The Becker College community mourns the passing of John Dorsey, Esq., professor of law. For nearly 40 years, John was a dedicated member of our faculty .

Press Coverage:

“Dom Sagolla Tells Becker Grads To Embrace Constraint” Huffington Post
“Twitter co-creator tells Becker graduates to dream big” Boston Globe
“Twitter co-creator has concise advice for Becker College grads” Worcester Telegram & Gazette
“Twitter co-creator tells Becker College graduates to dream big, start small” New England Cable News
“Twitter Co-Creator Dom Sagolla Delivers Becker’s Commencement Address” GoLocalWorcester

“Embrace constraints; seek them out,” may be the most valuable advice that Twitter co-creator Dom Sagolla gave to the Becker College Class of 2012 in his May 14 commencement address. He wasn’t talking about the tight economy, but about what he sees as one of four key elements to success, including simplicity, focus, and craftsmanship.

The new graduates, he said, were like “little start-ups” and that every good start-up was full of life, energy, optimism, and hope. “It is so important to be nice to the small people; say hello to security, appreciate admins,” he said. “I firmly believe the lowest of us inevitably rise up.” To illustrate his point, Sagolla told of an intern who left Odeo, the podcasting company which gave rise to Twitter, to “start his own thing.” That intern was Kevin Systrom, who recently sold his elegantly simplistic photo sharing app Instagram for $1 billion.

Whether a budding entrepreneur, nurse, video game developer, or veterinarian, Sagolla advised graduates to “Manufacture your own personal brand; discover what you’re best at doing and market it, sculpt it, hone it. You can still build something very important. Anyone is capable of success, as long as you define success for yourself.”

Becker College recognized Sagolla’s innovative contributions to the rapidly changing modes of global communication with an honorary doctorate of humane letters. “Dom Sagolla is an entrepreneur who has proven the power of disruptive innovation and possibility thinking—the tools that college graduates today need to fuel success in a radically changing economy,” said Becker College President Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. “I believe that the insightful creativity and initiative that he has shown is what we strive to ignite in our students as we prepare them to lead in a global society.”

In the highest recognition of academic excellence, the Becker College Dean’s Award was presented to Victoria H. Prescott, of Milford, Mass., who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration-management and Jennifer Wallace, of Torrington, Conn., who graduated with an associate’s degree in animal care.

The Becker College Class of 2012 numbers 375. Graduates received bachelor of arts degrees in the disciplines of graphic design, interior design, interactive entertainment-game design, interactive entertainment-game development & programming, liberal arts-elementary education, psychology, psychology-applied behavior analysis,  bachelor of science degrees in the disciplines of business administration, business administration-hospitality and tourism management, business administration-management, business administration-sports management, criminal justice, criminal justice-forensics/crime scene processing, exercise science-health and fitness, legal studies, nursing, veterinary science-clinical medicine, veterinary science-equine studies, veterinary science-laboratory animal management, and veterinary science-pre-veterinary.

Through the Becker College Center for Accelerated and Professional Studies graduates received bachelor of science degrees in business in business administration-management and nursing, bachelor of arts degrees in liberal arts-elementary education and psychology.

The College also awarded associate degrees in the disciplines of nursing, animal care, veterinary technology.

Becker College announced today that it will welcome Deborah T. Kochevar, DVM, Ph.D., DACVCP as the keynote speaker at the Becker College Honors Convocation, Friday, May 11, on its Leicester, Mass., campus. In September 2011, Dr. Kochevar, the Henry and Lois Foster Professor and dean of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, Mass. served as an expert on the One Health academic panel, part of the inauguration of Becker College President Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D.

“We are pleased to have Dr. Kochevar, a global leader in veterinary medicine and health science, speak to our honors students and join in this annual celebration of academic excellence,” said President Johnson. “We share in her commitment to innovation and the health of animals, people, and the environment; in fact, many Becker College animal studies graduates and faculty have studied and worked at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.”

President-elect and member of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges board of directors, Dr. Kochevar has won many teaching awards, including the Norden Distinguished Teacher Award and the Student American Veterinary Medical Association National Teaching Award in Basic Science. She counts time spent teaching as the most satisfying part of her professional career.

A member of a number of non-profit boards, including the National Association for Biomedical Research, Consortium for Conservation Medicine, Cummings Foundation, Inc., Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, and Massachusetts Society for Medical Research, Dr. Kochevar also serves on one corporate board, for Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. She is also a diplomate and past president of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology and is active in the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Dr. Kochevar was graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor of arts degree in English and biology from Rice University in 1978. She received a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Texas A&M University in 1981, and a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1987. She was a National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award Fellow from 1984-86. In the mid-1990s, she spent a year in Washington, D.C., as a Congressional Science Fellow to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee.

The Becker College Honors Convocation recognizes students who are graduating with honors, as well as those who show outstanding accomplishment in their respective programs.

