are coordinating with
Sasaki to build upon previous master planning work.
An on-campus
facilities committee, chaired by faculty members Ted Thornton and
Pam Shoemaker, has been working with OMR, Sasaki, and the building
and grounds committee of the NMH Board of Trustees. The committee
includes faculty, administrators, staff, and students. Discussions
have focused first on overall space planning for next year, second
on priorities and site possibilities for new facilities.
The process of
interviewing designers for a new arts center has begun.
EDUCATIONAL
AND RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM
The on-campus curriculum and schedule
committees, both comprised of faculty, students, and administrators,
are working to assure that the goals and values of the NMH
educational program are delivered in an excellent manner. While
longer term changes are anticipated in the schedule, work is being
done on a transition model that builds from the current long-block,
two-courses-per-term format.
For next
year, our major change will be to move our community to Mount Hermon
where adjusted academic and student-life programming will allow us
to develop a strong sense of our community on one campus.
Key
academic programs, for the most part, will continue at all grade
levels.
The ninth-grade village will settle into CI (London) and CV (Manchester) on
Cottage Row.
Limited use
of some facilities at Northfield may be needed for athletics and the
arts.
PHILANTHROPY
President Richard
Mueller and Dean of Development and Alumni Relations Peter Ticconi,
as well as members of the NMH capital gift staff, are on the road
meeting with people capable of partnering with our board of trustees
to make capital gifts for new facilities on the Mount Hermon campus.
We look forward to announcing these gifts later in the year.
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