Keene State College education majors got the chance to speak with KSC alumni and professors from within their major at the sixth annual Inspiring Conversations in Education (ICE) conference.

puja thapa / business manager

Coordinator for the New Teacher and Leader program Darrell Hucks said the conference was created when the education department wanted to expose students to potential careers and have the chance to ask former students questions about their experiences as teachers.

Hucks said the event included about 35 alumni and professors who had presentations. “The event includes presenters speaking about early childhood education, elementary education and this year, mostly higher education,” Hucks said.

The event was put on by the Education Honor Society and club president Adriana Alicea said the event has helped her learn more about the education major. Alicea said she thinks it is an important event to attend as it allows students to speak with people who have recently graduated and talk about their first years of teaching.

Alicea said the biggest thing she’s gotten out of the conference is learning about what she is capable of and how to be less overwhelmed as a teacher.

Hucks said the presentations cover a wide range of topics such as what it’s like to be a first-year teacher, how to deal with parents as a teacher and the difference between rural schools vs. urban schools.

Hucks said the reason students return to present at the conference is because the education department tries to form a close bond with the students in the major throughout their years of college and encourage students to present the years after graduation on their experiences.

Kyle Virgin graduated from KSC as an undergraduate in 2014 and received his graduate degree in education the following year. Virgin said he now works in the Upward Bound program at KSC and presented at this year’s ICE conference. “The Upward Bound program works a lot with students with financial disadvantages and the presentation I’m giving is called Becoming an Advocate for Low Income Students,” Virgin said.

In addition to the presentations, Virgin said that the conference is a good way to network and he has seen the networking in effect both as a student and now as a faculty member.

Senior Savannah Robert said she was the coordinator of the event last year and while she is taking on a smaller role this year, she sees the event as important for the education majors. “In education, for someone who is just starting off as a teacher, they are expected to be teaching the same stuff as someone who’s had 30 years of experience,” Robert said. She said a lot of the speakers at the conference talk about the first years of teaching and what the job is truly like.

Vice President of The Education Honor Society Erin Broderick said she first attended the ICE conference her sophomore year and it opened her eyes to seeing what the education field is truly like. Broderick said the most important thing she’s learned at the conferences is that not everything in teaching works out. “You might have a grand plan lesson that you think students will love and will work out perfectly, then it doesn’t work out. It is ok to fail and those things happen, not because of being bad at teaching or being new, but because those things happen as a teacher,” Broderick said.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

Keene State College first-year students will soon find out where they will live for the next academic year through a randomly generated housing lottery.

Assistant Director of Residential Life for Housing Debra Barrett said, to be eligible for the lottery, students must be planning to live on campus during the 2018-2019 academic year and have 51 or fewer credits completed by the end of the spring 2018 semester. In order to participate, Barrett said sophomores need to fill out a sophomore roommate selection application. This will allow students to go online to select roommates and create groups between people that they want to live with Barrett said. She added this process allows students to make changes for who they want to live with and where they want to live. Barrett said students can make changes all the way up to selection day during the first week of March.

LaURA ROMaNIELLO / Art director

Barrett said the randomness of the lottery works well because it is fair for everybody. “It is not by grade point average or anything like that,” Barrett said.

First-year Morgan Gilman said she likes the housing lottery process. “I like how it takes place later in the year because it gives us time to pick our roommates and meet people. We get used to the campus and that Pondside looks one way and Butler looks another,” Gilman said.

Gilman said she feels prepared for the housing lottery, the process has been organized and it is not confusing. The Residential Life Office gives students a set day and time to enter the lottery.

Barrett said the reason KSC waits until March to complete the housing lottery is to give students time to make connections with their peers and get a feel for what KSC is like. “The second semester is past the initial drop off for when students don’t remain at KSC so that is why we don’t want to have it earlier in the school year. It also gives them more time to build relationships,” Barrett said.

First year Bianca Assenza said she has a disability and could’ve had priority housing if she chose to. “The priority housing is a good thing because it would allow me to live in a place that is accomadible to my disability,” Assenza said.

Despite having the opportunity for priority housing, Assenza said she decided not to take the priority housing and instead take part in the housing lottery because if she had chosen priority housing, they would’ve put her in either Owls Nest or Holloway and she doesn’t want to live in either of those places. Assenza said if she had chosen to live in a priority housing spot she would’ve also been able to choose friends to live in that spot as well and secure that spot.

