Admissions

Chester College of New England was founded as White Pines College in 1965 by the late Dr. Faith Preston. The first building to be acquired by the College was the Lane/Powers building, located on Chester Street in the center of town. The building, along with 45 acres of land, was purchased in 1966. The Lane Building was remodeled not only with funds donated by generous supporters but with a lot of work and Yankee ingenuity. The College opened in 1967 with five classrooms, administrative offices, a library with 4,000 books, a snack bar, and a bookstore. The College concentrated on Liberal Arts with majors in Secretarial Science, Business Management, and General Studies. The 10 students, five men and five women, lived in the homes of local residents. The first class graduated in 1969.

The Powers Building was renovated, and opened in 1969 to provide more classroom, library, and administrative space for the College's growing enrollment. The female students and administrative offices had moved into the Hadik House, a home located not far from the campus, which was loaned to the College rent-free.

In 1971, Adams Hall, a student residence for women, was completed. After serving for over 35 years as a residence hall, Adams was refurbished and converted to faculty offices in 2003.

Also in 1971, the college purchased 35 additional acres adjoining the original campus, including an historic house that was remodeled to house students and is presently known as Nutting Hall. The barn behind Nutting Hall was renovated in 1975 and named Dalrymple Center after Philip and Mildred Dalrymple, former members of the Board of Trustees. It served as the student cafeteria on the first floor with classrooms and offices upstairs. The first floor of Dalrymple now houses the student center, while the second floor provides classroom space.

In 1975, the College was admitted to full membership to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Membership in this regional accrediting body indicates that the College has been carefully evaluated and found to meet or exceed educational standards agreed upon by qualified educators.

Douglas Hall, a pre-Revolutionary War home and the residence of the first Governor of New Hampshire, was acquired in 1976 to serve as an additional residence. The following year a $10,000 photography facility in the attached barn opened to house the new degree program in Professional Photography.

The multi-functional Wadleigh Library was completed in the summer of 1986. It is named for Dr. Winthrop Wadleigh, a member of the Board of Trustees and the husband of Dr. Faith Preston, founding President. In addition to the standard library resources, the library houses several collections providing students and the residents of Chester with a valuable resource for information. In 1988, the MacIntosh Computer Lab was added.

In 1998 the mission of the College was revised to offer professional arts programs informed by a strong commitment to the liberal arts and the fine arts. Four Bachelor of Arts degree programs were developed, and in 1999, the College received authorization to become a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting institution. In 2001, The Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges granted accreditation for awarding the bachelor's degree in these four new programs.

In 1999, the college received a gift from an anonymous donor to renovate the Douglas Photo Barn. Generous grants from foundations supported several capital purchases for the photography program.

Due to a continually growing enrollment Douglas Hall was converted into an Art Building in the summer of 2000 and now houses art studios and classrooms.

A new coed residence hall was completed in May, 2002. This new residence hall also provided an apartment for the College's Writer-in-Residence program. Adams Hall, which had served for many years as student housing, was refurbished and used primarily as the faculty office building, as well as providing a commuter lounge for the College's non-resident students.

To acknowledge the significant change in the College's mission and in recognition of the conversion to a four-year baccalaureate degree granting institution, in October, 2002, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the name of the College to Chester College of New England. The name change was announced at the inauguration of the College's third president, Dr. William Nevious.

In April, 2003, a Student Success Center, housed in the Wadleigh Library, was opened to provide peer and professional academic counseling, career development guidance, personal counseling, and internship information.

In the fall of 2003, Chester College completed an extensive 18-month accreditation review. As a result of this review, in March of 2004, the College received continued accreditation from NEASC, until the next scheduled comprehensive evaluation, in the fall of 2013.

In October, 2003, the College accepted an invitation to join the New Hampshire College and University Council (NHCUC), a consortium of public and private colleges in New Hampshire, as a candidate member. In July 2005, the NHCUC welcomed Chester College as a full institutional member of the NHCUC.

