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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD Vince Maniaci doesn't seem like a stereotypical college president. He offered to toss a football with this reporter before an interview and has a tapestry of the famous "dogs playing poker" painting on his wall along side works from acclaimed artist Alvin Paige. Maniaci's informality shouldn't color what he has done in first year as president of American International College (AIC). Five days into his tenure, he was informed by an independent auditor that the college was nearly $5 million in the red and that budget shortfalls had been existed for years. Maniaci had been the vice president for institutional advancement at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, before being named to the president's office at AIC on July 1, 2005. This has been his first time leading a college and Maniaci's approach to the financial siutation was simple and direct "if you make a mistake, you deal with it," he told Reminder Publications. Today, though AIC is seeing a $500,000 surplus and Maniaci believes the college has achieved greater financial stability, although AIC is "by no means in strong financial shape." "A lot of the success is due to the commitment and hard work of the AIC community," he said. "The Board of Trustees rallied and took ownership of a difficult situation." Maniaci cut $1 million from the budget, froze the pension plan and laid off staff. The results, he said, were good. "Some were based on hard work, while others were from shrewd planning and luck." He also led a fund-raising effort among the college's alumni and raised donation from $700,000 last year to a record $3 million this year. Maniaci said, "The challenges are the same across the board in higher education...costs are up dramatically." Besides energy and health insurance costs, colleges are in "an arms race" to make improvement to their campuses and programs to attract students. Those efforts increase the cost of an education and often get passed along to the students, he explained. More good news at AIC was the retention rate had "increased dramatically." With more students staying past their first year, the college's admissions office can concentrate on recruiting fewer and better students, he said. At the same time Maniaci was dealing with finances, he instituted several programs to build a better relationship between the college and the surrounding neighborhoods. The Bay Area neighborhood Scholarship program helps people go to AIC from one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. The Jumpstart program allows high school seniors to take up to two classes for $150 and to earn college credit before they graduate high school. "It's [Jumpstart] has been an amazing home run," Maniaci said. AIC's new Dual Admission program allows students at area community colleges to be accepted at two institutions. Under the new program students who are accepted to Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) or Holyoke Community College (HCC), will also be accepted to American International College if they choose the dual admission. Students receive a special AIC card that will entitle them to academic advising, financial aid counseling and many student services. They will also be able to attend student activities at AIC. Maniaci said that the dual admission student can apply for housing at AIC while they are at STCC or HCC. He is seeking similar agreements with other western Massachusetts community colleges. Maniaci said the college staff is working on a number of projects, including up-grading the college's sports offering, providing wireless Internet connections to 95 percent of the campus renovating the dining commons and renovating and relocating the recreational center. "Our goal is perfection, but we'll tolerate excellence," Maniaci said with a smile. |
