Fitchburg State University stands ready to serve the students affected by today’s announcement about the impending closure of Becker College in Worcester. Fitchburg State President Richard S. Lapidus said the university outlined formal agreements with Becker that will allow students displaced by the announcement to continue their studies as seamlessly as possible while working toward valuable degrees in proven programs. “We understand this is a stressful day for everyone in the Becker community, but we appreciate that the college has worked with willing partners like Fitchburg State to make sure their students’ needs are met,” President Lapidus said. “We are here for these students, and will do whatever we can to help them achieve their educational goals.” Fitchburg State’s game design program, for example, the first at a public institution in Massachusetts, is ready to accommodate dozens of students from Becker’s game design program. The students enrolled in Fitchburg State’s capstone game studio course are working in teams to develop three complete games from scratch this semester, spanning genres from suspense to whimsy. For the capstone experience, the students receive regular feedback and mentorship from professional game developers in addition to faculty oversight. The games are published at the end of the semester. The university will hold a transfer admissions session specifically for Becker students at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8. To learn more, please visit fitchburgstate.edu/admissions-aid/serving-becker-college-students.

Minority businesses in downtown Fitchburg will get assistance with accessing capital and other support thanks to a $100,000 Urban Agenda grant announced this month by the Baker-Polito Administration. The Fitchburg program is among 30 projects in 23 communities supported by the Governor’s $2.5 million in awards. The local project is a partnership between Fitchburg State University, ReImagine North of Main, the city of Fitchburg, NewVue Communities, and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC). Fitchburg State is the fiscal agent for ReImagine North of Main and will serve as the lead entity (for grant administration and program management). NewVue and NCMDC will provide program services and delivery to minority-owned businesses. “This grant funding will build upon our existing network and portfolio of work to help minority small business owners succeed,” said Fitchburg Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale. “Fitchburg is capitalizing on its diversity by becoming a gateway to arts and culture. This theme is attractive to minority small business owners in the creative economy who want to capitalize on the cultural diversity that their businesses often present.” “This project will support the continued investment in the heart of our city and help create opportunities for existing and future entrepreneurs to realize their goals,” said Fitchburg State University President Richard S. Lapidus. “Our community’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths, and we are hopeful this program will help us connect entrepreneurs with the resources they can use to thrive.” Fitchburg State’s commitment to the revitalization of downtown Fitchburg includes the redevelopment of the Main Street Theater Block, which is now home to the interdisciplinary ideaLab where NewVue Communities has offered an array of services for new businesses. “Our work has shown us the importance of finding better ways to engage and understand the needs of minority business owners and prospective business owners,” said NewVue Communities Executive Director Marc Dohan. “With this state support, we can continue to build on our strategies in the service of inclusive success.” “We are thrilled to collaborate on this important project to engage local minority owned businesses and ensure that they have access to much needed capital and other resources,” said Roy Nascimento, President & CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation. “Our goal is not only to help them overcome the economic challenges of COVID-19, but enable them to grow and prosper into the future.”  As the partnership noted in its grant application, minority business owners are playing an important role in the community through their contribution to new business creation, yet national data and local research indicate that minorities are less likely to take advantage of available resources. For example, research conducted by the Worcester Business Journal indicated that only 6% of Paycheck Protection Loans (PPP) in Worcester County were awarded to Latino businesses, as opposed to 84% going to white business owners. The primary objective of this project is to better engage with minority businesses and connect them to resources and established networks, ultimately strengthening the minority business community by building capacity. The key components of this pilot project include: ·Overcome barriers by providing direct, multilingual, and culturally competent technical assistance to assist minority-owned businesses with recovering from the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and growing their business in the future. This will include one-on-one counseling and business guidance provided by the business advisors at NewVue as well as business trainings on topics such as marketing, bookkeeping and applying to grants and loans; ·Establish a working group composed of minority business owners to evaluate and understand root causes that make success for minority-owned business more difficult than for their white counterparts. Specifically, NewVue, NCMDC and the ReImagine North of Main team will lead a community conversation to understand the importance of inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems for and identify programs and processes that need to be in place to develop ecosystems that are trusted by and support minority-owned businesses. Launched by the Baker-Polito Administration in 2015, the Urban Agenda Grant Program promotes economic vitality in urban neighborhoods by fostering partnerships that capitalize on unique local assets and community-driven responses to specific challenges. Urban Agenda grants are competitive one-year awards that offer these partnerships flexible funding to implement programming and projects based on creative, collaborative work models to support economic progress in urban communities. The Urban Agenda Grant Program is now exclusively part of the Administration’s Community One Stop for Growth, the recently established single-application portal that provides access to a variety of competitive community and economic development grant program.  