According to the KSC Residential Life Office webpage, after the online housing selection, there is a $300 non-refundable security deposit for each student who will be living on campus. Then, students sign an online housing agreement contract as well as one for meal plans. After that, students have secured their housing according to the webpage.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

For all Keene State College students, an important part of the experience is figuring out what to do after graduation. There are many opportunities in college for students to prepare for the post-graduation life of finding a career.

Emily Perry / Equinox Staff

Director of Corporate Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at KSC Daniel Henderson said it is important to start thinking about post-college during a student’s first year of college. Henderson said freshman year is an important time to lay the foundation for careers by doing things such as creating a resume and attending career fairs. “The first thing students should do is go to the Academic and Career advising Center. They have resources on how to set up a resume, how to set up a LinkedIn,” Henderson said.

The Academic and Career Advising (ACA) Center on the third floor of the Elliot Center allows all students to help students feel more comfortable and prepared for life after college. Academic and Career Advisor Beverly Behrmann said the main goal of the ACA is to help students develop skills that they need in order to be successful in future endeavors.

Behrmann said JobWISE.com is an important resource for students as it gives students the opportunity to look at resumes and cover letters from KSC alumni as well as help students connect with job opportunities. Behrmann said JobWISE is a job and internship posting board in which many employers that are geographically close to KSC look for students who are about to graduate.

Having a LinkedIn profile is something that is also important to the career process, Behrmann said, as it helps as a tool for students and employers to connect with each other. “Recruiters are using LinkedIn more and more to recruit. If they see students graduating in certain geographic areas with skills and experiences that meet their criteria they will recruit you and ask to apply for job,” Behrmann said.

Senior James Schaefer said he had some strong resume building in the past year and had some help to get it more professional. “Every position you apply for you need to fit your resume for that position…resumes change over time,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer said he recently took part in the Mock Interviews with C&S which took place on Tuesday, Feb. 20, and said the event helped him feel more prepared for what the interview process is like.

Behrmann said finding internships during college is an important way to prepare for after college and some majors’ classes that include an internship. Two of the majors that allow internship classes include communication and health science.

Behrmann said the other important part of preparing for jobs after college is learning how to negotiate a salary after a job has been given. “We talk about salary range in the career advising center. Even if the salary isn’t negotiable there may be certain benefits that are,” Behrmann said.

Behrmann said that an employer won’t take the job offer away from someone just because there is a negotiation happening, in fact they will typically understand that there is some going on.

One aspect of the career center is that they help women negotiate salaries as Behrmann said statistics have shown that men are more likely to negotiate salaries than women.

The academic and career advising checklist on the KSC website gives advice on how to set up a LinkedIn profile so that it is professional and all information is included that employers are looking for. Behrmann said that the types of things that should be included in the LinkedIn profile include experience, education, skills, recommendations and the profile being public.

The LinkedIn checklist includes advice such as, “Tell a short story: describe what motivates you, what you’re skilled at, and what’s next. Explain why you want to do what you want to do. Mention adversities overcome, if any, or opportunities you seized.”

Senior Sarah Doubleday said it is important to participate in multiple opportunities throughout college as a resume builder.

“I have been a tutor and a part of the math honor society. I went from being a tutor to a peer course assistant. It is important to not wait until the last minute. Preparing has made me less nervous,” Doubleday said.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

Related Article: “Post-graduation plans: Students worry about future finances“

Keene State College students are currently partnering with Dartmouth Medical Center on research which could, someday, be a form of cancer treatment.

Chemistry Professor Paul Baures  who runs the research that students are working on said the research includes slightly changing a molecular structure so that fatty acids in breast cancer cells can be attacked.

photo illsutration by Sebastien Mehegan / Administrative Executive editor

Baures said the research began when the National Institute of Health found that one of the structures Baures and his students that chose to take part in the project tested was found to be the most active out of over 300,000 structures.

Baures said the structure involves fatty acid synthesis, which is something breast cancer cells rely on.

2017 KSC graduate Emily Wollert said she spent a lot of time working on the research during her time at KSC.

“Certain types of cancers need a high amount of fatty acids to grow. So we took a look at the structure of chemical molecules that are potent but not stable and slightly changed the structure. It has to be in the right part of the body to work,” Wollart said.

“Inhibiting this enzyme could help to treat cancer. It may not be able to do it alone but it could be effective when used with other drugs,” Baures said.

