elmsnews

december 2025

Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare to leave for the Christmas break, our hearts are heavy with the news of the mass shooting at Brown University and of the shooting of an MIT professor. I know that you will join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families. Our thoughts are also with the campus communities of Brown and MIT who have been disrupted by these senseless tragedies.

These unfortunate incidents remind us of the importance of taking care of ourselves and each other. Along with the Christmas season, they are one more reminder of how priceless it is to spend time with those whom we love and to hold them close.

The incredible challenges that we have faced together this past year give me an even greater appreciation for our Elms College family and for the resilient community that we form. Despite the difficulties brought about by an unprecedented year, the dedication of the Elms faculty and staff to educate our students and seek the best for them has never wavered. Your commitment to working in support of one another has also remained strong. Day in and day out, our collective actions demonstrate that we are bound by our collective commitment to the mission and legacy entrusted to us by our Founders.

And so, this Christmas, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each of you. I am deeply grateful for the professionalism, creativity, and compassion that you bring to your work every day. Whether in the classroom, in student support, in administrative offices, or in the many essential roles that keep our campus running, you continue to demonstrate creativity in challenging times, as the Sisters did before us.

I hope that the extended two-week Christmas break gives you the opportunity to pause, spend meaningful time with loved ones, and rest from what has undoubtedly been a busy fall semester! While it is only a small gesture, the President’s Cabinet wants you to know that we see and appreciate the incredible effort you have given this semester.

As we celebrate Christmas and look ahead to a new year, may you find peace, renewal, and joy. Thank you for your perseverance, your commitment to our students, and your belief in the transformative work that we do together. It remains an honor to lead this institution and serve alongside you.

Warmest wishes for a blessed Christmas and a restorative break,

Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA

President

FUTURE ELMSNEWS

Submission pieces can be shared with the following department contacts:

Academic Affairs - Deb Methe

Admissions - Michelle Proulx

Athletics - Sean Milbier

Finance - Brett Carroll

HR - Cheryl Smith

Marketing - Patrick Johnson

Student Affairs - Teresa Winters

Institutional Advancement - Lynn Korza

UPCOMING CAMPUS EVENTS

1/9 Coffee Chat
1/10 Harambee
1/15 Blazer Days
1/16 Blazer Days-Snow date
1/20 Practicum Training and Orientation
1/22 2026 DNP White Coat Ceremony
1/24 Admissions Nursing Exploration Day
1/26 Psychology Club Movie Night
1/27 Transformative Leadership and Advocacy Training (DEI)
1/29 Spring Student Engagement Expo

Check the Master Calendar for exact locations of each event.

PRESIDENTIAL PARTICIPATION REQUESTS

As a reminder, if you are requesting the presence of the President at an event, including providing remarks, the Presidential Participation Request Form must be filled out 4-8 weeks prior to the event and signed off by your department's Vice President before it is submitted to the Executive Assistant to the President's office. Please find the form on ElmsConnect or CLICK HERE

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

D'Amour Center for Faculty Teaching Excellence

Elms College

invites you

Adjunct Appreciation Night

Gather and celebrate our adjuncts

Alumnae Library

Thursday, January 15, 2026

5:00pm

Amanda Garcia

Associate Professor

Accounting & Finance

Carly Cavanaugh

Assistant Professor

Finance

Dr. Tom Cerasulo

Professor of English

Director, DCFTE

5:00 Reception

5:30 Presentation

Utilizing Chatbots & AI in the Classroom

6:00 Wrap up & Raffle

RSVP here

Above: Scenes from the First Year Seminar and SGA Community Conversation

What an incredible day on Wednesday, ovember 5 when 220 Elms College students attended the Career and Internship Fair with 52 employers as the Berchmans Gymnasium was transformed into an employment wonderland. Thank you to the entire community for making our event a success! More than one employer shared that this is the only career fair they attend because of the community and high level of attention to detail. (Here are the related photos courtesy of Marketing): https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCzLsQ

What an amazing evening! We were delighted to host with our Business Division the annual Business Alumni Event at the Munich Haus. It was standing room only as current students learned from our distinguished alumni in a networking tour de force with great food (we actually went through three trays of the pretzel chicken!). So great to get to participate in the legacy of the Elms College Business Division. With 75 participants, if we had any more we would have had to go in with the Munich Haus on an addition to hold all the participants. Here is a link to photos! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ak_cRQcuhyxOi0T-6NJ3tlTX-WGMkg4j?usp=drive_link