Learn about Fitchburg State University’s Master of Education in Arts Education at a free webinar at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 6. The program is offered through Fitchburg State’s School of Graduate, Online and Continuing Education. The curriculum for the Master of Education in Arts Education seeks to further develop excellence in teaching through a core of arts pedagogy courses, while also allowing for deep engagement with creative practice through content courses. The core requirements, which are shared by students in both the art and music concentrations, have an emphasis on arts pedagogy, and enhance an understanding of best teaching practices in any arts classroom. The courses study dominant current trends in pedagogical theory and methods, and place a strong emphasis on practical application in a classroom setting. Webinar attendees can learn more about the program as well as answers to any questions about graduate, online and continuing education at Fitchburg State. To register for the free webinar, visit https://admissions.fitchburgstate.edu/register/ArtsEdApril2021.

The Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library at Fitchburg State University will host a virtual panel talk exploring the groundbreaking film Daughters of the Dust at 3:30 p.m. Monday, March 29. Admission is free and open to the public. Daughters of the Dust, directed by Julie Dash and released in 1991, was the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to be distributed theatrically in the United States. Set in 1902, Daughters of the Dust tells the story of a multigenerational family in the Gullah community, also known as Geeche, who were former enslaved West Africans and their decedents, living on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. The film focuses on the women of the Peazant family as a large number of them prepare to migrate away from the island and the only community they have ever known to move to new opportunities in the north of the mainland. The panel discussion on March 29 will feature Victoria A. Smalls, a National Park Ranger at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort County, S.C., and Fitchburg State Assistant Professor Rachelle Dermer from the Communications Media Department. To join the discussion, go to meet.google.com/erf-nopp-zuj, or join by phone at (‪US)‪+1 203-361-9656 PIN: ‪265 697 738#. Visitors can also take part through a livestream, but should note they will not be able to participate in the question and answer session after the discussion. For more information, please visit https://library.fitchburgstate.edu/about-the-library/events-workshops/330pm-womens-history-film-talk-daughters-of-dust/. This event was made possible by the generous funding from the Fitchburg State University Office of Student Development. Access to the film was funded by the Fitchburg State University Deans’ Anti-Racism Grant.

Fitchburg State University’s Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA) program will present a free lecture on the role Central Massachusetts played in the abolition of slavery. The lecture by Darren Barry will be offered at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 30. The event is free and open to the public. As a hotbed of antislavery activity in the mid-eighteenth century, Central Massachusetts played a vital role in the crusade to emancipate four million slaves from bondage and the ensuing Civil War that finally brought their objective to fruition. In this provocative presentation, Darren Barry examines the individuals and families that made up the abolitionist communities of Fitchburg and Worcester. He will also discuss the complex ways in which the people of these localities chose to remember the Civil War’s fundamental issues of slavery and racial equality in the decades following the conflict. Registration is required to attend this event. To register, visit http://marketplace.fitchburgstate.edu/alfa. About Darren Barry Barry is a U.S. history teacher at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School in Fitchburg. He holds a master’s degree in history from Worcester State University and a master’s in education from Chadron State College. His research interests include Civil War memory, the history of teaching slavery in American education, and African-American cultural history during the progressive era. Barry has published essays in the Historical Journal of Massachusetts and the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture, and has a forthcoming publication with the National Council for the Social Studies. He is currently working on a manuscript that explores the struggle of African-Americans to reclaim their history, public image, and identity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. About ALFA ALFA is a lifelong learning institute that serves adult learners in Fitchburg and the surrounding communities. ALFA is sponsored by the School of Graduate, Online, and Continuing Education at Fitchburg State University in collaboration with volunteer members of the community. The program offers non-credit daytime classes, trips, special events, and a free speaker series. ALFA students are encouraged to volunteer and participate in program leadership and development, as well as social and recreational activities. A limited number of scholarships are available. To learn more, visit fitchburgstate.edu/alfa.

A Message from President Lapidus: Fitchburg State University is planning to return to in-person classes and a vibrant campus life in fall 2021. With an increase in the number of vaccinations becoming available, and coronavirus cases expected to trend downward, we are optimistic that we will be able to welcome back our students, faculty, and staff to a high-quality, on-campus experience in September. Understanding that COVID-19 will have longer-term impacts, the university is prepared to act in accordance with guidelines issued by federal, state, and local health officials.  The university will continually review its plans, activities, and operations and is prepared to adjust course as necessary. As has always been the case, all decisions will prioritize the health and safety of our campus community and the city in which we reside. For prospective students and for those returning, we know that this past year has been difficult for you and your families in so many ways.  In an effort to ease the financial burden of attendance, the university has decided to freeze its tuition and university fee. Taken together, not including financial aid opportunities, this makes the annual cost of a Fitchburg State educational experience among the lowest of all four-year colleges in New England.    

