Swing open the doors to the Middleboro campus of Massasoit Community College and there is a good chance you?ll be greeted by Director John Morosco, bearing coffee and snacks.
That personal approach combined with small classes is proving to be a winning strategy for the campus that opened in September 2010.
The new fall semester begins in September. But already there?s an 87 percent increase in the total credit hours students are enrolled for compared to this time last year.
?That school has touched my heart,? said Nicole Kenneally, 22 of Carver. ?It?s a small campus and has a home-like feeling.? Kenneally had been attending a larger college on the North Shore, but said she felt like she was just a number there.
At Massasoit?s downtown Middleboro campus, the student-to-teacher ratio is roughly 15 to 20 students to one professor. Kenneally said with such small classes, students get to know each other, often getting. She added they will often get together for study groups and then hang out.
?The faculty is phenomenal, and the teachers they hire care about students as a person and what you are going to do,? Kenneally said.
The liberal arts major wants to be a social worker. She made dean?s list in the spring and will head back to classes in the fall.
That 87 percent hike in credit hours for fall classes could be due to more new students enrolling or students taking more credit hours.
According to director Morosco, the reason for the campus? success is two-fold.
First, ?the science labs are now open and that?s just been a boon for us. It rounds out what people can take,? Morosco explained.
The personal touch is also a drawing card.
?When we start classes, I try to have snacks and coffee out for everyone,? Morosco said. ?I also greet everyone coming in and talk with them and get to know who they are.?
Liz Franzosa, 26, of Middleboro graduated from Massasoit?s Middleboro campus in May.
For Franzosa, it was a bit of homecoming. The college is housed in a former elementary school that Franzosa attended.
?It was very comforting walking into the school,? Franzosa said. She majored in criminal justice and earned her associate?s degree.
In September, Franzosa will start at Bridgewater State as a junior.
?In the criminal justice program, they had retired and current police officers teaching our classes and they really knew what they were talking about,? Franzosa said.
For Allin Frawley, a Middleboro resident, parent and selectman, Massasoit is a win-win.
?It brings people downtown, it boosts the local economy and it gives kids a chance to take classes without leaving town.?
Professor Irene Duke teaches ASL, an American sign language class at Massasoit?s Middleboro campus, has the small-town location to her students? benefit.
?We go on what I call walkabouts downtown,? said Duke.
There she and her students practice deaf immersion in the neighboring coffee shops, stores and restaurants.
?It?s something we can?t do on the Brockton campus,? she said.
Jennifer Bray may be reached at jbray@enterprisenews.com.
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