Dom Sagolla, co-creator of Twitter, will deliver the keynote address at Becker College’s 224th commencement ceremony, to be held on Monday, May 14, 2012, at 11:00 a.m., at the Hanover Theatre in downtown Worcester.

Becker College will bestow upon Sagolla an honorary doctorate degree of humane letters for his innovative contributions to the rapidly changing modes of global communication. As one of the pioneer users of Twitter, he helped to challenge and expand the capabilities of a platform that has factored prominently in dramatic and world-changing events. Sagolla was recently awarded the first International Genius Travel Grant by the City of Amsterdam and the Appsterdam Foundation, in recognition of his career and his contributions to the advancement of technology.

“Dedication, hard work, and simple actions change the world; the Becker College Class of 2012 can look to Dom Sagolla’s example,” says President Robert E. Johnson. “Dom conveys what is best about the entrepreneurial spirit, and his achievements have served to create, unite, and inspire a global community.”

As author of the groundbreaking 140 Characters: a Style Guide for the Short Form, Sagolla produced the first writing style guide specifically dedicated to communicating with the succinctness and clarity that the Internet age requires. The book deals with the deluge of information in social media, and how to command an audience using one’s unique voice; it does for Twitter and other short forms, such as text messaging, email, and status updates, what Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style did for good writing via lessons in grammar and composition.

A software engineer in Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom, Sagolla has been in research and development at HP Laboratories, the MIT Media Lab, and Adobe Systems. He helped build Macromedia Studio, Odeo Studio, the original Twitter, and Adobe Creative Suite. He now produces iPhone apps with his company DollarApp in San Francisco. His successes include the official Obama ’08 iPhone App, as well as two iTunes Staff Favorites: Big Words and Math Cards. He is also co-founder and host of iPhoneDevCamp, an international not-for-profit developer community.

Sagolla grew up in New England before attending Swarthmore College, where he earned a degree in English literature in 1996. He earned a master’s in education from Harvard University in 2000.

2011 NCLEX-RN 99 percent first-time pass rate makes Becker 1^st among all Mass. associate’s degree nursing programs 

Today Becker College announced a new four-year nursing program that leads to a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree.  Successful completion of this program provides a student eligibility to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Applications for the program are currently open, and enrollment will begin in fall 2012.

The new four-year BSN combines nursing and liberal arts curricula.  It prepares graduates to assume the role of a registered nurse in direct care of patients in acute-care, long-term care, and community or ambulatory care settings, as well as for entry into graduate-level programs. The new program is offered in addition to the college’s longstanding pre-licensure associate degree nursing program and its post-licensure RN to BSN program.

“Since 1982, Becker College has been a leader in preparing skilled nurses to make important contributions to health care,” says Elizabeth V. Fuller, Ed.D., vice president of academic affairs. “The most recent annual official pass rate, for graduates taking the NCLEX-RN for the first time, was 99 percent. This speaks to the quality of our nursing programs and graduates.” Becker College pre-licensure nursing graduates had a 99 percent first-time NCLEX pass rate in 2011. This placed Becker’s nursing program fifth in Massachusetts in terms of pass rates, and first of all associate’s degree programs.

Becker College nursing students are involved in an array of community partnerships, locally and globally.

Examples of such work include local health screening and health education events, work at campus blood drives, and collecting supplies for local and international community agencies.

“Becker College-educated nurses contribute to fulfilling our mission to prepare graduates to thrive, contribute to and lead in a global society,” says Linda L. Esper, RN, MSN, MBA, Ed.D., director of nursing. “Our nursing graduates pursue careers at hospitals, acute and subacute health care facilities, and community agencies. Many graduates continue their nursing education, preparing them for advanced professional practice.”

For more information, please contact the Office of Admissions at 508-373-9400 or admissions@becker.edu.

80HD Games: (l-r) Jonathan Neimi, Chris Gengler, Andrew Neimi, Emil Ritter, and Ali Swei

News coverage: Boston Globe, Mass. High Tech, BostInno, Boston Herald

Three teams of students in Becker College’s nationally ranked video game design and development programs earned top spots in a competition with 25 other teams of game developers in the first-ever MassDiGI (Massachusetts Digital Games Institute) Game Challenge, held April 13-15 at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge, Mass. Contestants included students from top schools in New England as well as professional, independent game designers.  Prizes were awarded in various categories by judges,  chosen from the video game industry. Games were rated  based on playability, salability, novelty and technical achievement. Each team had to include an oral sales pitch as well as a copy of the game or concept.

80HD Games won the grand prize and the Best Game Concept distinction for their game, “Nano Swarm,” in which players direct machine-gun and flame thrower-dodging swarms of self-aware nanobots with the touch of a finger. The members of 80HD Games are sophomores Chris Gengler, of Northampton, Mass.; Emil Ritter, of Sharon, Mass.; Ali Swei, of Chestnut Hill, Mass.; and Andrew Neimi and Jonathan Neimi, both of Fitzwilliam, NH.