The Center for Italian Culture (CIC) at Fitchburg State University continues its 2020-21 virtual book club with Professor Rala Diakite of the Humanities Department leading a discussion of Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Italian author, journalist, and anthropologist Amara Lakhous on Thursday, March 25.  The award-winning novel was described by Publishers Weekly as a social satire and murder mystery concerning an immigrant-filled apartment complex in Rome. After a murder in the building elevator, each occupant of the Piazza Vittorio gets a chapter to relate the truth as he or she knows it (or wants it known), apparently to the police. The tenants are by turns outraged, disillusioned, defensive and afraid, and their frequently wild testimony teases out intriguing psychological and social insight alongside a playful whodunit plot, exposing the power of fear, racial prejudice and cultural misconception to rob a neighborhood of its humanity. The virtual discussion will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 25. To join the discussion, go to meet.google.com/ahy-bkiq-rgk or join by phone at ‪(US) +1 413-298-2638 PIN: ‪803 215 450#. The CIC, founded in 1999 with an initial gift from Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio, encourages the understanding and appreciation of all aspects of Italian language and culture, including ancient and contemporary studies, and the Italian experience in the New World. Learn more at fitchburgstate.edu/cic.

Fitchburg State University is partnering with Cyber Range Solutions, Inc. to offer cutting-edge cybersecurity training and workforce development programs. The alliance complements Fitchburg State’s existing cybersecurity training programs with additional technology and expertise, including the ability to simulate various network environments. Cyber Range Solutions, Inc. (CRS) is providing its proprietary cybersecurity training solutions including a hyper realistic range platform for Fitchburg State’s Center for Professional Studies. According to CyberSeek.org, there are over 500,000 cybersecurity job openings nationwide and over 15,000 in Massachusetts alone and those numbers are expected to increase by 18% by 2024. The programs will be offered entirely online. A cyber range is a hands-on training facility that provides virtualized hyper-immersive, experiential training where individuals and teams receive instruction on how to respond to and defend real-world cybersecurity attacks in a simulated, virtual environment. CRS uses a fully licensed enterprise network from vendors such as Microsoft, McAfee, Palo Alto, Check Point, Splunk among others. The range is both NICE and MITRE ATT&CK Framework-compliant and offers the opportunity to experience, identify, isolate, and remediate real-world malware attacks such as the ransomware attack WannaCry. “We use customized cybersecurity training platforms and curriculum to train individuals and teams on current threats that can help them build muscle memory for mitigating and thwarting prevailing cyber risks.” said Bash Kazi, CEO of CRS.  “We are excited to offer a unique executive education and leadership course in cybersecurity risk management. This is a valuable and unique public-private partnership that provides a much-needed offering for students and employee training in the region.” “The partnership with CRS continues Fitchburg State’s long-standing commitment to lifelong learning, including workforce development training,” University President Richard S. Lapidus said. “By providing training opportunities around critical cybersecurity issues, we will help keep our entire region strong.” Since the cyber range can simulate various network environments and tools, employers may provide access to training and skills-testing in safe conditions so their employees do not experience the first “attack scenario” while on the job. To learn more, contact Fitchburg State’s Center for Professional Studies at cps@fitchburgstate.edu or by phone at 978.665.3636.

Fitchburg State University’s Community Read of Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert MacFarlane continues with a virtual talk at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 10 that will look at the mythological and geological elements explored in the book’s sixth chapter. MacFarlane’s book takes readers through caverns and cisterns, root systems and glaciers, tombs and mines, weaving together poetry and geology, science and mythology, as he mines the earth and explores mysteries usually assigned to the stars. On March 10, Fitchburg State Professor Daniel Sarefield from the Economics, History and Political Science Department will guide a discussion about the mythology represented in Underland’s chapter six, while speleologist Rosario Di Pietro will join the call from Italy to share his knowledge of Italian caves. To join the discussion, go to meet.google.com/qmv-bugb-uut or join by phone at (US) +1 401-542-2060 PIN: 146 842 979# or, if joining from Italy, (IT)+39 02 8734 8723 PIN:954 395 691 5784#. The presentation is co-sponsored by the university’s Center for Italian Culture. Keep up to date with Community Read activities at fitchburgcommunityread.com.