Bay Path University

20 Bay Pathway Spring 2018 Far Left: Dr. Charles Coe delivers the 121st Commencement Speech. Left: Dr. Vana Nespor is hooded by for- mer Bay Path Provost Dr. William Sipple while Patricia J. Pierce, Chair of the Board, looks on. Dr. Vana Nespor was also a recipient of an honorary doctorate degree at the ceremony. In 1999, she launched the innovative One-Day-A-Week Saturday Program—transforming the lives of adult women across the Commonwealth and throughout the country. Dr. Nespor also played a key role in the development of The American Women's College, a revolutionary learning model now serving adult women online and on campus. Dr. Nespor retired in 2017 as Vice President of Special Initiatives. Congratulations and Carpe Diem! Open Education Resources (OER) Saves Bay Path Students $$$ One of the overarching questions of Vision 2019 has been to address the cost of a college education. For many of our students, traditional and adult, the cost of books and materials can be challenging. In fact, it is often identified as one of the barriers for our students in continuing their education. Now, with the rise of the Internet and other platforms, Open Education Resources (OER) have become a viable alternative in the learning space. OER are materials for teaching or learning that are either in the public domain or have been released under a license that allows them to be freely used, changed, or shared with others. By adopting OER, the savings realized for Bay Path students has been enormous and has been estimated to be over $200,000 just for the 2017-2018 academic year alone. 121st Commencement Features Largest Graduating Class Ever It was a river of mortar boards as the class of 2018 processed down the center aisle at the MassMutual Center on May 12. A record number of 1,017 graduates earned bachelor's, master's, and specialist in education degrees. Massachusetts-based poet and writer Charles Coe spoke at Bay Path's 2018 Commencement and received an honorary doctorate degree. The author of two books of poetry, All Sins Forgiven: Poems for my Parents and Picnic on the Moon, Coe has earned many accolades for his writing including a fellowship in poetry from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and recognition as a "Boston Literary Light for 2014" by the Boston Public Library. He was selected as an Artist Fellow for the St. Botolph Club, an organization that supports the arts and the humanities in Greater Boston. For 2016-2017, Coe was also chosen as an Artist-in-Residence for the city of Boston.

• Cover