By Christopher Kyprianos | Observer Contributor
Cycle classes are not an uncommon way for students to earn college credits at the Mount Wachusett Community College Leominster campus, which happens to be conveniently perched near the intersection of the route 12 and route 2 in Leominster. The students who tend to utilize cycle classes are often busy individuals who work while going to school, are single parents, or persons who have chosen to take an accelerated path to obtain their degree.
The fall 2011 Cycle 1 sessions run from Sept. 6 through Oct. 26, while the Cycle 2 programs occupy the Oct. 29 through Dec. 22 segment of the first semester. Many of the standard courses available through the MWCC course brochure are offered in the cycle format, which run about 8 weeks as compared to the traditional 17-week course.
Leah Smith and Andrea Gendron are two examples of students who are driven to succeed, utilizing the MWCC School of Business’ MGT250 Strategic Management cycle course. On Tuesday October 25th both of these women successfully completed the rigors of this Capstone class, taught by Professor John Reilly. Under Reilly’s tutelage Smith and Gendron became Project Managers of their respective teams, leading those teams through two deep dive studies of publicly traded companies. Their presentations included a PowerPoint, public speaking and a Q & A wrap up. Both teams did a remarkable job under their leadership.
Smith lives about 15 minutes from the Leominster campus. She said that she likes the cycle programs because they, “Gets it over with quicker.” Though Smith is in the business major she noted that she aspires to become a full-time novelist.
Gendron is a single mom and travels from the Athol area to attend class. Gendron is a double major student with concentrations in Business Administration—Transfer Degree (BA) and Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). Though her commute to the campus is about 40 minute one way she enjoys the challenges of cycle classes. Gendron stated, “I’ll be graduating in May and then I’ll be transferring to Smith College in Northampton.” After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree she hopes to open a youth drop in center in the greater Athol region. She sees a need to serve the community and the foundation she is building now using cycle courses will help her to operate such an enterprise.
Professor John D. Reilly has been involved with MWCC since being an adjunct back in 1981 and received his MBA from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass. Many students seem to enjoy Reilly’s teaching style noting that he is really down to earth and has a makes learning fun. Professor Reilly teaches Principals of Management, Business Ethics, Human Resources, and Small Business Management, as well as Management Communication for Business and Industry and Strategic Management. According to his online bio Reilly can be found “teaching a wide array of business classes at the Gardner and Leominster Campuses.
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