Scenes from the December 4, 2025 Fall Student Art Exhibit

African American Female Professor Award Association

Elms College was a supporting sponsor of the 9th Annual African American Female Professor Award Association (AAFPAA) Celebration held on Saturday, November 8th at The Hotel Northampton. The AAFPAA believes that creating a multicultural faculty will build a healthy, stable, and all-encompassing learning atmosphere and honors African American female professors annually. Elms College faculty, Dr. Tyra Good and Dr. Leanne Price, attended the evening of celebration along with Elms College Chair of the Board, Kathleen Kane who is also a past board member of AAFPAA.

STUDENT AFFAIRS

Dear Elms Community,

The Student Affairs Division would like to thank everyone who donated to our Christmas Toy Drive. On Friday, all donations were brought to both The Gray House and Homework House and will be distributed to more than 1,000 children locally.

We are incredibly appreciative of the kindness shown through your donations, and hope that this Holiday Season can be made warmer knowing the joy you have helped bring to so many local families this Christmas. Thank you for, once again, helping to live out the values of our founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, by responding to the needs of our community.

If you didn't get a chance to go shopping or missed the deadline, Women's Soccer is continuing to spread the holiday spirit with their toy drive going towards Shriner's Hospital, through December 19th. They are collecting toys for kids 4-12 years old. New, unwrapped items like dolls, stuffed animals, coloring books, puzzles, LEGOs, toy cars/trucks, etc. are welcome! Donations can be brought to the Maguire Center.

Wishing you Happy Holidays!

Pictured: Dave Haslam, Executive Director and Dr. Gloria Caballero Roca, Program Director. Elms College Staff: Teresa Winters, Anna Stabile, and Laurie Fontaine

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

On Saturday December 6, alumni, staff, faculty, and friends came together for a festive day trip to New York City, where the holiday spirit was in full force. Attendees enjoyed time to explore the city at their own pace whether they were shopping, attending shows, or just soaking in the seasonal sights. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this holiday tradition and helped make it another great trip! Also, huge congratulations to Brianna Zemrock, the Annual Fund Specialist, who got engaged on the trip!!!!

On Sunday, December 14, families arrived to a snowy campus for a magical morning at Breakfast with Santa. From hands-on crafts and bear building, to writing letters to Santa and enjoying a special reading of The Polar Express by Dr. Dumay, the morning was full of smiles and Christmas spirit. Thank you to everyone who helped create such a joyful and meaningful holiday experience for our alumni community.

COUNSELING CENTER

This fall semester nearly 45 faculty, staff and student leaders from across campus achieved certification in Question Persuade Refer (QPR) training offered by the Counseling Center. QPR is an evidence based mental health training program that gives people the skills and confidence to act when they see someone struggling with mental health issues and potentially contemplating suicide. Upon completion of the training participants are able to spot the warning signs, clues and indicators that someone is struggling and then know what actions to take to get a person help.

Campus Snack Map

Over the next several months the Snack Map will be featuring different 'snack stops' across campus so that you can get to know the faculty/staff at their respective locations. This past month we recognized the following:

The Student Engagement Office: Meet Anna Stabile, the new Director of Student Engagement and Leadership, whose office is located on the second floor of the College Center in room 209! A fun fact about Anna is that she loves to run, and is preparing to run her first half marathon this December! Also working in the office is ARD ArihJey Villon-Nahue, who is the SEAL Graduate Assistant. A fun fact about ArihJey is that she once met Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss!
Dr. Leanne Price, a professor of Psychology, brings both academic rigor and personal discipline to her work, holding a second-degree black belt.
Andrea Neill, Social Work Program Coordinator, serves as a board member of the Kosciuszko Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Polish arts in New England; while not of Polish descent, she delights in exploring Polish cuisine.
Meghan Matthews is the Administrative Assistant to the Social Sciences Division; she finds joy in immersing herself in books and video games during her downtime.

On Monday December 15th the Counseling Center brought Mental Health First Aid trainer Karen Carreira to campus to work with our Athletics Department where ten coaches/trainers achieved certification in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). Mental Health First Aid is a skills based training program that teaches people (non-clinicians) how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges, offering a crucial first step to help someone in distress. Please join me in congratulating our Athletics Department for this hard earned achievement!

