Framingham State Hires New Director of Community Education

Press release from Framingham State University:

Division of Graduate and Continuing Education has named Rebecca Hawk the Director of Community Education.

She will be responsible for the development and expansion of all noncredit, community education programs offered by the Division.

These programs include Intensive, Community and Workplace ESL (English as a Second Language); the ESL Connect-to-College Program; Lifelong Learning courses; Massachusetts Teacher Educator Licensure (MTEL) workshops; and all other non-credit community education courses offered on campus, off campus and online.

The new Director of Community Education position is aimed at furthering the University’s efforts to provide free, educational programs to members of the MetroWest community.

Hawk comes to Framingham State most recently from a faculty position with the American Language Program at Columbia University in New York City.

In addition to 20-plus years of educating non-native speakers in English, she has an extensive background in public policy, natural resource protection, financial management, and small business-ownership.  She has worked, most prominently, to bring the voices of indigenous nations of North America to the forefront of policy development on environmental issues. As national coordinator for air quality programs among native tribes in the Pacific Northwest, she developed and guided numerous research projects and multi-agency work groups.  She is noted for successfully bridging gaps between differing interests among stakeholders to accomplish holistic solutions to complex problems.

She has spoken internationally on socio-cultural and environmental issues and has testified before task forces of the United Nations.

She has authored publications on Climate Change from a native’s perspective, and community economic sustainability. She has conducted research on socio-cultural impacts from environmental decisions, the impact of population change on natural resource depletion and degradation, and the effects of forgiveness on the lives of individuals and communities.

Hawk has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Policy from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government and has completed coursework for her Master’s in Environmental Management and Policy at the University of Denver. Her undergraduate studies included a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech Communication and a Certificate to Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.  She was a 2009 recipient of the Ash Foundation Fellowship in Democracy — awarded for leadership, a commitment to research and inquiry, and a dedication to work for improvements that advance social justice and serve citizens of all countries and nationalities.

Born in New Mexico, she grew up in the states of Alaska and Oregon. The mother of two grown children (and a grandbaby on-the-way), she is devoted to helping to create holistically healthy communities where all members share in the connections and commitments of a thriving, productive, and sustainable place to live.