Baures said that knowing the structure was active and could impact cells caused him to reach out to Dr. William Kinlaw at Dartmouth Medical Center.

From there, Baures said his students and staff at Dartmouth Medical Center began testing on mouse plasma.

Another alumnus from Wollert’s class Evan Dunkley said breast cancer cells require something called NOVO synthesis.

The process is described on the Khan Academy website as “the synthesis of complex molecules from simple molecules such as sugars or amino acids instead of recycling after particle degradation.”

Dunkley said he is now working on getting his Ph.D. at Dartmouth College while taking part in various other research projects relating to chemistry.

Wollert said she got interested in the project during her second semester of junior year when she knew people who were doing other types of research.

She went to Professor Baures and, out of the options of what to research, she found this one the most interesting to her.

Wollert said being able to present her findings to people with a lot of knowledge is a good way for her to get used to the research and presentation process.

Wollert said that, currently, she is working a job at a chemist control lab.

Baures said the funding for the research comes from New Hampshire Idea Network of Biomedical Research, which is a group that helps with research going on in New Hampshire.

Baures said the results of the study weren’t what him or his students we’re expecting but he is glad about where the research is going.

“It is important for student outcomes. We have undergraduates at KSC doing things that graduate students at other schools are doing by finding these discoveries,” Baures said.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

This spring Relay for Life will return to Keene State College in an effort to help fight against cancer. The event raises money to help support research, patient care, education and prevention activities.

anna heindl / equinox staff

On Thursday, Jan. 25 in the Mountain View Room of the Lloyd P. Young Student Center, the first meeting of the semester took place. Coordinator of Community Services at KSC Jessica Gagne Cloutier said that this year while some things regarding Relay for Life will be different,  she hopes that a lot of it will be the same and it will feel the same way that Relay for Life feels like every year.

A main difference from previous relays is that while most years a committee has been selected to run Relay for Life and the process begins in the fall, this year preparation hasn’t begun until now and there is not currently a committee in place, Gagne Cloutier said.

“A lot of people have shown interest in participating but it hasn’t shown when it comes to applicants,” Gagne Cloutier said.

The other thing that Gagne Cloutier said has changed this year is that the Greater Keene Community is not hosting a Relay for Life this year.

Gagne Cloutier said she hopes this can turn into an opportunity to have more people from the community who would’ve participated in the Greater Keene Community event to participate at the one at KSC.

Things that are staying the same when it comes to Relay for Life includes the events that will be taking place during the event, the goal for donation amount and the predicted number of people participating.

Gagne Cloutier said, “The goal really is still to raise $17,000. What I love about the event at KSC is that even with enrollment down we still have consistent funds…We usually see 350-500 people but we are closer to 350 with the dwindling population so we need to keep the participants entertained.”

One major part of Relay for Life according to Gagne Cloutier is the donation aspect and she said the American Cancer Society has an app that will now allow people to donate via credit or debit card.

Gagne Cloutier said she hopes that the app will help with donating and will make it easier for participants.

Relay for Life will take place on Saturday, April 7 in the Spaulding Gymnasium from noon to midnight.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

Keene State College biology students are currently working on biomedical research regarding  harmful toxins in the environment which impact living creatures.

gerald alfieri / equinox staff

Juniors Anna McFarlin and Adam Harris said that they have been looking at tadpoles to find out similarities between how toxins in the environment known as PAH’s impact development in both frogs and humans. McFarlin said that the toxins are in fact affecting humans and tadpoles in both cardiovascular and behavioral ways and studying tadpoles can tell us about children and unborn babies.

Biology Professor Susan Whittemore said that the idea for the research came about when one of her students, McFarlin approached her about wanting to study tadpoles because they are a vertebrate species. Whittemore said that they then started to keep tadpoles and the research showed that when exposed to the PAH’s chemicals, the tadpoles have abnormally slow heart rates.

McFarlin said that as well as the cardiovascular reason, PAH’s are impacting behavior in a big way as well. “For behavior it causes them to swim, swim and swim without taking any breaks but their speed isn’t changing. Has so many negative effects for the larval at different stages. We’re breathing in these particles all day long,” said McFarlin.

Whittemore said that the PAH’s are a result of combustion of organic materials such as cigarettes, gasoline, furnaces, food being cooked on the grill and oil spill for water animals. Whittemore said that the relation between the PAH’s in tadpoles and humans came about when they partnered with NH-INBRE which is where the research is funded from which is a biomedical research program that is focused on human health. Whittemore said, “My tadpoles serve as a good model so I see them as serving as a model system for understanding what might be happening with human fetuses and children.”

