Bard College at Simon's Rock: the Early College
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Frequently Asked Questions

Bard College at Simon’s Rock announced on November 19, 2024 that it plans to relocate and consolidate its Great Barrington, MA campus to Bard College’s Massena Campus, a short distance from Bard College’s main campus. This page attempts to answer many of the questions you may have about this announcement. If you have a question not answered below, please contact questions@simons-rock.edu.

This is a very challenging time for students and employees. Simon’s Rock offers confidential, professional counseling for students. Students should contact the Wellness Center to schedule a counseling appointment: Counseling Request Form. Employees should call 800.272.7255 or visit guidanceresources.com to access the ComPsych® GuidanceResources® as part of employee benefits.

This page will be updated as additional information becomes available. Please check back for updates.

Contact Information:

Financial Aid: finaid@simons-rock.edu

Billing: billing@simons-rock.edu

Accounts Payable: accountspayable@simons-rock.edu

Human Resources: hr@simons-rock.edu

Academics: deanofstudies@simons-rock.edu

Student Housing: campuslife@simons-rock.edu

International Students and Alumni: iss@simons-rock.edu

Safety: campussafety@simons-rock.edu

Press & Media: Liz Benjamin: Liz@MarathonStrategies.com, 518-424-0356

General Information: questions@simons-rock.edu

General Information

The new campus will open in Fall 2025.

Yes, Simon’s Rock degrees (A.A. and B.A.) will be recognized after the relocation and consolidation. Higher education degrees always remain valid if they were conferred by a fully accredited institution. Simon’s Rock is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Our status with the MSCHE can be verified here: https://www.msche.org/institution/0267/

After the relocation to the Massena campus, all college degrees will continue to be accredited by MSCHE.

Bard Academy will continue to be accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges — Commission on Independent Schools (NEASC-CIS). For information about Bard Academy, please visit: https://www.neasc.org/institution/bard-academy-simons-rock.

The Board of Trustees of Bard College along with the Board of Overseers of Simon’s Rock made the difficult, yet proactive decision to relocate the campus in order to continue fulfilling its mission of educating younger scholars. After years of declining enrollment and an increasingly competitive free public early college market, sustaining the campus in Great Barrington, MA is no longer feasible. Relocating to the Massena Campus at Bard College allows Simon’s Rock to continue operating Bard Academy, its two-year 9th and 10th grade high school, as well as the early college where students will start college early after 10th or 11th grade and earn their A.A. degree, with options to continue on for a B.A. degree at Bard College or to transfer to other institutions of higher education.
The Board of Overseers of Simon’s Rock and college administration have been working to find a solution for a path forward for Simon’s Rock for several years. After it became clear that the current state of enrollment and fundraising was not sustainable, the Board of Trustees of Bard College and the Board of Overseers of Simon’s Rock voted to consolidate the campus and academic programs on November 19. The College and Academy communities were told the same day, following the Board decision. Every effort was made to give the community as much time as possible for students, faculty, and staff to make decisions regarding their next steps.
The students are Simon’s Rock students within the Bard Network as they have been since the merger with Bard College.

Financial Aid: finaid@simons-rock.edu

Billing: billing@simons-rock.edu

Accounts Payable: accountspayable@simons-rock.edu

Human Resources: hr@simons-rock.edu

Academics: deanofstudies@simons-rock.edu

Student Housing: campuslife@simons-rock.edu

International Students and Alumni: iss@simons-rock.edu

Safety: campussafety@simons-rock.edu

Press & Media: Liz Benjamin: Liz@MarathonStrategies.com, 518-424-0356

General Information: questions@simons-rock.edu

Current College Students

There will be no impact on degree completion. We are working with the Dean of Studies office at Bard to be sure all students remain on track to degree completion.
Yes, Simon’s Rock will hold a commencement ceremony for A.A. and B.A. graduates on the Great Barrington, MA campus on Saturday, May, 17 2025. Bard Academy will hold a matriculation ceremony for 10th grade matriculants on Thursday, May, 8, 2025.
All events and ceremonies will take place during the spring semester including: Commencement, Matriculation, Pride Week, Future Fair, Mayfest, Prom, Rock the Community, lectures, concerts, and performances. Active student clubs and organizations will continue as usual through the end of the spring semester.
Yes, all academic support services will continue to be offered.
Yes, all student support services at the Wellness Center and counseling services will continue to be offered through May 2025.
Yes, all digital systems (including email, portal, Banner, Moodle, and others) will continue to have full functionality and access.
Yes, student work study will continue to be available through the end of the spring semester in May 2025 on the Great Barrington, MA campus. All federally funded financial aid will continue at the Massena campus.
Summer housing will be available on a limited basis and prioritized for students with the greatest need.
Application information for fall 2025 housing will be made available through Campus Life as usual during the spring 2025 semester. Students will be notified as soon as the housing application is available in the spring 2025 semester.

