Marywood Adult Continuing Education recently appointed Philosophy Instructor Carolyn Bonacci as the new director of professional continuing education.

Adult Continuing Education at Marywood offers programs in the areas of workforce education, continued education for professionals and lifelong learning for seniors.

As director of professional continuing education, Bonacci has the responsibility of planning and arranging programs and workshops in a variety of disciplines to help professionals continue their education as they work in their fields. Some of these disciplines include art therapy, social work and accounting.

Bonacci received her Master of Arts degree in Philosophy at Boston College and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Fine Arts at Loyola University Maryland.

“I was initially very excited about it and I still am very excited about it because I had worked in higher education before while I was a graduate student, coordinating and planning programs at Boston College,” Bonacci said. “I thought this would be a really great opportunity to start doing that again.”

The other part of the position involves making sure the university meets the standards of different academic accrediting bodies so each program can maintain its accreditation, Bonacci said. She also must ensure that the offerings of the university stay in alignment with the needs of the professional community.

With this new position, Bonacci has certain plans in mind.

“What I want to do or would like to do is to expand the professional continuing education offerings and to work closely with all the different departments on campus to find opportunities to help professionals in their disciplines continue their education here at Marywood,” she said.

Bonacci said she believes inviting professionals to continue their education at Marywood is a nice way to help them stay up-to-date in their fields. She said it also gives Marywood graduates a chance to reconnect with the campus and brings in new people who did not attend Marywood.

In addition to expanding the professional continuing education offerings, Bonacci said she wants to find new ways to offer programs online.

“This will help people who can self-pace classes and also who are seeking either skill development or professional education credits that they can do on their own, but still have opportunities to come and do them here at Marywood as well,” she said.

Bonacci said she feels happy to have the chance to pursue this position at Marywood since she already works in the philosophy department, and enjoys the opportunity to meet new people in the Marywood community.

“I was really pleased to have an opportunity to stay in the Marywood community and do something that I was excited about,” she said.

Jessica Bonacci contributed to this article.

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