Harris said he gathered information on frog embryos that had been exposed to two toxins and said the data shows just how much the toxins were affecting the embryos. Harris said that this isn’t the first biology research that he has been a part of. “The PAH’s affect the heart similarly in the two different kinds of treatment that I did. Previous research that I did about a year before was on single PAH exposure and then over the summer we switched to kind of a more real world exposure protocol where we exposed this larvae to diesel particles so they were particles collected from a forklift at the National Institute of Science and Technology.”

McFarlin said that the research is important because PAH’s are something that are impacting us on a daily basis and while people care about it, they may not know it is happening. One of the ways that McFarlin said they let people know about her research is by visiting other colleges and institutions and getting the chance to be with other people who study science. Some of the places McFarlin and Harris said they have spoken include Dartmouth College, Quinnipiac University and Mount Washington College.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

Technology is a crucial part of everyday life for many students at Keene State College, especially when it comes to being able to complete work for classes, turn assignments in, access their accounts and much more. KSC has several resources on campus for students for when their technology does not work properly, and on top of that, most of those resources are run mostly by students.

Christopher Ziegler is a Student HelpDesk Technician on the second floor of the Elliot Center who said he takes a lot of phone calls and walk-ins from people who are having trouble with their technology. The first thing the HelpDesk workers do when they come in for a shift is to log into the ticketing software that they use and view problems that they are working on, hoping to find a solution. Ziegler, a junior and computer science minor, said that the most common problem he sees at the HelpDesk is those who forget to reset their password every six months and are not able to access their MyKSC account.

Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff

Zeigler said it is important to have resources to help with technology here at KSC. “With technology rapidly developing it is so important to have support. I feel as though any school not with the trends could fall behind,” Ziegler said.

HelpDesk Manager Elise Morissette said that the main focus of the HelpDesk is customer focus and making sure that all students and faculty have help with technology. “I think our community likes help from students. They know that the IT desk isn’t far. We have an incredibly knowledgeable staff that makes sure the customers feel well taken care of,” Morissette said.

Senior and HelpDesk employee Emily Grossman said an important part of the job is when a problem comes in it is rated on the HelpDesk’s system in terms of both urgency and impact on a scale of one to five. Grossman said an example of when this rating would be used would be if a student came in and could not access his or her MyKSC account. In the HelpDesk system it would be rated as a one in impact because there was only one student with the problem. In terms of urgency, Grossman said that it would be rated in the system as a five because the student needs to access their MyKSC account. Grossman said being able to record this information in the system is important because it allows the workers to quickly detect patterns or problems that a lot of people are having.

Mason Library is another technological resource to help students. Andrew Horohov is a library public cluster technician who has been helping with problems people have in the library for the past four years. Horohov said that some of his duties are to manage the library printers, refill toners and help students with programs such as Excel and Word. “It is good for me to get the chance to work with people with computer issues and help them,” said Horohov, who is also a computer science major.

Junior and news media major Grace Kelly is a Lab Monitor in the library and said that the job relates somewhat to her major. Kelly said that when she is in the Media Arts Center she is always on computers and working with different programs. Kelly said that she feels as though her job as Lab Monitor is important. “The job is important especially with the color printer because some don’t know how it works. People will be rushing in before their 12:00 or 2:00 and sometimes you get to help students who are in a rush,” Kelly said. Kelly said that printing in the library for the first time is confusing because it involves several steps.

Music technology major Geoffrey Edwards is a part of the Technology Team in the L.P. Young Student Center and said that he runs sound and sometimes lighting for the Mabel Brown Room. Edwards said that he will sometimes bring down equipment for the Student Center if there is an event going on in the yard. “I am a music technology major so I thought being on the Technology Team would help me learn and it absolutely has. It helps me get to know the field I may be working in after college.”

Ziegler said that over the summer he worked as part of the Media Team here on campus which is dedicated specifically for classroom media. “It is important for primary classroom problems. The TV display in the gym and and projector are also dealt with by the Media Team. Ziegler said that the most important part of the jobs he has had involving technology is communication between the person who needs help and the person working.

The common theme throughout all the student tech workers was that they mentioned the importance of the job to be there for the KSC community for any technology trouble. Morissette said the student workers are a crucial part of the community. “It’s really important that they know it wouldn’t work without them. It is a complex and challenging job.”

