Evalyn Cora Bates (1907–2010) was an American educator who helped found

Goddard College Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...

Plainfield, Vermont Plainfield, a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States was incorporated in 1867. The population was 1,236 at the 2020 census. Plainfield is the location of Goddard College. Geography Plainfield is located at . According to the United ...

. Born in

Williamstown, Vermont Williamstown is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,515 at the 2020 census, making it the second largest municipality in the county. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total a ...

, in 1916 to a Vermont subsistence farmer and his Vermont-born wife, Evalyn Cora Bates was the middle-born of five children. Her parents valued education and encouraged their children to express their views on politics, current affairs and other matters in family discussions. Bates attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

for a year, ultimately graduated from Goddard Junior College, which Royce S. “Tim” Pitkin ran as a division of Goddard Seminary in Barre, Vt. While there Bates worked as secretary to Pitkin, beginning a long and productive working relationship. A year after her graduation, Goddard Seminary closed its doors. When Goddard reincarnated as a four-year college in Plainfield in 1938, Bates was among those who worked to get the new enterprise off the ground. At the fledgling four-year college, she continued her studies and, in 1943, was one of the first two graduates of

, as we know it today. Her senior study was “Two Projects in Adult Education.” Following her graduation from Goddard, she continued to work for the college, as President Pitkin's secretary. In 1957, she earned her master's degree at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. Her thesis, “Development of the Goddard College Adult Education Program,” proposed five possible program designs. She continued to work at Goddard and to develop the idea of an adult program at the college. In 1958, Bates was awarded a Fulbright Lectureship and spent eight months in Australia assisting in the adult education department of the University of New England. From 1960 to 1962, while Director of Adult Education and Community Services at Goddard College, Bates finalized the plans for the Adult Degree Program. In August 1963, Goddard formally introduced the Adult Degree Program, a first in higher education.Carlson, Scott. Goddard College Takes a Highly Unconventional Path to Survival. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sep. 9, 2011, pg. A6 Bates directed the first ADP residency in 1963 and continued to work for Goddard until 1970. Goddard College's current low-residency model is based on the Adult Degree Program designed by Bates in 1963. On September 30, 2012, Goddard College President Barbara Vacarr presented Bates’ niece and surviving colleagues with a posthumous honorary doctorate degree to recognize Bates's contributions to higher education.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Evalyn People from Plainfield, Vermont Goddard College alumni Goddard College faculty American academic administrators Founders of schools in the United States Women founders Educators from Vermont 1907 births 2010 deaths 20th-century philanthropists American women academics 21st-century American women