Endicott has come a long way since 1939, when it started out as a small, 2 year women’s junior college. Eleanor Tupper was the founder of Endicott Junior College. Her vision was to educate women and continue to bolster their place in the workforce alongside men. To empower women was the idea, however, it may come to some people’s surprise that there has never been a female President on the Board of Trustee’s. Until 2016, where Endicott has been 41 years out of dropping the, “junior,” from its name, and now finally has a strong female voice in the board: Mrs. Cynthia Merkle.
Merkle has been on the board for 6 years. Although she wasn’t always involved, “When I left Endicott a long time ago, I didn’t do much with the college for years,” said Merkle. In this gap, she would write a small check to the college once in a while as an alum, but never put much thought into becoming a more prominent figure in the Endicott community. After leaving college, she moved back home to Rhode Island and then went on to Bryant University to pursue further education. After getting her business degree, she came back to and settled on the North Shore of Massachusetts, because of a job offer she took. Then one day, Merkle’s phone rang. “Someone contacted me and said, ‘Hey, you went to Endicott, you graduated in 77’, we want to invite you to something,’” said Merkle. This was the start of her involvement with the school. Then came the moment 7 years ago when Doc Wylie asked her to be on the Board of Trustees.
The process of Merkle becoming President came down to the governance committee of the Board. These members of the Board are responsible for looking for new trustees, as well as making sure there is good participation from every Board member. On top of these responsibilities, this committee also recommends the slate of potential officers. This slate is then presented to the full Board of Trustees for a vote. In October of 2016, Merkle was elected President of the Board, and can now serve her 3 year term, and can then serve a maxiumum of two terms.
When Merkle isn’t planning and strategizing with her fellow Endicott Board of Trustees members in Beverly, she can be found in Danbury, CT at Union Savings Bank, where she serves as the President and CEO there. She’s also the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the United Way of Western Connecticut, as well as an executive Board member of the CT Banker’s Association. To add to her obscenely busy schedule, Merkle has the honor of also being a board member of the NE Automated Clearing House, Danbury Chamber of Commerce, and the Five Points Gallery in Torrington, CT. This resume of duties is a part of what makes Merkle so well respected throughout each community she is involved in.
As the President of the Board of Trustees, Merkle is responsible for meeting with the executive committee of the Board, which serves as the subcommittee to the full Board of Trustees. On top of chairing those meetings, she also meets with the full board of trustees on a quarterly basis. In these meetings, the agendas can be pretty jam packed. In these particular meetings, board members discuss finances of the college; how much money is coming in, what can be used for tuition and what can be used for renovations. As well as finances, the board also discusses strategy, and how to strategically plan for the future of this college. These meetings start on a Friday afternoon and go on into the evening, and then continue the next morning, and break at one.
Every program, from nursing to sport management, has to be proposed to and approved by the Board of Trustees. Since the Board of Trustees is broken down into different committees, a wide range of topics tends to be talked about. For example, the facilities committee can bring up the blueprint for the campus, and what they would like to work on and develop in the upcoming future. The fundraising committee will discuss plans to raise money for the school. This being said, it’s obvious there is a voice for every aspect of the college, as the Board tries to cover all ends of the spectrum of the school. What many people don’t know, is that the Board from time to time will invite students, so they can give them their feedback and input. Obviously as the Board of Trustees is not comprised of any current students, it’s extremely beneficial to bring students in to give their perspective on things. “That’s what it’s all about, at the end of the day, the students,” said Merkle.
Merkle, who is an Endicott College alum, explains that the college has come a far way from when it was a 2 year school. Back in the 70’s, Merkle says the times were very different, “The rules were strict. We had certain hours we had to be in, and boys were not allowed in dorms or lobby’s past certain hours.” As a 2 year institution, Endicott was actually known as an institution that was being into the arts. “It was pretty limited as far as the degrees offered… In fact, I actually have an associates degree in ceramics from Endicott.”
Even though these tight set of rules could be annoying at times, these were the least of the worries surrounding the hierarchy of Endicott. “The school went through a lot of financial issues over a period of time,” says Merkle. Endicott’s endowment rate was rock bottom, in part due to the school being a two year college. “A lot of people left a two year school…When they started to think of their alma mater, they were thinking more of the one where they received their bachelors’ degree and not their associates’, says Merkle. “So if they were writing a check they were writing it to the 4 year college.” This type of choice left Endicott on a tight budget. Endicott had very little money to speak of when it came time to give scholarships and set the tuition. The transition to a 4 year institution, buildings needed to be updated, and many other money draining improvements needed to be done.
Looking at present day Endicott College, it is now a thriving 4 year co-ed institution, which is impressive looking back at its roots as a two year, all girls junior college. The endowment is now upwards of $70 million “Today out endowment is close to $70 million,” said Merkle. “It’s impressive in that, we’ve been able to fund a lot of that through operations.” One of the more attractive things that Endicott has to offer applicants is their internship program, which Merkle feels has come into its own. “The internship program today, it’s highly regarded, and a lot of students are getting jobs right after.” Merkle hopes this program is one of many reasons why students keep coming to Endicott in the future. The internship program on top of strong academics and competitive sports teams is what keeps making Endicott more and more prominent for future applicants.
Looking to the future, Endicott hopes to continue to give more financial aid to students and lower the cost of tuition. “We’re giving more financial aid to students today. We’d like to give more, but we have to get to a certain level before we can do that,” said Merkle. Merkle is well aware that many future applicants and their parents are shopping around to see who can give them the most money when it comes to financial aid, which is why this is one of her main focuses in the upcoming years of her term.
Another focus of Merkle’s is to bring in more diversity to the Endicott community, and she believes it starts with the Board. “I think the trustees should be reflective the community, so I think we have some room for improvement there,” said Merkle. In order to make the community more diverse, she hopes to bring in a strong, cohesive group of individuals along with the members on the Board already, to help foster in the next generation of top scholars.
Many goals like these help motivate the Board of Trustees to plan and take action where they see fit. Every other school is looked at as a competitor from the Board of Trustees standpoint. Raising money for scholarships is one of the many aspects that the Board will look to improve to compete with similar schools.