ADVERTISING SUPPORT ALLOWED STRICTLY BUSINESS TO TAKE A GIANT LEAP OF FAITH AND PRODUCE ITS FIRST ISSUE IN MARCH OF 1990. ONE OF THOSE ADVERTISERS WAS CLINTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE. SB RECENTLY SPOKE TO CCC’S CURRENT PRESIDENT AND THE COLLEGE’S LONG TIME DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO ASK THEIR PERCEPTION OF HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED OVER THE THREE DECADES.
When Rick Batchelder went to work at Clinton 33 years ago, the college occupied just one building and information technology was a main frame computer that ran most internal operations. “There was no internet,” he explained, “and then there was Y2K. We needed to go through hundreds of thousands of lines of code but it was fine, we were prepared.”
During his time at Clinton, Batchelder watched new buildings go up around the campus. During each expansion his focus was to ensure that the infrastructure kept up with changes in technology, to not only maintain the information systems but to include information protections and security. Going from no internet, to an intranet, to insuring the bandwidth of the internet service provider could sustain wireless internet access for the faculty and the student body, to having installed the information super highway and kept it up to speed is the legacy Batchelder will leave the Clinton community when he retires in June.
“OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE ONGOING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY — THE KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES THAT TRULY EMPOWER THEM TO CREATE BOTH PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH.” —RAY DIPASQUALE
Clinton’s president Ray DiPasquale acknowledged students have changed over the past three decades but emphasized that the college’s mission has not. “Our mission is to provide ongoing educational opportunities for people in the community — the kind of opportunities that truly empower them to create both personal and professional growth. And nowhere is that mission more vibrant and visible than our Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (IAM). It was one of the reasons I was excited about coming here to the North Country three years ago. The IAM is a collaboration between the area’s growing manufacturing industry.