Center for Admission and Career Education

Thank you for your interest in learning more about the future Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education. We have big dreams and this building will make all the difference. We invite you to join us in making this vision a reality.

“Two of the most important tasks facing world-class liberal arts colleges like Vassar are recruiting the best students and giving them outstanding educational and career opportunities.”

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Take a virtual tour of the future Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education.

Collaborative Space

Vassar’s lifelong commitment to its students will be reflected in bringing Admission and Career Education together in one building for the first time. This new space will allow the two offices to work in synergy around a common goal: demonstrating the impact and outcomes of a Vassar education for prospective students and families, current students, employers, graduate and professional schools, alums, and parents.

A woman in a green turtleneck sweater talks to a group of students who are smiling and facing the camera.

“When prospective students and their families cross the threshold of this warm, modern, and inviting space, they will immediately sense that Vassar is not just a place to get a world-class liberal arts education, but a place to build the skills needed to thrive and be successful in their life’s journey.”

—Stacy Bingham, Associate Dean of the College for Career Education

“To have Career Education in the same building is quite smart. National surveys show that prospective students and their families are very interested in learning about outcomes. With the new center, families will learn about the impact and power of a liberal arts education at Vassar while also being wowed by Career Education’s first-class wraparound services and outcomes.”

—Sonya Smith, Vice President & Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services

Why Now?

A highly competitive recruitment environment is now drawing nearly 20,000 visitors to campus annually, and we expect these numbers to grow. Vassar’s Career Education program has outgrown its current space and is in need of a larger and more appropriately designed home for its work. It is essential that we are able to welcome and accommodate prospective families appropriately.

A man with a shaved head in a blue suit stands at a podium talking to a large room full of people.

“The location of The Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education on the north end of our campus will allow our visitors and families to have easy access to the new Crossroads Inn and to the Arlington downtown district just across the street. Visitors to campus leaving from the new Center will be immediately welcomed by the vista of the residential quad as they begin their tours.”

—Elizabeth Bradley, President

Two students with dark short hair, one in a light blue t-shirt, the other in a dark blue shirt, both wearing safety goggles, look at a test tube one of them is holding at a lab table.

What is the Impact?

In keeping with Vassar’s commitment to invest in sustainability efforts that decrease the College’s carbon footprint and negative environmental impact, The Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education will be designed by Cambridge-based Maryann Thompson Architects, whose clients have ranged from Harvard University to Walden Pond to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

“In approaching this project, the attempt is to create architecture which incorporates sophisticated sustainable technologies, ‘common sense’ green principals, and uses materials and systems which tread lightly on the earth.”

—Maryann Thompson Architects

Building Features

The Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education is designed to be welcoming, prioritizing the relationship of the spaces to both the landscape and natural light, creating an “inside/outside” experience within the building. The two courtyards will help create moments of stasis, mindfulness, and presence as students enter the building. The interior spaces address the courtyards which bring light and air into the building as well as the sense of calm offered by the landscape views. Other features of this building will include:

Cross-Ventilation

Cross-ventilation throughout the building with operable windows in every room and ceiling fans in every office

Zero-Emission All-Electric Building

Energy-efficient motion-sensored LED lighting throughout the building that automatically adjusts in response to the amount of daylight in the room

Solar

Rooftop and ground-based parking lot solar arrays for electricity and hot water production; a passive solar approach to heat spaces, and overhangs and louvres to protect interiors from direct solar heat; abundant windows that promote natural lighting in the rooms

Carbon Sequestration

Extensive use of wood around windows and throughout the structure, including much of the exterior cladding and interior finishes, to help sequester carbon

Insulation

Super-insulation in the walls, ceiling, and floor slab, that will act as a “winter coat” and keep the heating and cooling systems smaller than is typical; triple-glazed windows for increased insulation, energy efficiency, and noise reduction

The Admission and Career Education Center ushers in a new era at Vassar... This building will provide state-of-the-art facilities and programming that will enhance the capabilities of Admission and Career Education.

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Photo Credit: Deborah O’Brien

For further information, contact Gregg McCarty at gmccartywang@vassar.edu or (845) 437-5409.