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

At the end of each semester, students have the opportunity to assess their courses and professors.

At Keene State College, these evaluations take place in an optional online questionnaire on the Canvas website.

Interim President Melinda Treadwell said course evaluations are important for all professors.

Anna Heindl / Equinox Staff

“Course evaluations are the biggest and most important tool for students to evaluate the performance of our staff. They are used extensively,” said Treadwell.

Each semester the evaluations go into each professor’s profile and are things that need to be reported in order for staff members to be promoted in tenure, Treadwell added.

The results of the evaluations are looked at by the professor to see what students thought worked well and what did not in the course.

Treadwell said the results of the evaluations go to the promotional team here at KSC and are one of the aspects the team looks at when deciding to give a promotion.

Treadwell said students should be candid in their course evaluations since they are a way to gain information objectively.

Treadwell said she worried that when the evaluation moved to an online format, students would not do it; that is why she encourages professors to allow class time for students to complete the evaluation.

Treadwell said the provost is currently trying to gather information regarding the number of students who complete the course evaluation.

Leaf Seligman is an adjunct instructor for Thinking and Writing (ITW) and she said in her classes she has students turn in a portfolio at the end of the semester to evaluate themselves and tell the good and bad about the semester.

Seligman said while course evaluations can be useful, sometimes students who did poorly in the course will give a negative evaluation just because they did not like the professor or the grade they got.

“They evaluate me, but I’m not the course…There is no question that asks how well the   student prepared. All the questions start with ‘was the professor’ or ‘how did the professor,’” Seligman said.

She said a more authentic evaluation would be a face-to-face interaction.

Seligman said she cares about the evaluation and feedback  her students give and it makes her sad that she may have tenured colleagues who do not read or care about the evaluations.

Department Chair of the Chemistry Department Jim Kraly is a tenured professor and said that student course evaluations are an important way to get positive and negative feedback.

Kraly said that teaching is an art and the evaluations help faculty to improve. “Evaluations are scores and comments. If a student takes the time to write then we take the time to read them,” said Kraly who added that professors continually evaluate what they do as teachers.

Senior Mary Gilbar said she likes doing the course evaluations each semester because it is helpful for professors to have feedback.

“I like how it would pop up to remind you because I want to do it.” Gilbar said because she has had several professors only once  she has not seen any effects of the course evaluations.

Sophomore Jessica Zumbo said she likes how the course evaluations are a way to give feedback but at the same time it is optional and encourages students to complete it if they want.

Treadwell said while some institutions lock students out of receiving their grades or  class registration, she does not want to put it onto the students as a requirement.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequiox.com

Pumpkin Festival returned to Keene this past weekend after a three-year hiatus. Hosted by Let It Shine, the festival took place at Central Square in downtown Keene on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Angelique Inchierca / Photo Editor

This year’s festival focused on the children of the School Administrative Unit 29 (SAU29) by having pumpkins displayed the children had carved, games and chances for children to get candy from downtown businesses. Let It Shine Board Member Tim Zinn said the children are the heart of what Pumpkin Festival is about. “I love kids and it is great to see them happy and having a good time,” Zinn said.

In a note on the Let It Shine website, the organization stated, “The schools and school children have always been at the heart of the Keene Pumpkin Festival. When we [the board of directors and event team] think of the festival, we think of kids’ smiles, their joy, their sense of wonder as they explore the festival. The heart of the festival is the children.”

This year’s, Let It Shine Pumpkin Festival comes eight days after the third annual Monadnock Pumpkin Festival. The Monadnock Pumpkin Festival brought in a big crowd, according to The Keene Sentinel. Creator of the Monadnock Pumpkin Festival Jennifer Matthews said last year, the festival brought in over 6,000 people, and according to The Keene Sentinel, Matthews predicted that the one this year had even more.

Angelique Inchierca / Photo Editor

During this year’s festival, it did rain, but that didn’t stop many families from attending the event. While the attendee count is not known, Zinn predicted that there were about 3,000 to 3,500 pumpkins in total.

Having the Pumpkin Festival centered solely around children is a big change from what the festival was like in past years. Previously, Pumpkin Festival included vendors, and this year, there were none. Zinn said, “As much as it benefits non-profit, we needed to make it pure and about the children this year.”

