July 18, 2018

President Harry E. Dumay celebrates first year of leadership at Elms College

REGIONAL
Staff report

Harry E. Dumay, president of Our Lady of the Elms College (IObserve file photo/Fred LeBlanc)

CHICOPEE – The College of Our Lady of the Elms recently celebrated one year of leadership by President Harry E. Dumay, who took the helm of the college as its 11th president on July 1, 2017.

“We are thrilled to recognize Dr. Dumay’s first anniversary at Elms,” said Cynthia A. Lyons, chair of the board of trustees. “He has accomplished so much in 12 short months, and he has so many exciting ideas that he has started to implement for the future of the college.”

“At Elms, Dr. Dumay has been focused on the importance of a liberal arts education based in the Catholic intellectual tradition,” Lyons added. “He strongly believes that education will lift people from poverty, inspire positive dialogue, and create paths to employment, success, and ethical and spiritual development.”

Highlights from Dumay’s first year at Elms College include:

• Expanding course offerings to include four new business-focused bachelor’s degree-completion options designed to be flexible for adult learners (July 2017), as well as launching the college’s first community college partnership in Connecticut, a social work degree program offered at Asnuntuck Community College (August 2017).
• Augmenting the staff of the college’s Center for Student Success in the Alumnae Library by appointing a new director of diversity and inclusion, and a new director of tutoring services (August 2017).
• Bolstering the already strong academic community by adding nine new faculty members in accounting, biology, communication sciences and disorders, education, nursing, and social work (September 2017).
• Welcoming NASA engineer Shelia Nash-Stevenson – who followed her childhood love of math into the field of physics and became the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate degree in physics in the state of Alabama – as the opening convocation speaker for the 2017-18 academic year (September 2017).
• Participating in a formal presidential inauguration ceremony; Inauguration Week events included a special Mass, a campus-wide picnic, a post-inauguration reception, a dedication ceremony for the new chapel in Berchmans Hall, the annual President’s Evening of Appreciation dinner, a dedication ceremony for the new Center for Student Success in the Alumnae Library, a Meet the Authors reception celebrating the publications of the college’s faculty, a coffeehouse concert featuring Elms music faculty, a cultural fair celebrating diversity on campus, a film screening in collaboration with the Polish Film Festival, a reading and reception with a poet/artist, the annual Blessing of the Athletes ceremony, an academic showcase highlighting the work of Elms faculty and students, and a Harvest Ball for students in the College Center (October 2017).
• Taking part in the Solemn Dedication of the Altar in the college’s new St. Joseph Chapel, celebrated by Springfield Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski (November 2017).
• Signing an agreement to continue and expand Elms College’s international exchange program with the University of Kochi in Japan as the exchange relationship celebrated its 20th year (November 2017).
• Addressing the School of Nursing’s doctor of nursing practice candidates at their white coat ceremony (December 2017).
• Welcoming accomplished higher education finance executive Katie Longley, CPA, of Abilene, Texas, as the college’s new vice president of finance and administration (February 2018).
• Welcoming Elizabeth Dineen ’77, executive director of the YWCA of Western Massachusetts in Springfield, MA, as a new member of the college’s board of trustees (February 2018).
• Inviting former trustee Gerard F. Doherty – author of They Were My Friends – Jack, Bob & Ted: My Life In and Out of Politics – to campus to speak about his time as a trusted political adviser to President Kennedy, Sen. Robert Kennedy, Sen. Edward Kennedy, President Johnson, and President Carter (March 2018).
• Upholding the social justice traditions of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the college’s founders, holding a 17-minute peace vigil in conjunction with the National School Walkout event, which was held in every time zone across the U.S. (March 2018).
• Launching the Executive Leadership Series, featuring lectures by the region’s leaders with an inaugural lecture delivered by global human resources executive Regina Noonan Hitchery ’71 (March 2018).
• Recognizing the outstanding faculty contributions by awarding tenure and/or promotions to several faculty (March 2018).
• Offering a simplified and speedy application process to students affected by the closure of Mount Ida College who wish to continue their education without delay; Elms announced guaranteed admission for current Mount Ida College students in good academic standing, and promised to notify first-year applicants of their admission decision within one week of receiving an application (April 2018).
• Expanding educational opportunities for students by adding two new majors (computer science, or CS, and computer information technology and security, or CITS), as well as adding two fully online certificate programs in legal studies (an advanced paralegal certificate and a paralegal studies certificate in legal nurse consulting), and partnering on a master of social work (MSW) degree program with Saint Louis University, whose School of Social Work is continually ranked as one of the best in the nation (May 2018).
• Securing a major gift to launch the Sister Kathleen Keating and Sister Maxyne Schneider Experiential Learning Fund at Elms College (May 2018).
• Establishing a connection with Station1, an innovative experiment in higher education research, that allowed computer science major Babba Jadden ’20 to land a very competitive national-level internship placement (May 2018).
• Celebrating the college’s 87th commencement exercises at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The ceremony included awarding of degrees to 471 graduates; an inspiring commencement address by eminent global health leader Dr. Louise Ivers; bestowing honorary degrees on both Ivers and educator, community activist, and visionary Shirley Edgerton of Pittsfield; presenting the college’s Via Veritatis medal to William F. Frain, former senior vice president at UBS PaineWebber and current Elms College trustee; a valedictory speech by psychology and English major Mary Iellamo ’18 of East Longmeadow (May 2018).
• Launching a continuing-education partnership between Elms College and Institution Univers-Haiti (June 2018).
• Recognizing the Blazers winter and spring student-athletes who led the New England Collegiate Conference in NECC All-Academic honorees, with a total of 31 (June 2018).
• Welcoming the newest students in the Class of 2022 to Elms College by hosting orientation events on campus (June 2018).
• Securing two slots for Elms College students to attend the Harvard Summer Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) BioSTAR program (June 2018).

“My family and I have been touched by the warm welcome that we received from the entire Elms College family. My first year at Elms College was filled with great student achievements, exciting new partnerships, and inspiring activities. It exceeded my expectations,” Dumay said.

“There is not much time to look back on the first year,” he added. “At the upcoming cabinet retreat in July and the board of trustees retreat in August, we will reaffirm the vision and strategy for the future of the college and coalesce around a series of exciting initiatives for academic year 2019. It is increasingly clear that American higher education is at a crossroads and only those institutions that innovate constantly will be able to thrive in our turbulent times. In this 90th anniversary year of our college, I know we will work together to achieve even greater things.”

Dumay was chosen after a nationwide search and had served in higher education finance and administration at senior and executive levels for 19 years before joining Elms. He holds a doctoral degree in higher education administration from Boston College, an MBA from Boston University, and a master of arts degree in public administration from Framingham State University.

Dumay, who hails from Ouanaminthe, Haiti, previously worked as the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. Before that, he served as chief financial officer and associate dean at Harvard University’s Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, associate dean at Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work, and director of finance for Boston University’s School of Engineering.

Dumay also served as an adjunct faculty member at Boston College for nine years.