“Higher education leaders have been paying attention to the ambitious experiment unfolding at Plymouth State University since the arrival of President Donald Birx seven years ago,” the magazine noted. “The university, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year, has been transforming its educational approach to cluster-based learning, in which students work in interdisciplinary teams to propose solutions to societal challenges.”

Joshua Chandler ’23, whose compelling story was featured on the cover of Plymouth Magazine’s Winter 2022 issue, was named the 2022 College Student of the Year by Stay Work Play.

Chandler is pursuing a dual degree in cell and molecular biology and psychology, with minors in chemistry and neuroscience, and hopes to become a physician assistant. Most recently, he has been working with Biology Professor Chris Chabot on research involving horseshoe crabs and the genes that regulate their circadian rhythms.

Chandler serves as a New Hampshire Air National Guard firefighter and EMT. While deployed to Kuwait in the fall of 2021, Chandler took a full course load at PSU and served as speaker of the PSU Student Government Association. Back in New Hampshire, Chandler works with an emergency medical service providing 911 and interfacility transfers for the Lakes Region.

Integrated Clusters:

“We’re creating the education of the future.”

Upon arrival in 2015, President Donald Birx’s goal was to make Plymouth State a model, twenty-first century residential university. Through the connected concepts of Integrated Clusters and Open Laboratories, he maintained that the University could educate students in an interdisciplinary, project-based manner, empowering them to address societal problems.

Substantial progress has been made. Integrated Clusters engage students in interdisciplinary inquiry and research, exposing them to project-based learning opportunities that extend well beyond the classroom while embracing Open Education principles that make textbooks more affordable, classrooms more inclusive, and education more mutual.

“Clusters are a new way of thinking about what’s important to know when you graduate so that you can have a high level of impact, work effectively in teams, see the big picture, and solve real-world problems,” Birx says. “We’re developing innovative, entrepreneurial, creative synthesizers who collect and verify information to solve problems across disciplines. By building the connective tissue around students’ main skill sets they can be effective in their personal and professional lives, whatever their path.”

The Habits of Mind Experience (HoME) program, formerly known as the General Education program, demonstrates the myriad ways in which scholarship can be brought to bear. The program parallels students’ entire PSU journey and includes First-Year Experience, Directions, and Connections courses and an Integrated Capstone project. The four Habits of Mind (Purposeful Communication, Problem Solving, Integrated Perspective, and Self-Regulated Learning) are central to PSU’s teaching. “They are the foundation of our approach,” says Birx.

While reimagining an institution from the ground up involves challenges, the campus is now well on its way to manifesting the Cluster ethos both academically and administratively. Birx contends that the University is delivering a more meaningful and cost-effective education because of it.

Re-Envisioning Higher Education

The following are just a few examples of how Plymouth State is making its mark while expanding opportunities for students.

2022

Business NH Magazine honors PSU as Business of the Year, noting that “higher education leaders have been paying close attention to the ambitious experiment” unfolding on our campus.

A $1 million federal grant is aiding in the construction of a new robotics laboratory that will provide advanced training, equipment, and tools for Cluster project-based learning.

Discover. Develop. Distinguish: A Pathway for Academic and Career Success

Plymouth State’s new Academic and Career Advising Center has brought together the Center for Student Success and the Career Development Office, creating a central hub for all career and advising needs for students, faculty, and staff.

By strengthening and expanding PSU’s integrated and holistic advising services and programming, professional academic advisors now have more in-depth conversations with students about future career goals and how to utilize their degrees in the future. The new center’s credo—Discover, Develop, and Distinguish—summarizes the process of addressing needs and highlighting strengths.

“Smaller caseloads enable us to have longer and more frequent meetings with students,” says Kelsey Donnelly ’14, ’16G, who previously led the Center for Student Success. “We have more targeted career conversations, dig deeper, get to know students better, and help them evaluate if they are on the right path.”

Bowditch holds three degrees in philosophy, including a bachelor’s from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s and PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He most recently served as dean of the LIU Post College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of philosophy, and previously was dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science at the American University in Cairo, where he received the Provost’s Service and Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching awards.