“80HD used a game mechanic for ‘Nano Swarm’ that makes it compatible with the touch tablets and smartphones; the judges agreed that separated them from the pack,” said Tim Loew, executive director of MassDiGI. “There were a lot of great entries; it was very close.”

“It was inspiring—and a bit intimidating—to be around so many mentors from the video game industry,” says Ritter, whose sentiment was echoed by his teammates. “The mentor sessions were crucial in taking what we thought was a good idea for a game and evolving it into an immersive and fun experience for the players.”

The MassDiGI Game Challenge grand prize includes full access to a MassDiGI 2012 Summer Innovation Program (SIP) team (valued at $20,000) to help polish their game and get it ready for launch; $6,000 worth of legal services from Morse, Barnes-Brown, Pendleton PC; access to award-winning industry mentors; a cash award; and other prizes.

Two additional teams of Becker students were also recognized. Zephyr—junior Breeze Grigas, of Oxford, Mass. and freshman Jeffrey Garuti, of Middlefield, Conn.–was a runner-up in the Wow! This Could be Good category. Quark—juniors Bailey Applegate, of Sturbridge, Mass.; and Thomas Bouwman-Wozencarft , of Medway, Mass.; and freshmen Curtis Geter, of West Haven, Conn.; Alex Jersey, of Lenoir, NC; and Jason Tripp, of Hyannis, Mass.;—received an honorable mention.

“At Becker College, an emphasis is placed not just on learning about video games, but learning how to make real games,” said Paul D. Cotnoir, Ph.D., director of design programs at Becker. “This broad-based process draws not only on the craft of video game design, but also on business, psychology, history, and communication. From this wide-angle perspective,  Becker game students are constantly working and reworking their game ideas from the day they walk on campus to the last semester of their senior year.”

“It is a testament to the talent of our students and a great validation for the Becker faculty and curriculum to have industry professionals think so highly of our students’ work,” says Terrasa Ulm, professor of game design at Becker. “This is all the more satisfying considering that this year’s grand prize winners are just sophomores.”

Students who are entering their junior or senior year of college and looking to break into the interactive entertainment industry are welcome to apply for the MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program to help bring the winning MassDiGI Game Challenge concepts to market. Accepted applicants will work alongside a team of other students on the Becker College Worcester, Mass. campus. Students accepted into the program will receive free housing over the summer, as well as a stipend. To apply, students should visit www.MassDiGI.org. The deadline for applications is Monday, April 23.

Becker College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review (www.princetonreview.com). Becker is one of six colleges and universities that the Massachusetts-based education services company will add to its roster of college profiles in the next edition of its popular annual “best colleges” guidebook. Titled The Best 377 Colleges: 2013 Edition (Random House / Princeton Review Books), the guide will be available in bookstores in late August 2012.

“Becker is becoming nationally recognized for its leading programs—nursing, animal studies, and video game design—and for a student experience focused on academic excellence, social responsibility and creative expression,” says Becker College President Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. “It is an honor to be selected from more than 2,000 colleges and universities monitored by The Princeton Review and to be included in a premier publication used by hundreds of thousands students and families in college planning.”

Said Robert Franek, Senior V.P. / Publisher, The Princeton Review, “We chose Becker College as one of our “best” undergraduate colleges based on several factors we consider when reviewing schools for this book. First, we must have a high regard for their academic programs and other offerings. Second, our selections take into account institutional data we collect from the schools and the opinions of their students attending them whom we survey. We also greatly value the feedback we get about schools from our college-savvy staff across the country as well as from students, educators and parents who use our services and books.”

Says Franek, “Only about 15% of the four-year colleges in the nation are in this book. In our opinion, these are ‘the crème of the crop’ institutions for undergraduates in America; each college we feature is an outstanding institution that we highly recommend to college applicants and their parents.”

The Princeton Review’s annual “best colleges” book is the only college guide that has two-page profiles on the institutions plus 62 ranking lists of “top 20 schools” in unique categories. The rankings are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s surveys of more than 122,000 students at the 377 institutions in the book who rate their own schools and report on their experiences at them. The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book hierarchically, 1 to 377, either for academics (the company believes all 377 schools are outstanding academically) or for any other subject.

The Princeton Review (www.princetonreview.com) is not affiliated with Princeton University and it is not a magazine.

Becker College packs a one-two punch with the preview of Shadow Walker, a PC video game and comic at PAX East, April 6-8, 2012, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. A group of students in Becker’s nationally ranked video game design program created the game and comic. Shadow Walker will be playable at the Becker College booth at PAX East.