Academic Programs

Students will continue their degree pathway to complete an A.A. degree from Simon’s Rock at the new Massena campus, with options to continue on to complete their B.A. degree at Bard College, or to transfer to other institutions of higher education for further degrees. For students unable or unwilling to continue their studies at the Massena campus, we will assist with Identifying suitable transfer options.
If coursework necessary for degree completion cannot be covered at Simon’s Rock, students will work with Academic Affairs to coordinate taking coursework through Bard College to satisfy degree requirements.
Yes, the Bard Queer Leadership Project will continue at the new campus. More information about the curriculum and degree requirements will be made available at a later date.

Financial Aid and Student Billing

For all questions related to financial aid, students can contact finaid@simons-rock.edu to discuss their specific situation

For all billing related questions students can contact billing@simons-rock.edu.

Existing financial aid packages will transfer to the new Massena campus for Academy, first-years, and sophomores and Bard Annandale for juniors and seniors.

Academic Records

Prior to May 2025, transcripts are ordered directly from Simon’s Rock. Instructions for ordering your transcript are available here: https://www.parchment.com/u/registration/34322/institution. After June 30, 2025, please contact Bard College’s Office of the Registrar for questions about student records.
Students who are requesting a transcript for any purpose, including to transfer to another institution, must order their transcript through https://www.parchment.com/u/registration/34322/institution and will be assessed a nominal charge by the vendor providing that service.
Bard College will assume all Simon’s Rock student records. After June 2025, please contact Bard College’s Office of the Registrar for questions about student records.
Simon’s Rock will offer zoom meetings for parents and families to discuss the relocation process.

International Students

Current international students will be able to continue their studies on the Massena campus. International Student Services will provide guidance on the steps that continuing international students will need to take to continue their studies in Fall 2025.
Employment and all other questions will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. International students and alumni should contact iss@simons-rock.edu to discuss their specific circumstances.

Employees

For most, employment with Simon’s Rock will end on June 30, 2025, with the exception of some positions that will extend beyond that date to secure and close the campus and support summer programming already contracted – we anticipate notifying early in the new year those employees whose positions will extend beyond June 30.
Final paychecks will be issued June 30th for those whose employment ends on that date. Final paychecks for others will be issued on their employment end date(s) as designated by Simon’s Rock.
Employees with accrued and unused vacation time as of their last day of employment will receive a check for those days/hours on their employment end date(s).
Although not a standard benefit, in this circumstance employees with accrued and unused sick time will be paid a portion (25%) of their sick time balance if they work through June 30th , or, as applicable, such other employment date designated by Simon’s Rock. Employees who voluntarily leave prior to June 30th or, as applicable, their other designated employment end date will not be paid any portion of their sick time balance (per standard policy).
Coverage under Simon’s Rock health insurance ends at 5:00 p.m. ET on the last day of active employment.
Those who are eligible will have the opportunity to elect to continue receiving coverage under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Benefit Reconciliation Act). More information will be provided in the coming months.
Employees with TIAA accounts will have several options for those funds. Individual circumstances and options will vary depending on several factors – retirement specialists will be on campus in the coming months to assist you with those decisions.
No, there will be no position transfers. However, we anticipate that there will be new positions for faculty and staff at the relocated Massena campus program, starting as early as July 1, 2025. Current Simon’s Rock employees will receive the first notification of available positions, though positions must be publicly posted for a specified period of time to the extent required by applicable law. Employees must apply for the positions through the Bard HR system. The intent is to post most new positions for 2025-26 by Februrary 2025.
Employees who apply and are hired for a position within the Bard system will be subject to Bard’s personnel policies. Currently, Bard does honor years of service at other institutions within its system, but this is subject to change at Bard’s discretion.
No. The contracts will be considered new contracts, and the contract timeline and structure will have differences from the current faculty contracts at the Great Barrington campus. 
All employees may submit a claim for unemployment benefits when their employment ends, but the state makes eligibility determination for all claims.
No, but the state may provide certain placement services to employees collecting unemployment benefits. The state will be notified of the Great Barrington campus closure so there will be awareness of the pending needs for affected employees.
There will be someone in the Business Office to respond to requests for references over the summer.
Files will be archived in a place and time to be determined.
Employee emails will be deactivated upon the end of their employment. IT will be setting up automatic email responses for all employees at the applicable time for each employee.
Options to extend current leases through August 31 are possible in certain circumstances. We invite you to reach out to Philip Morrison for more information.

Alumni and Donor

Please save the date for the final Alumni Reunion in Great Barrington from June 6–8, 2025. Details and registration will open in January.

In the meantime, alums are welcome to arrange individual visits to campus anytime. Please reach out to advancement@simons-rock.edu for assistance if you will be in the area. We would love to greet you and help arrange access to people and places around campus.

The Senior Thesis collection is a core, in many ways the most core, element of the collection of the Alumni Library and Simon’s Rock Archives. The Theses represent the best of what is possible academically by students who begin their BA journey as Early College students. This collection is used to inspire our students at all stages of their studies, at times as actual curricular materials.

