@ Our Centers

Montpelier Center
On January 21, President Roger Sublett joined faculty and staff at Union’s Montpelier Center to celebrate Dr. Sarah Mitchell’s retirement and to pay tribute to her dedication to hundreds of learner throughout the decades.

Sarah Mitchell accepts a special honorary BA degree
for her years of dedication and service to UI&U Dr. Mitchell served as a professor for UI&U’s Vermont Bachelor of Arts program, formerly known as the ADP program, both before and after UI&U acquired the program during the purchase of Vermont College. And, Sarah was one of the several Vermont-based faculty who had earned doctorates at Union Institute. “We all depended on Sarah’s long connection to the ADP program and her in-depth knowledge of Union – and how both institutions shared a common history, common values, and a common mission to serve adults,” said President Sublett in his comments at Dr. Mitchell’s retirement celebration.

Although she had attended several undergraduate colleges, she put her own undergraduate education aside to care for her young children. Living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she decided to take undergraduate courses at Harvard to learn how to best help her children, who were having difficulties learning to read. A Harvard professor recognized her gifts as an educator, and urged her to enroll in the Graduate School of Education. She took his advice, chose to specialize in learning disabilities and differences, and earned a graduate degree.

Dr. Mitchell and her family eventually returned to her hometown in Vermont, where she began her extensive teaching career in the undergraduate program at Vermont College, then UI&U. She earned her Ph.D. from UI&U in 1996.

In all Dr. Mitchell’s years of teaching others and advancing her own academic career, she did not have the opportunity to pursue her bachelor’s degree. Appropriately, Dr. Mitchell’s retirement gift from UI&U was an honorary  Bachelor of Arts degree. Thank you, Dr. Mitchell, for your years of inspiring learners!

Florida Center

UI&U Florida Academic CenterThe earthquake that hit Haiti in January of this year touched the lives of many people throughout the globe. For the UI&U Florida Center, the Haitian disaster was especially profound, as several of learners, staff, and faculty at our Florida Center are of Haitian decent. Many spent the first days after the earthquake trying to connect with friends and family in Haiti, praying that they were safe and healthy.

In response to the earthquake, former Florida Center Dean Dr. Marie Bogat and members of the Florida Center staff organized a university-wide relief effort. They enlisted the help of UI&U President Dr. Roger H. Sublett, who sent a letter to the university community urging everyone to donate money to an established relief organization. In Florida, they established a drop-off center where people in the Miami community could bring items needed in Haiti.

Cincinnati Center
Union’s Cincinnati Center served as the site of the most recent quarterly meeting of the UI&U Board of Trustees, which took place on January 28 and 29. As part of the trustee’s visit, UI&U hosted an open house at the Cincinnati Center for staff, faculty, and the trustees. At the open house, Dr. Sublett introduced each trustee, including the newest members, Maxine Thomas, an attorney and leadership expert at the Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio, and Dr. Shekhar Mitra, senior vice president at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio.

UI&U's Board of Trustees - October 2009

Left to right back row: Thomas A. Gilman, George Pruitt, Joel Kanter, Michelle Hunt, Dick Aft, Betty Overton-Adkins, President Roger Sublett. Left to right front row: Virginia Wiltse, Christine van Duelmen, Hanmin Liu, Louis Albert Jolivert, Maxine Thomas, Don Feldmann (consultant)
Not pictured: Lisa Lorimer, Shekhar Mitra, Cheryl Foley, Martha Bidez, Blake Ratcliff.