CommonWealth Magazine - Spring 2005

Non-Traditional Students Play Vital Role in the Isenberg School Landscape

“I’d be hard-pressed to recall, during my seven years as undergraduate dean, a returning older student who didn’t perform like a superstar,” insists Isenberg School faculty member Dennis Hanno. “Their maturity, work experience, and—more often than not—family responsibilities give them a focus and intensity that make them natural leaders and role models for the rest of our students.” One hundred and thirty-two students age twenty-five and older currently account for 5 percent of the Isenberg School’s current undergraduate student body. Another hundred are enrolled in the School’s new online undergraduate program. “Senior Paul Chartier is the oldest at age 58. He was a long-time employee in Friendly’s accounting department in Wilbraham,” remarks Hanno. “We’re also happy to lay claim to varsity soccer team captain and senior Craig Canavan, a twenty-eight-year-old finance major with a grade point average of 3.7. Because of his age and former experience in the U.S. Navy, a recent newspaper profile identified him as “the ancient mariner.”