Elms College Opens New Faculty Teaching Excellence Center
The center provides a new hub for faculty collaboration and curriculum support after a historic $1.5 million donation.
Updated on Oct. 28, 2026 in Philanthropy
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Elms College has opened the D'Amour Center for Faculty Teaching Excellence following a $1.5 million contribution from Michele and Donald D'Amour. The new facility in Chicopee serves as a dedicated hub for faculty collaboration and the implementation of the institution's revised core curriculum.
Why it matters
The center is designed to support academic instruction through faculty development initiatives, including workshops and interdisciplinary symposia. By concentrating resources on teaching approaches, the college aims to enhance student outcomes and faculty engagement.
The $1.5 million donation represents the largest single contribution in the history of Elms College. This funding supports the center's operations and the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Haiti Nursing Continuing Education program.
The players
Elms College
A private Catholic liberal arts college in Chicopee that focuses on undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Tom Cerasulo
A professor at Elms College who serves as the director of the newly established D'Amour Center.
Joyce Hampton
The vice president of Academic Affairs at Elms College overseeing the implementation of the revised curriculum.
The details
The D'Amour Center functions as a collaborative space where faculty members share instructional strategies and explore new teaching methods. Beyond daily operations, the center hosts specialized guest lectures, symposia, and workshops to assist staff in executing the college's updated core curriculum. A segment of the donation is specifically allocated to endow the nursing education program in Haiti.
Timeline
October 2026: The D'Amour Center for Faculty Teaching Excellence officially opened in Chicopee.
Market Landscape
The center's opening represents a significant project completion within the broader goals of the Building Bridges Capital Campaign. This investment aligns with trends among private institutions to prioritize faculty development infrastructure to support curriculum revisions.
Operators in the education and non-profit sectors should monitor how the center's interdisciplinary workshop model affects faculty retention and teaching quality. The scale of this $1.5 million gift highlights the growing importance of targeted faculty-support infrastructure in capital fundraising.
The takeaway
The D'Amour Center illustrates how targeted capital campaigns can provide specific structural support for instructional evolution. Decision-makers should track the center's upcoming symposia schedule to gauge the impact of these faculty development efforts on academic output.
Further reading
For more on how institutions align donor contributions with operational goals, see our Philanthropy section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by BusinessWest.
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