The new leaders of Keene State College, already known for its liberal arts curriculum, are now striving to have the school become the go-to place for advanced manufacturing training, as well.

College President Jay Kahn and Provost Melinda Treadwell took their posts in July. Kahn, who was the school's vice president for finance and planning, was appointed to a one-year term. Treadwell, formerly the college's dean of professional and graduate studies, will serve a two-year term.

Said Kahn: “Over 40 percent of Keene State's incoming students are first-generation in their family to attend college. I meet with our students often and learn about their families and how they come to Keene State College, and it's with great desire and expectation that they are going to — that they are making an investment in the next four years of their lives. It's an investment that both they, their families and the state of New Hampshire have an interest in the success of these students.

“Over this year, I want to forge that discussion about retaining our youth in this state, preparing them for 21st-century jobs and encouraging them to stay in the state beyond their high school years.”

Kahn held his previous position at Keene since 1988. Before that, he was the associate vice president for administration and planning at Governors State University in University Park, Ill., from 1978 to 1988, and he worked for the Illinois Board of Higher Education from 1973 to 1978.

Treadwell is a graduate of Keene State College and the first in her family to get a degree. She has a bachelor's degree in occupational safety and a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology from Dartmouth Medical School. She joined Keene State College as a faculty member in August 2000.

Keene State is part of Liberal Education America's Promise, an initiative out of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Through this project, business and collegiate leaders collaborate to identify what is needed to create a skilled pool of workers.

Specifically, Kahn said, Keene State this year opened its Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing. The space offers top-of-the-line technology to teach advanced manufacturing skills, and officials have created a partnership with a common goal among KSC, River Valley Community College and the local high schools.

“The idea is that Keene State is really the host of the physical space, and we're working in collaboration with high schools, two-year colleges, four-year colleges and businesses,” Treadwell said. “We are asking businesses what they need, and we are developing individual courses, course sequences and individual certificate programs, and advanced certificates.”

So, she said, high school graduates who aren't ready to go to college can earn a skills certificate. Those who want initial collegiate work can get the two-year degree, or they can get a four-year degree by staying in KSC's sustainable product design and innovation major. People already in the work force can get redevelopment training or more education in the adult work force development program.

Further, officials have plans to make it easier for people to move between colleges without losing credits, which often slows down a student's progress toward a career. Treadwell said they also want to develop a program that will specifically help veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars get rapid skill-set development.

And officials are not forgetting the arts and sciences. In fact, she said, there will be a renewed push to bring attention to the arts at Keene State and in the community.

Helen Giles-Gee and Mel Netzhammer, former president and provost, respectively, left the college at the end of the last school year. The University System of New Hampshire board of trustees and Keene State officials appointed Kahn and Treadwell as replacements.

Keene State's liberal arts students are getting a broad education that ultimately gives them a leg up in the work force, Treadwell said.

She continued: “They don't learn narrowly in content. They connect across disciplines. Why I think that's relevant is, when we look at what business leaders say they need for career development and for work force needs in the state and in the region and nationally, in fact, it's the ability to think critically and communicate well and work in teams and have technical competency and discipline but be able to move outside of that to solve problems. I think that's what Keene State does extremely well.”