墨西拿大学, 新的两年, associate's degree granting program of Boston College, will be opening this July for its first class of students. It is designed for first-generation, 低收入家庭的学生能够在一个支持性的环境中获得学位. At the end of their two years, students who have maintained a 3.GPA达到4分就可以进入正规的电子游戏软件本科项目. They hope to have an entering class of 100 students.
The college will be located on the former campus of Pine Manor College, 它距离电子游戏软件位于栗子山的主校区一英里半. 这将是使墨西拿从其他类似项目中脱颖而出的一件事:提供完整的住宿体验. 学生将在二年级的每学期在主校区上一门课, but otherwise their classes will all be at Messina.
“我告诉人们，墨西拿学院的成立使我们回到了作为一所机构的根源,耶稣会神父说. Erick Berrelleza, the new college's dean. 电子游戏软件最初是为波士顿贫穷的天主教移民的孩子们服务的, 贝雷莱萨与马萨诸塞州和罗德岛州一些最贫困社区的学校合作招收学生. 该校表示，虽然不是所有的新生都是当地人，但大多数都是当地人.
This also reflects the legacy of Pine Manor College, which closed in 2020 after the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, but which had primarily served low-income and first-generation students. 当他们合并到电子游戏软件时，继续这种做法是他们协议的一部分.
耶稣会神父. 墨西拿学院院长Erick Berrelleza(墨西拿学院/电子游戏软件提供)
墨西拿大学 is committed to generous financial aid, which officials say is notable in a year when there have been 显著的延迟 with the federal financial aid form. 贝雷莱萨说，有些学生在拿到四年制大学的录取通知书后选择了墨西拿，因为这些大学没有提供那么多的资助. Because of Boston College's desire to build a residential cohort, only students who have just graduated high school will be admitted, meaning no deferred admissions or gap years.
遗传学家Antonio Serrato-Capuchina将成为新教员之一. "I wanted to work with communities that need uplifting," he said.
"There's a difference between saying things and doing it," Serrato-Capuchina added, 他说，他很高兴能成为教育工作者社区的一员, 像他这样的, spent their careers working with disadvantaged students. He previously worked at Project Uplift, 向即将升入高中的高年级学生介绍大学经历的暑期项目, while studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 还做了其他教育推广工作，让年轻人接触科学.
His goal will be to get students used to synthesizing information, not merely repeating it, and get them to see how to deconstruct a complex idea. He currently teaches advanced courses as a lecturer at Boston University, 但很高兴能够在入门课程中向那些以前可能从未接触过科学方法的学生介绍科学方法.
但墨西拿学院愿景的一个关键部分是承认和支持课堂外的学生.
作为一个移民和第一代大学(和高中)毕业生, Serrato-Capuchina said he knows the barriers students can face in academia. "I want to build students' confidence," he said. Berrelleza说，他们计划将重点放在指导上，并表示目标是“帮助(学生)顺利过渡到大学，顺利度过大学生活，并在大学里取得成功——这并不总是学业成功的问题。."
塞拉托-卡普奇纳说，有时学生们会“觉得自己甚至无法申请”工作或实习, 他希望他能帮助他们克服这一点，同时也能让学生们接触到波士顿地区的许多科学机会. 学生将在第二年完成实习或临床轮转, 目的是如果他们不希望继续四年制本科课程, they will be prepared to enter the workforce.
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Four associates degrees will be offered, in applied data science, applied psychology and human development, 一般业务, 健康科学. 学生还将完成与电子游戏软件一般要求一致的核心课程, to facilitate an easy transfer process to the main campus, 如果需要. This includes English, 数学, social and natural science, 历史, and art — as well as philosophy and theology. The theology course will have a service learning component.
"信仰 is absolutely implicated in what we're up to here," said Berrelleza. He added that "faith lives not only through our campus ministry, but also through our mission and ministry offices, and our first year experience office,“把所有事情都看作是共同努力，以促进和灌输同样的价值观.
将有一个小教堂和一个活跃的校园事工，包括一个住校的校园牧师. “耶稣会的行动侧重于教育，这对我来说是一个好处，”塞拉托-卡普奇纳说.
"There's a lot of buy-in, and a lot of excitement that Boston College is working so intentionally," said Berrelleza about the faculty response to the program. 他希望确保墨西拿学院提供的学术质量与该校其他学院的学生相同, 教师一直是决定哪些课程将成为核心课程一部分的人.
*修正: 本文在最初发表后进行了修改，以纠正关于另一个天主教教育机构的事实错误.
