In her fourth week as Northwestern Connecticut Comm-unity College’s new president, Barbara Douglass (Zaire 1973-74) has already met with many local officials, and she is ready to continue the college’s growth in the community
Welcoming new faces in education
RICK KLIMANOWSKI , Register Citizen Staff
08/26/2004
WINSTED - In her fourth week as Northwestern Connecticut Comm-unity College’s new president, Barbara Douglass has already met with many local officials, and she is ready to continue the college’s growth in the community.
Passing through the town, the former vice president for instruction and student services at Lake City Community College, in Florida, said she often meets graduates and she hears many good things about the college.
Douglass said she sees the school as a "small but growing college" that has the potential of being a premiere community college, not just in Connecticut, but in all of New England.
"We want to convince parents that we would like this to be the place of first choice (for high school graduates)," she said.
Douglass, 53, has some big shoes to fill after the retirement of former President R. Eileen Baccus. Baccus led the college to new horizons bybuilding bridges between the town and the college. She also was instrumental in securing $9 million in funding to build the new Learning Resource Center, which houses the library, conference center and language lab.
Up for the challenge, Douglass said she is fortunate for the work Baccus did when she headed the school. Douglass said she appreciates Baccus’ work forming a partnership with the town and business leaders through increased student involvement.
"I really see this college being very involved with the re-emergence of Winsted," Douglass said, adding that Winsted has the potential of becoming similar to North Hampton, Mass., with many specialty shops and cultural attractions centered around the college.
One of the biggest projects Douglass will oversee is the construction and development of the new arts and science center, which is second phase of the school’s facilities master plan. Slated to begin its construction next spring, the building to will house new art studios, computer labs, science labs and faculty offices.
Douglass said some of her short-term goals are to work on an enrollment management plan, and to continue program accessibility for the students.
"We are hoping we can offer more opportunities for students to get into the programs they want to," she said. "The most important thing we do here is teach."
Currently residing in Winsted, Douglass said she is looking for a more permanent home in the area to share with her dog and cat. An avid traveler, Douglass spent a year with the U.S. Peace Corps from 1973-74, teaching English to secondary school students in the Republic of Zaire. She is also collects folk art and Mexican woodcarvings from Oaxaca, Mexico. Some of Douglass’ favorite paintings are by the Highway Men,African-American artists who are known to sell their art alongside highways.
Born in Boston, Douglass spent most of the 1990s as academic dean at Capital Community College, Hartford, before going to Florida. She said he was happy to come back home because she loves the area.
"I think this is just the prettiest college campus," Douglass said. "I’m really looking forward to being here. It’s a great place."
Rick Klimanowski can be reached by e-mail at winsted@registercitizen.com.
©The Register Citizen 2004
