5
Off-Campus Sites Celebrate
Noteworthy Anniversaries
This year marks some significant “birthdays” for Siena’s off-campus degree
completion programs: The Kellogg
Community College Regional Center
in Battle Creek, established in 1992,
celebrates its fifth anniversary. Center
director Zadie Jackson (who also directs
the Kalamazoo Center), program advisor
Janet Newman-Graham, and administrative assistant Susan Strupulis ’95
coordinate a schedule of courses offered
at KCC and in Coldwater and Hastings.
Siena’s KCC Center offers the Bachelor
of Applied Science degree and the B.A.
with majors in accounting, business
administration, general studies, humanities, public services administration and
human services administration. Siena
Heights at Lake Michigan College
in Benton Harbor celebrates the 15th
anniversary of its founding this fall.
The LMC Center offers the Bachelor of
Applied Science, the B.A. in accounting, business administration and general
studies, and the Master of Arts in human
resource development. Deb Carter directs the Center with administrative assistant Marie Suzor and academic advisor Christy Coombes. The Metropolitan Detroit Program also has reached
a major milestone: the 20th anniversary
of its permanent center in Southfield.
Siena Heights began offering classes
in Southfield as early as 1975, but did
not establish permanent offices there
until 1977. MDP now offers the B.A.S.
degree; the B.A. with majors in business
administration, community services,
general studies and public services
administration; minors in behavorial science and health care management; and
the Master of Arts in human resource
development. Southfield center director
Steve Goddard heads an administrative
staff of eight.
Congratulations to our Graduates Across the State!
Commencement ceremonies for the
Class of ’97 were held in Adrian May 4
(for all Adrian, Monroe and Metropolitan Detroit Program graduates), in Benton Harbor May 10, and in Battle Creek
May 11. Graduates of the off-campus
Adrian graduate Rudolfo Jaimes accepts a degree
and a hand shake from President Rick Artman.
centers accounted for about 60% of
the baccalaureate degrees awarded this
spring.
Mary Brzezinski of Portage started
at Siena Heights as an 18-year-old in the
1960s, but left after two years. Work,
marriage and four babies kept her busy-“but it was always my goal to finish my
degree,” she said. When a job change
brought her family to the Battle Creek
area, she was delighted to find Siena’s
Kellogg Community College Center.
Completing her B.A. in humanities has
been “enjoyable, tough, really good for
me--and very gratifying.”
Cathy Harrell of Mattawan, who
also attended the Battle Creek center,
knows why finishing a degree can be
so important for working adults: Cathy
completed her B.A. in public services
administration in May; 30 days later, she
traded in a factory job for a position as
an appraiser in the Oshtemo Township
assessor’s office.
Terry Bjes, whose B.A.S. from
Siena’s Lake Michigan College Center
in Benton Harbor comes 30 years after
she first started college, speaks for many
Siena students: “When you have a family and job, it’s harder to go to school,
but I think older people are more goal
oriented.” Asked why she chose Siena
Above: Metropolitan Detroit Program graduate Orbie
Gailes receives a kente scarf and congratulations from
Larry Richardson ’76 at the Alumni Association’s
African-American kente ceremony in Adrian.
Heights to complete her degree, Terry
said, “Siena was the most caring when
I inquired. From other colleges, I got
answers to my questions by e-mail or
letter, but from Siena I got a real person
to talk to, and that’s why I decided to go
here.”
Working adult students “have
always been part of Siena Heights,” says
Dr. Bob Gordon, dean of graduate studies and lifelong learning, who est