“Shadow Walker was professionally developed, just like a video game at an indie game company,” says Becker College President Robert E. Johnson. “Our video game programs professional expertise, tools, opportunities, and a real-world environment, as well as industry collaborations through the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, located on our campus.”

Allen Foster, aka Shadow Walker, is on the run from the police, framed by a madman on the loose for the murder of his own sister. As the game begins, players learn to use the power of shadow along with Shadow Walker:

• to attain invisibility when in Shadow Ground by merging with the shadow on the ground
• to leap large distances using Shadow Port by merging with a shadow that spans gaps, such as the spaces between the roofs of buildings
• to scale extreme heights using Shadow Climb by merging with shadows that are on vertical surfaces, such as walls
• to use Shadow Punch, which allows tangible force that projects out telekinetically

Shadow Walker was created by seniors Matthew Hopkins and Ilir Mborja, of Worcester, Mass.; and Cody Olivier, of Pascoag, RI; junior Anthony Botelho, of Dighton, Mass.; Professor of Game Development Terrasa Ulm; and Adam DeZego, a 2011 game design graduate and current adjunct instructor in the program. Shadow Walker the comic, drawn and written by junior Nick Beatrice, of Duxbury, Mass., tells the anti-hero’s back story.

Says Olivier, speaking for the student-driven development team, “Four years ago we never thought we would release our senior project to 70,000 people at a show like PAX East. Through the experiences we have had at Becker—designing educational games for community and cultural organizations and receiving invaluable exposure to industry professionals—we are prepared to make the next best-seller, or create serious games.”

“The students were ambitious enough to incorporate a number of professional development tools including the 3D engine Unity, Maya, Zbrush, Pro Tools, and a full-body motion capture system,” says Professor Ulm. The game was play-tested by the college’s 15-member Quality Assurance Team.

2012 will mark Becker College’s third year at PAX East. Demonstrating its entrepreneurial approach to video game education, Becker led the way in 2010 as one of only four colleges or universities to exhibit at Boston’s first industry-targeted PAX expo. Today, Becker College is still leading the way as home to the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI), a statewide center designated by the Commonwealth for academic cooperation, economic development, and job creation in the Massachusetts digital games cluster. PAX East organizers Reed Exhibitions recently announced a $325,000 contribution to MassDiGI at the same time the popular video gaming event committed to stay in Boston for the next 10 years, and its goal to make PAX East one of the largest gaming events in the world.

President Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D., was honored by Freedom House with an Ellen S. Jackson Award for Excellence in Education. The distinction bestowed upon President Johnson was one of several 2012 Champions of Freedom Awards presented by the Boston social action agency.

President Johnson accepted the award at a ceremony held Thursday, March 29, at Boston’s Omni-Parker House, along with the presidents of Boston Architectural College, Bridgewater State University, Cambridge College, Emerson College, Roxbury Community College, Wheaton College, and Wheelock College.

The mission of Freedom House is to promote educational excellence, economic self-sufficiency, community engagement, and social justice in order to alleviate poverty in Boston’s most distressed urban neighborhoods.

On the same day, President Johnson delivered the keynote speech to the graduates of the Grafton Job Corps Career Academy. Job Corps provides academic and career technical training programs at no cost to students.  Funded and administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, Job Corps helps young people improve the quality of their lives and their prospects for employment in high demand occupations.

President Johnson congratulated the graduates on taking control of their lives and building a new future. He spoke about the power of possibility thinking, and of believing.

“I believe in you,” President Johnson encouraged the graduates. “Education empowers an ordinary person to go out and do extraordinary things. With what you have achieved thus far, you are now ready for the next challenge, to seek personal and professional success, and also contribute to a greater good.”

After the ceremony, Albert McCarthy, career transition readiness instructor at the Job Corps, said, “We could not have asked for a better speaker for the biggest graduation we have had yet. It was standing-room-only, and President Johnson had them on their feet and cheering.”

On Friday, March 23, Becker College celebrated National Student-Athlete Day by honoring more than one third of Becker student-athletes who completed the fall 2011 semester with grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.

At a special ceremony that recognized the student-athletes’ academic achievement and community service, Athletic Director Frank Millerick and President Robert E. Johnson addressed the students. Each student-athlete received a certificate for their achievement. Twelve junior and senior student-athletes were also inducted into the National Collegiate Student-Athlete Honor Society, Chi Alpha Sigma.

For the first time, President Johnson awarded the President’s Academic Cup to the team with the highest average GPA among its members. The cup, which will be awarded each semester to one of the college’s 16 athletic teams, was presented to the 17 members of the Becker College softball team.

“I am proud of our student-athletes for this significant achievement, which reflects their commitment to excellence on the playing field and in the classroom,” said President Johnson.

National Student-Athlete Day honors student-athletes and the network of parents, coaches, educators, and school systems that make it possible for young people to strike a balance between academic and athletic achievement and who use sport as a vehicle for positive social change.