HUMAN RESOURCES

Elms College Employment Opportunities as of December 16, 2025

Applications are now being accepted for the positions listed below. Anyone interested in making a formal application should go to the Employment page on the Elms College website for a detailed job description and how to apply: www.elms.edu/employment

Open Positions:

Assistant Professor of Social Work

Assistant Professor of Nursing, Tenure Track

Administrative Assistant – Student Affairs

Director of MBA & Graduate Business Programs, Tenure Track

Executive Assistant to the President/Board Liaison – Temporary

Print Services and Mailroom Coordinator

Welcome to new employees:

Miguel Arce – Professional Tutor MSW

Taylor Raucher – Administrative Assistant, Western MA Literacy Collaborative

Congratulations in their new posts:

Anna Stabile – Director of Student Engagement and Leadership

Among the procedures which may be used to select personnel to fill vacant positions are a review of work experiences, qualifications, degrees/licensures/certifications, and employment interviews. This listing pertains to all current staff and faculty job vacancies at the College.

Elms College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military status, or genetic information in employment. It is the policy of Elms College to comply with applicable federal and state statutes, rules, and regulations concerning equal opportunity.

ELMS IN THE NEWS:

“Western Mass. sees decline in international students,” The Republican/Masslive.com 10/17/2025 (Marketing assisted), https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2025/10/westfield-historical-commission-announces-2025-preservation-award-recipients.html check in with different WMass colleges re: international student enrollment. Elms mentioned through an ‘campus spokesperson”

“Westfield Historical Commission announces 2025 Preservation Award recipients”, The Westfield New/ Masslive - https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2025/10/westfield-historical-commission-announces-2025-preservation-award-recipients.html Cindy Bannish, adjunct professor with Div. of Education, honored with award by Westfield mayor.

“Elms offering ‘campus visit scholarship’ to prospective students”, Western Mass News TV 40, Oct. 20. https://www.westernmassnews.com/2025/10/20/elms-offering-campus-visit-scholarship-prospective-students/ Rehash of Elms Marketing release.

“Westfield High School fair draws 90 colleges,” Westfield News/Masslive, Oct. 22,

https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2025/10/westfield-high-school-college-fair-draws-90-colleges.html brief mention of Elms and Financial Aid director Richard O’Connor

“13 things about about Miss Universe Ghana 2025 Andromeda Peters”, Conan Daily, Nov.3, https://conandaily.com/2025/11/03/13-things-about-miss-universe-ghana-2025-andromeda-peters/ Peters graduated from Elms with a BS in psychology. She is competing in the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand on Nov. 21.

“Elms College to Host Gaelic Football Match Between UMass, UConn on Nov. 16,” Business West, 11/10/2025 https://businesswest.com/blog/elms-college-to-host-gaelic-football-match-between-umass-uconn-on-nov-16/

“'Diversity programs are critical': Elms student receives national scholarship to pursue medicine,” New England Public Media, https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2025-11-13/diversity-programs-are-critical-elms-student-receives-national-scholarship-to-pursue-medicine , radio story on Bianca Kerr, a junior Biotech major receiving a scholarship form UNCF, and the importance of scholarships for bringing students of color, particularly women of color, into STEM majors. (Marketing Assisted)

“Over 100 Elms volunteers give back on annual Service Day,” WWLP - TV 22 Https://www.wwlp.com/news/videos/over-100-elms-college-volunteers-make-give-back-on-annual-service-day/ Coverage of service day, interview with Terry Winters. (marketing assisted)

Elms, Beacon ABA announcement, “Business Monday,” The Republican/Masslive. 11/19/2025 https://www.masslive.com/business/2025/11/business-monday-etc-nov-17-2025.html summary of Elms media release

“Five Questions with Michael Theulin”, The Springfield College Student, https://scstudentmedia.com/five-questions-with-michael-theulen/amp/, Former Elms AD is interviewed by student newspaper.

“Partnerships like Early College make Higher Education More Accessible,” Western Mass. Business Journal, 11/24,2025. https://businesswest.com/blog/partnerships-like-early-college-make-higher-education-more-accessible/ Story mentions Elms College and HCC/STCC residence hall partnership and has a quote from Dr. Dumay

Page updated

Report abuse