Dana Mohler-Faria | |
---|---|
President of Bridgewater State University | |
In office 2002–2015 | |
Preceded by | Adrian Tinsley |
Succeeded by | Frederick W. Clark |
Massachusetts Special Advisor for Education | |
In office January 4,2007 –March 11,2008 | |
Governor | Deval Patrick |
Preceded by | office established |
Succeeded by | office abolished |
Personal details | |
Education | Cape Cod Community College (associate) Boston University (BA,MA) University of Massachusetts Amherst (Ed.D.) |
Dana Mohler-Faria was the eleventh president of Bridgewater State University serving from 2002 until his retirement in 2015. [1] and a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. He was formerly the Special Advisor for Education to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick prior to the creation of a cabinet-level Secretary of Education in 2008.
Mohler-Faria received an Associate's degree from Cape Cod Community College,a bachelor’s and Master's degree in history from Boston University,and a Doctor of Education degree higher education administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. [1] He is a veteran of the United States Air Force,serving from 1966 to 1970. He currently resides with his wife and son in Mashpee,Massachusetts [2]
From 1975 to 1984,Mohler-Faria was Director of Financial Aid and the SACHEM Outreach Program at Cape Cod Community College. Following that post,he served as Assistant Dean of Administrative Services at Bristol Community College until 1987,and then in various leadership positions at Mount Wachusett Community College until 1991. In 1991 he began his association with Bridgewater State College,serving eleven years as the Vice President for Administration and Finance. In 2002,he succeeded Adrian Tinsley as President of Bridgewater State College. [3] He stepped down at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year. [4]
Upon retiring from his role as President,Dana Mohler-Faria caused controversy with his retirement payout,and the Massachusetts state auditor met with Bridgewater State officials due to it. [5] Mohler-Faria followed Massachusetts Board of Higher Education policies,which allowed for departing higher education faculty members to be paid the full value of up to 64 days of unused vacation time,with any further unused vacation time being cashed out at twenty percent of its original value. [6] However,the validity of his unused vacation time was called into question by the public,as the last three years of his tenure saw Mohler-Faria take 29 national and international trips to destinations such as:Cape Verde,Belize,and Las Vegas. The trustees of Bridgewater State claimed all of these trips were used to raise money or "boost awareness" for the university. [7] Ultimately,this controversy led then Massachusetts Governor Baker to push for legislation to limit the accrual of unused vacation time as well as sick time by state workers. [8]
According to his biographical sketch on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' website,Mohler-Faria,in ascending to the presidency of Bridgewater State University,became the "first person of color to lead Bridgewater State College and is only the second Cape Verdean in the United States to be elected the president of a higher education institution." [2]
He is currently[ when? ] a member of the advisory council for the Wampanoag Language Immersion School,a partnership between the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project and the Montessori Academy of Cape Cod. [9]
Cape Cod is an arm-shaped peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts,in the northeastern United States. Its historic,maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod,coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold,is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.
Mashpee is a town in Barnstable County,Massachusetts,United States,on Cape Cod. The population was 15,060 as of 2020. The town is the site of the headquarters and most members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe,one of two federally recognized Wampanoag groups.
The Wampanoag,also rendered Wôpanâak,are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and formerly parts of eastern Rhode Island. Their historical territory includes the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is a public community college with multiple campuses in the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1973 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston,Massachusetts,BHCC provides higher education and job training services at two campuses and three satellite locations.
Bristol Community College (Bristol) is a public community college with four campuses in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater,Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford,Attleboro,and Cape Cod,BSU has the fourth-largest campus of the 29 institutions in the Massachusetts Public Higher Education System. BSU's sports teams are called the Bears. Its school colors are crimson,white,and black.
The South Shore of Massachusetts is a geographic region stretching south and east from Boston toward Cape Cod along the shores of Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay. It is subject to varying descriptions including municipalities in eastern Norfolk and Plymouth counties. The South Shore is an affluent area. The median income of the region as of 2020 is $104,691. The median home value of the region as of 2020 is $574,831.
Julia Ann Sears (1839–1929) was a pioneering academic and suffragist,achieving a milestone early in her career as she became the first woman to head a public college in the United States,in 1872. The school was Mankato Normal School,now Minnesota State University,Mankato,which named a residence hall after Sears in 2008.
Kappa Delta Phi (ΚΔΦ),also known as KDPhi,is a social fraternity that was founded on April 14,1900,at the Bridgewater State Normal School,now known as Bridgewater State University. The fraternity currently boasts 14 active chapters. A sorority,Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority or NAS,was formed in 1971,and remains closely affiliated with the fraternity.
Cape Cod Community College,known locally as "Four Cs",is a public community college in West Barnstable,Massachusetts. It was established in 1961,the second institution to open as part of what is now a 15 community college system in Massachusetts. Cape Cod Community College is the only community college and one of three colleges on Cape Cod. It awards Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees and various academic certificates in a wide variety of programs. The college offers access to on-campus bachelor's and master's degree programs in partnership with:Bridgewater State University,Boston University,Lesley University,Salem State University,Suffolk University,UMass Boston,and UMass Dartmouth. Cape Cod Community College formally had a partnership with Wheelock College before that merged with Boston University to become the Boston University Wheelock College of Education &Human Development on Boston University's Fenway Campus. Cape Cod Community College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
Southeastern Massachusetts is a region of Massachusetts located south of Boston and east of Rhode Island. It is commonly used to describe areas with cultural ties to both Boston and Providence,Rhode Island,and includes the cities of New Bedford and Fall River and their respective suburbs. Despite the location of Cape Cod and the islands to its south,which are the southeasternmost parts of the state,they are not often grouped in this designation. At its broadest definition,it includes all of Massachusetts south of Boston,southeast of Worcester,and east of Providence,Rhode Island,while at its narrowest definition,it is Bristol County and the Western portion of Plymouth County.
Philip R. Day,Jr. is the former Chancellor of City College of San Francisco. He is also the former president of Daytona Beach Community College,Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts,and Dundalk Community College in Baltimore,Maryland.
Viriato Manuel Pereira de Macedo,also popularly known as Vinny deMacedo,is a Cape Verdean American politician,and was the Massachusetts State Senator for the Plymouth and Barnstable District,which comprises the communities of Bourne,Falmouth,Kingston,Pembroke,Plymouth,and Sandwich. He is a Republican who was sworn into the Massachusetts Senate on January 7,2015. In November 2019 deMacedo resigned from the Massachusetts Senate to take a job in higher education.
David C. Knapp was an American educational administrator.
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Joan Tavares Avant,also known as Granny Squannit,is an educator,Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leader,historian,and writer living in Mashpee,Massachusetts. Avant served as the Mashpee Public School Director of Indian Education and was a founding Trustee of the Wôpanâak language immersion program. As a tribal leader,Avant has served as Tribal President,Tribal Housing Commissioner,Clan Mother,and Professional Tribal Elder. Her writer's credits include a long-running column in the Mashpee Enterprise,editing the National League of American Pen Women's newsletter,and People of the First Light (2010).
The Millennium Leadership Initiative or MLI is a premier higher education leadership development program. Originally created by the African-American presidents of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) to help prepare traditionally underrepresented groups for university and college presidencies and chancellorships. The program is one of the most successful higher education programs and has expanded and is now open to all under-represented populations and participants need not be from AASCU member institutions. MLI has partnered with Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities to expand its reach to faculty and administrators that are interested in moving to upper administrative positions.
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