In 2005, the College celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding.

In 2006, to accommodate the growing resident student population, Adams Hall was completely renovated and converted once again into a residence hall. Approximately 30 students moved in to Adams in the fall, 2006 semester.

The campus of Chester College of New England has undergone major renovations that have enhanced its buildings and their surroundings in 2008 and 2009. Nutting Hall, originally built as a farmhouse in 1794 and the oldest building on campus, was completely renovated and transformed into a new, energy efficient facility for the visual arts. The sculpture, painting, and drawing studios have been named the Witherill Art Studios, in honor of Chester College Trustee Linda Witherill.  Nutting Hall has been kept in its original state, thereby preserving the integrity of New England charm that characterizes the Chester campus. In addition to the studios that feature natural light, the building also contains a wired seminar classroom and faculty offices and is entirely ADA accessible.

On the grounds nearby Nutting and Wadleigh Library, Chester College Environmental Science students under the direction of faculty member Dr. Shari Litch Gray completed the requirements for a wetlands garden on campus, in compliance with National Wildlife Foundation standards. The projects chosen and completed by the students now provide natural habitat and food sources for wetland animals. As a result of their work, the site is now a certified natural wildlife habitat.

A number of curriculum initiatives in 2008 and 2009 have expanded the College’s academic offerings while still retaining its core academic mission as a fine arts institution grounded in the liberal arts. In January, 2009 the College announced the creation of a new Communication Arts Major. A collaboration between the departments of Photography/Media Arts and Design and Writing and Literature, the major provides students with a multidisciplinary approach to the study of communication. This new curriculum integrates topics in graphic design, video, marketing, public relations, media theory and professional writing, thereby encouraging thinking and writing across disciplines. This new major will offer a more arts-based foundation than traditional communication arts programs.
The Interdisciplinary Arts Major, offered within the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, likewise provides students with flexibility in designing their academic programs to reflect both their interests and the needs of the marketplace for creative thinkers. Working closely with a faculty advisor, students select courses from two or more departments and build a unique program that addresses their individual needs and interests. By the end of their sophomore year, students will have articulated their interests and will focus upon a clear program of courses for their major. The capstone experience is the Senior Project, which allows students to create work that synthesizes the understanding and insight that they have gained from their academic and artistic interests. In the past two years, a significant number of new students have chosen this new major because of its flexibility and opportunity to help shape their academic future.

Consistent with its educational philosophy of providing students with opportunities to combine technical skill with aesthetic understanding, the Department of Photography/Media Arts and Design offers students the opportunity to choose concentrations in Photography, Video Production, and Media Arts. Whatever their choice, students will learn the art, history, technology and professional applications needed to master each discipline. A new media lab (i Mac lab)  and updated software in all media labs (Adobe Creative Suite 4) will offer students arriving in the 2009 fall semester the technological innovations that they will need to help them succeed in this rapidly changing field.

In the summer of 2009, Chester College launched online general education courses. In addition, the College plans to offer online creative writing courses in October 2009.

As part of its community outreach program, the College has teamed up with the Palace Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire to present a Summer Professional Theatre Camp held at Chester College of New England. Open to students across the nation, the Summer Theatre Camp is open to high school students across the nation and offers a unique theatre experience for those who dream of being on Broadway. Students study with Broadway and industry professionals and receive one college credit in acting upon completion of the camp. Successfully offered in 2008, the program completed its second summer in August 2009.

Today, as a result of these improvements to the campus buildings and grounds and its curriculum initiatives, Chester College of New England is uniquely positioned as the only small liberal arts private college in New Hampshire offering the BA degree in Visual Arts, Writing and Literature, and Interdisciplinary Arts.

Students currently enrolled at Chester College of New England are offered Bachelor of Arts degrees in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Communication Arts, Creative Writing, Professional Writing, Photo/Media Arts/Video, and Interdisciplinary Arts.

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