The other major difference between this year’s festival to past years is the size in which the festival takes place. This year’s festival was completely on Central Square. Keene resident Lindsay Dewees mentioned the major difference. “It’s good that it’s back. I am used to seeing Pumpkin Fest with a big tower with a face on it. There used to be pumpkins up and down the street. After the incident a few years ago, I was really sad and couldn’t talk about it for the longest time. I am glad that it is back, even if it isn’t as big.”

Keene Police Department Lieutenant Shane C. Maxfield said he thinks the people who managed this year’s festival made a smart decisions when deciding how big the festival would be and when it would be. “The organizers made wise choices in terms of making it more manageable. Having the festival on a Sunday afternoon helps the family factor and the timing of 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. helps to prevent problems from happening that had happened in the past.”

Angelique Inchierca / Photo Editor

Downtown businesses took part in the festival by allowing children to come into their business and receive candy. Fairfield Inn & Suites Front Desk Agent Kelsey Bailey said she thinks it is really fun for the children to be able to go into places and get candy. “I think it is going great. It makes people glad. Allowing children to come into the lobby and take candy gives us a good reputation and, if successful, it could get bigger.”

Monadnock Imaging is also taking part in allowing children to come in and get candy. Store Manager Mike Torska said, “People are out and about. It is good exposure for my business. I was one of the biggest supporters of Pumpkin Fest. Anything to try to improve downtown is welcome.”

Along with the chance to go into businesses to get candy, children also could get candy by playing games, such as knocking over cups from a stack of hay and participating in a beanbag toss. Two volunteers at the festival, Roman Snegach and Angelica Snegach, are siblings who said they used to live in Keene and decided to come volunteer because of how much they enjoy the atmosphere of the festival. Angelica said, “I am glad that this year is being focused on kids. I think that it is a good thing that the festival is back and I think they will work their way up to a bigger festival again.”

KSC students also were at the festival. Sophomore Angela Haglund said she really liked the environment. “It’s a feel-good environment. It should be about the kids and their costumes,” she said.

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.ocm

Enrollment at Keene State College has been on the decline for the past several years, which is causing the college to start looking closer into strategies to get more students to enroll.

In a recent New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR)  article with KSC Interim President Dr. Melinda Treadwell, she said there is going to be a new task force beginning this week to look closer at the school’s admissions strategies. Treadwell said the group will meet next month to give preliminary recommendations on how to improve enrollment.

Alyssa Salerno / Student Life Editor

The Equinox spoke to current KSC students to see how they saw Keene State College being promoted and what made them ultimately decide to attend the school.

Senior Casey Sault is from Keene, New Hampshire. Sault, who is an education major, said, “When I went to Keene High School, I knew that I wanted to come to Keene State College because of the strong education program. When I was in high school, though I never saw any promotion telling people to ‘come visit Keene State,’ I think that promoting Keene State more at the high school and having classes make visits would be good to help make the Keene High students more interested.”

While some feel that in-person promotion helps a lot, there are others who feel KSC is lacking in its online presence. First-year Taylor Rhoades said, “The school should promote more online. I always see Southern New Hampshire University and University of New Hampshire promoted on Pandora and other places online, but I never see Keene State College promoted anywhere.”

Charles Katz is a sophomore and safety major from Massachusetts who said KSC should let people know just how many academic opportunities the school has to offer. “The reason I wanted to attend Keene State is because of their amazing safety program and how small the class sizes were. I liked the fact that class sizes were small so that I could have a close relationship with my professors,” said Katz.

For many KSC students, the drive to Keene State College is hours away. Allison Mahan is an education major and sophomore at KSC from New York. Mahan said, “I never heard about Keene State College online or on TV, it was all word of mouth for me. I applied to 10 different schools, and I chose to be here because I wanted to go somewhere far away from home and I had heard about the phenomenal education program here.”

Danielle Rae, who is also an education major, said she was deciding between Keene State and Westfield State University when deciding on which college she wanted to attend. Rae said, “The thing about Keene that made me want to come here more than other choices was the general atmosphere of the town and how the campus looked.”

Rae said she has heard quite a bit about the low enrollment problem that KSC is currently facing. “The teachers talk about the low enrollment problem a lot. I think a solution could be for the school to offer more scholarships. I think that will lead to more interest in coming here.”

Melinda Treadwell said in the interview with NHPR that the goal is to more clearly identify its niche and connect with students who are likely to enroll at KSC. She said, “Private and public alike who know who they are, and double down on that prospect, are the ones that are successful right now.”

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com