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Contact: Liz Carroll
Phone: 413/775-1420
E-mail: carroll@gcc.mass.edu

Media contact: Liz Carroll
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413/775-1420 | carroll@gcc.mass.edu

Release date: May 9, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Legislator profile: Denis Guyer

Denis Guyer brings student's perspective on public higher education to legislature: "I've seen how cuts affect students because I am a student.”

"My role is to try to make sure that public colleges in the districts I represent are adequately funded,” says Denis Guyer (D-2nd Berkshire District). As a current student of public higher education, no one is in a better position to make that case to his fellow legislators.

Guyer enrolled in Berkshire Community College as a nontraditional, adult student. After graduation, he transferred to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where's he's now "about five courses away” from attaining his B.A. in management, all the while working and raising a family. "I think that gives me a unique perspective,” says Guyer. "I'm still there, so I'm actually seeing the effects of state budget cutbacks. When funding is cut, for example, the college may have to lay off faculty, cut down on the number of night courses it offers, and make larger classes. I've seen all that, and I've felt how cuts affect students because I am a student.”

Guyer says he is committed to ensuring that community colleges have the appropriate resources to operate and maintain their facilities, and to make sure that faculty and staff are well compensated so that we can continue to attract quality teachers.

Voters can support higher education, suggests Guyer, by voting for a governor, whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, who will negotiate with labor organizations so that the folks working in high education can get the raises they deserve. "This governor has refused, in my opinion, even to negotiate” with the community colleges' labor representatives.

Guyer is a member of a higher educational collaborative in Berkshire County which includes Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Berkshire Community College, the K-12 system, business leaders and other governmental leaders. "We're trying to focus our resources so that higher educational venues are offering programs of study that reflect the local economy,” explains Guyer. "This helps local businesses grow and attracts more of those businesses to the area. Community colleges are a large component of the workforce development angle, so they really are on the front lines of that.”

"I hope that we can get back to a point in this state where we're spending more money on higher education than we are on the criminal justice system,” says Guyer. "Right now, we spend more money on incarcerating people than we do educating people. Massachusetts has long had a reputation as being the place to go for higher education. We need to refocus on that. We need to make that a priority again, and not only in lip service, but actually coming through with the resources that public higher education venues need to educate students and attract top quality faculty and staff.”