For scholars researching Early College through Simon’s Rock’s Early College Research Institute, the Theses are an invaluable source. The Theses will continue to be a central element of our collection, on display and available as research materials, in the library of the new Massena campus location. Alumni can be assured that the signed copy of their Thesis will remain well taken care and honored.

While a freestanding B.A. program is not intended as part of the new configuration, there is interest both from alumni and current students to develop a B.A. designation or certification of some kind, highlighting elements signature to the Simon’s Rock B.A. experience. This is with the acknowledgement that the B.A. experience has not taken one continuous form over the history of Simon’s Rock, and is, like all aspects of the institution, an evolution. It is certainly possible that students who complete whatever that designation or certification turns out to be will have their own work added to the Simon’s Rock Senior Thesis collection. That is just one of many elements in play, and alumni interested in working on this B.A. project are encouraged to reach out to the Provost’s office or to Institutional Advancement to express their interest.

For alumni who do not have a personal copy of their Thesis, either because they did not obtain one at the time of graduation, or because the copy is no longer in their possession, Simon’s Rock is happy to do what is possible to help them obtain a digital copy. For some graduation years, the Theses and/or Proposals are already digitized. The index of those that are digitized is publicly viewable at https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/sr-theses/. You can request the actual files via library@simons-rock.edu. For graduation years that have not yet been digitized—this is an ongoing project—it will take more time. We have, in the past, taken requests for digitization of a specific Thesis, but at present we cannot do that. Please understand that our librarians are very busy right now supporting our current students’ needs, which is paramount in this time of transition. The full digitization is a multi-year project that will continue after the collection has been moved to Massena. The Senior Theses remain in safe hands, protected as they have been since they were submitted at graduation.

Yes.

As always, we will continue to host a wide variety of lectures and events for students, faculty, staff, friends, and alums throughout the academic year. These opportunities for the wider Simon’s Rock community to meet and interact with esteemed guests are a vital part of the educational experience.

Alumni Reunions will take a new form as we move to the Massena Campus, and will be guided by a volunteer committee of alums and designed with your input. We hope you will stay engaged with us throughout the move and beyond so we can continue to create opportunities for connection, networking, and support for Simon’s Rock for many years to come.

Yes! Prioritizing Simon’s Rock in your giving is particularly important at this time to ensure a smooth transition for students to the Massena Campus. We will continue to raise funds separately from Bard College in order to meet the specific academic and financial needs of Simon’s Rock students and families.

Your support is more critical than ever. Whether you have been a past supporter or have yet to give, we hope you will consider making a donation to ensure that the Simon’s Rock model can continue long into the future.

The Fund for Simon’s Rock, our named scholarship funds, and our endowment will continue to support students in the Early College and the Academy at the Massena Campus, subject to any specific requirements. Like all colleges, we rely on both annual giving and endowment support to enroll students who might not otherwise be able to attend and to plan with the greatest flexibility for changes across the educational landscape.

Please reach out to the Office of Institutional Advancement to learn more about ways to give, including monthly recurring donations, gifts through donor-advised funds, planned gifts, and sales of stock. You may contact us by email at advancement@simons-rock.edu or by phone at 413-528-7253.

Prospective Students and Applicants

The spring semester will look exactly the same. It will be on the Great Barrington campus. There will be access to the same faculty, resources, and facilities as previous classes

Simon’s Rock will teach Bard Academy and First-Year students. College sophomores will be able to take some courses with Bard faculty. Juniors and Seniors will take most classes with Bard faculty. Any faculty member interested in continuing with Simon’s Rock will have the opportunity to apply for open positions.

The size of the program will be roughly 160 to start. It may grow and we will grow with it.

Academy students and First-Year students will have minimal interaction with the Bard College community. The Massena campus is separate from the Bard College main campus. During the Sophomore year of College, students will begin to take classes and some will move to separate housing on the Bard Campus. Once Simon’s Rock students are Junior and Seniors they will be fully integrated into the Bard College campus.

Academy students and First-Year college students will reside on the Massena campus. There will be separate living quarters for Academy and Early College students. Academy students will live in Massena House. First-Year college students will live in the East Wing, which is a separate facility. Students aged 17 as Sophomores will move to a separate housing for Simon’s Rock students. Students aged 18 and above will live on the Bard College campus.

Yes, any enrollment fees for the Fall 2025 semester paid before November 19, 2024 will be refunded if the student decides they do not want to attend at the new Massena campus.
No, every institution has its own application process. Applicants need to send their own application materials (e.g., test scores, letters of recommendation, essays, etc.) directly to the institutions to which they want to apply in accordance with each institution’s application requirements.
No, students do not need to submit a new FAFSA.

Community Members

The Kilpatrick Athletic Center will continue to operate on its regular schedule through the end of Summer 2025. More information will be shared as it becomes available.
The Daniel Arts Center will honor all performances and rental agreements through the end of 2025 summer season.
The campus property, buildings, and equipment will be maintained and secured by Physical Plant and Campus Safety.

Transition Information for Students

Academy Student Information (PDF)

College Student Information (PDF)