Colleges Group Changes Name In Bid To Expand

Jeanine Went is the new executive director of the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts, the new name for the reorganized Colleges of Worcester Consortium.

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By Emily Micucci

In March, the former Colleges of Worcester Consortium announced a restructuring plan that the organization's leaders said would pare operations, allowing it to focus more closely on the needs of its members.

Now, consortium leaders are unveiling a more expansive rebranding and more defined mission that may breathe new life into the 45-year-old institution.

Anna Maria College President Jack Calareso unveiled the consortium's new name in an interview with the Worcester Business Journal this month. It will now be known as the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts, or HECCMA, which may create new interest among colleges and universities in outlying communities. Calareso listed Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University and Mount Wachusett Community College as schools that may be enticed by the name change, though HECCMA has not formally discussed the prospect with those schools.

“At least it will give us a chance to say we've broadened the identity of the organization and this is what the organization will do,” Calareso said.

But HECCMA, which already counts schools outside Worcester among its 12 members, didn't undergo a transformation primarily to attract new members, according to Calareso.

The reorganization, which reduced the consortium's staff from several members to just one executive director, allowed HECCMA to shed the youth education access programs it had managed for years.This is so it could home in on services it offers to higher education members, such as joint purchasing programs, cross-registration between member schools, and advocacy initiatives.

“We really felt that trying to do two things at once may not have been as worthwhile or as productive as it could have been,” Calareso said.

The education access programs serving public school youth between Springfield and Boston are now managed by Massachusetts Education & Career Opportunities Inc. (MassEdCO), the other organization that was born out of the reorganization. Meanwhile, HECCMA is operating out of an office on the Anna Maria campus in Paxton, given that Calareso, the board's chairman, is based there. The consortium no longer has a downtown Worcester office, but Calareso said it's possible one will reopen in the city at a later date.

Reducing overhead and management expenses is part of the plan. The 12-member organizations stayed with HECCMA through the reorganization, and they now enjoy reduced membership fees. Calareso said each school paid between $30,000 and $70,000 a year, but the cost has been reduced to a flat rate of $15,000.

First Board Meeting: October

The details will be worked out among the board of directors, which also has been reduced to include only college presidents. In the past, other officials from member schools also sat on the board. The first meeting of the new board will take place in October.

In the meantime, HECCMA's new executive director, Jeanine Went, is getting the lay of the land, talking with school presidents about their visions for HECCMA. Formerly the director of student orientation programs and Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Went is tasked with drafting a new website, mission, and five-year strategic plan.

“We're really starting from the ground up, not throwing away any ideas, and tossing around new ideas,” Went said.

Went said that in addition to meetings and tours at member schools, she plans to attend a trade show to get an idea of what kinds of new, joint-purchasing agreements may be valuable. She's also evaluating how to improve cross-registration programs that allow students to enroll in courses at other member schools at no additional cost.

“I am going to work with the registrars to streamline processes for the students,” Went said.

Second Look For Fitchburg State

Though he has not discussed joining HECCMA with its board of directors, Fitchburg State University President Robert Antonucci said the name change could bring FSU back into the fold. Since becoming FSU's president 10 years ago, Antonucci said the school has not been a consortium member, though it has been in the more distant past.

Antonucci said he once discussed the possibility of joining with Mount Wachusett Community College President Daniel Asquino. At the time, they decided not to, but Antonucci said he'll now reconsider, given the reorganization and name change.

“At least from the branding side of the business, it makes it sound like it's more than just Worcester,” Antonucci said. “Whether we'll join, I don't know. But I think we'll explore it with them.”

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