Staff Spotlights

Sometimes it takes being in the right place at the right time. When Geoffrey Tabor, Coordinator of Transfer Affairs/Articulation, first visited BCC in 1995, it wasn't by invitation.

One fall day in 1995, Pam Farron received a newspaper clipping from a friend. It was a classified ad for a Coordinator of Disability Services position at BCC. On a whim, Pam — then five years into her position as Assistant Coordinator of Disability Services at Hudson Valley Community College — took the day off, drove to BCC and walked around the campus.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan was president, Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" topped the charts and "Cheers" debuted on network television. It was also the year Janet Collins, fresh out of college, got a job at BCC as a computer lab assistant. A graduate of the BCC Class of 1980, Janet went on to graduate North Adams State College (now MCLA) with a bachelor of science degree in computer science. Having grown up in North Adams, it was a natural choice, and she wanted to stay local for her career.

Once a psychology major at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, then a human resources professional and then a stay-at-home mom active in the Egremont PTO, Ana Suffish didn't foresee her future as the director of BCC's Adult Learning Program (ALP). But a deeper look into her background provides insight.

When Kim Brookman began her employment at BCC as a work-study student in the Human Resources department, it became her "second family" -- but she could never have imagined herself becoming the assistant to the president. She slowly worked her way up, from a parking clerk position in 2004, to facilities clerk, assistant to the vice president of Administration & Finance, and finally as the assistant to the president. Now on the brink of retirement, Kim reflects on the many ways BCC has become part of her life.