A Boston native, he’s thrilled to return to New England. The self-described “family man, 100 percent” is accompanied by his wife, Eden Unger Bowditch, an author, journalist, academic, and Nate’s partner in music and high-performance sailing, and Spinoza, their cockapoo. The pair has three grown children.

This scenario is not uncommon for PSU students, staff, and faculty. Luckily, the University’s Outdoor Center has anything and everything you might need for an outdoor activity in the area and beyond, and high-quality equipment can be rented by students at no charge.

There is lots more where that came from. The Outdoor Center includes a climbing wall in the Human Performance Center and a ropes course in the Bank of New Hampshire Field House. There are also two programs for adventure trips, Student Outdoor Adventure Recreation (SOAR) and Community Adventure Learning Experience (CALE), which help with team building and personal growth. The “OC” also helps students plan their own trips.

PANTHER PROFILES

Atkocaitis has brought considerable life experience to the PSU campus, where she’s a psychology major with a focus in mental health. She’s working to complete her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years instead of the traditional six. A foster kid who grew up in several New Hampshire communities, she became a “youth voice” for the Division of Children, Youth, and Families while in high school and was the main speaker for its Youth Summer program. She also served as a New England Youth Coalition ambassador, working with current and former foster youth and adult supporters to better the quality of life for youth involved with the foster care system.

“I very humbly bring a very broad level of experience of both trauma and growth,” says Atkocaitis. “These are things that I’ve worked on and a platform that I’ve grown into. I hope to be the first generation in my family to graduate college.”

“We were out on the water so my arms would be dead,” says Hannigan, but it clearly didn’t diminish her potential. After competing in the New Hampshire State Championships in April, she currently holds 16 state lifting records and is within the top ten in the world for her age (19) and weight class (under 105 pounds). She also holds records in the open classification in which all ages can compete. “I do it because it’s fun,” she says.

Hannigan’s personal lifting bests are 231.5 pounds in the squat, 115.7 pounds in the bench press, and 341.7 pounds in the deadlift, which requires shoulders back and arms completely flexed downward. She competes without special equipment in the “raw” category and her complete list of records can be viewed on the USA Powerlifting database.

“Our goal is to be woven into the patchwork of this community,” says Co-Owner and President Christian Weber ’09, ’13G. “One thing that Plymouth really instilled in me is the importance of community.”

Christian and his dad, Bert, a retired teacher, co-founded Common Roots in 2014. They rehabbed an old building and learned to build and fix complex brewing systems, producing 500 barrels of beer in their first year.

See the Summer Reunion recap for updates from the Classes of 1952, 1962, 1972, and 1982.

1950s

Jean (Routhier) O’Shea ’58 majored in English and business education subjects. She was active in the Plymouth Players and later in community theater. Jean taught in Salem, Kingston, Claremont, and Portsmouth, and earned a master’s degree at age 57 from Springfield College Manchester campus. During the 70s she was also a faculty member and dean at Pierce College for Women in Concord. Jean retired in 1991 and traveled the world. She has three children and six grandchildren. Jean has lived in Dover, NH, for over 40 years and is active in Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Granite State College.

Exchanging Vows

Katelynn (Axtman) Aceto ’08 married her best friend, Michael Aceto, on September 4, 2021.

Leah Nelson ’11 and Mark González were married on April 23, 2022 in Newport, NH.

Above: Jensen–Grant Wedding, June 2022
Left to right: Christina (Osgood) Falkenham ’17, Julia Wilfert ‘17, Amanda (Grant) Jensen ‘17, Nancy (Offen) Grant ‘92, Krystal (Homan) Braase ‘14, Ava DiTulio ‘17, and Anthony Gilchrist ‘17.

Smith Hall Community Advisors Reunion

Adults, left to right : Hannah Bendroth ‘06, Jason and Jessica (Cutter) Shearn ‘06, Amanda and Jason Wyse ‘05, Bethany LaBelle and Andrea Couture ‘05, Peter and Karina (Pipes) Hagan ‘05, JP and Sarah (Strout) Pyne ‘06

Children: Jackson (9) Joshua (7), and Carly Hagan (5). Jax Shearn (11). Adeline (5) and Eleanor Wyse (2). Rosie (7) and Brennan Pyne (5).