Welcome our newest hire
Alexis Taylor recently started working at the college as a student tutor. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
Kudos!
Kudos to Jan Root, Mark Howell, Cindy Duby, Amjad Khan, Alice Sluss and Luke Pickelman: We had a late admit on January 17 who arrived in the Advising Center the following Monday looking to enroll in classes for spring. After working with the student to identify possible courses with available capacity, academic area office managers including Jan Root, Cindy Duby and Alice Sluss worked diligently to help with outreach to instructors to gain approval for this late addition to classes. Mark Howell, Amjad Khan, and Luke Pickelman made exceptions to allow the student into their courses even though a full week had been completed. Thank you for making this semester possible and for the time and effort during a busy Monday to help with this student who got the full-court press effort of several different departments and areas. We hope this student experiences great success!
Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
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- James Kiessel — Adjunct Law Enforcement Instructor
- Ethan VanHoose, student employee — Tutor
- Lily Kolbusz, student employee — Astronomy Lab Assistant
Kudos!
Kudos to Colleen Burry: Colleen goes above and beyond for students! I was working with a student in a tough situation regarding housing. Due to some intricacies of the situation, the student would lose his housing unless someone was available to check into his account and remove a hold over the weekend. The student doesn’t have a lot of support and disclosed the they would have nowhere to live if they lost their housing. When calling to troubleshoot, Colleen offered to help right away. Her willingness to give of her own personal weekend time to help a student in a tough situation is just one example of the empathy and kindness she shows every day. Thank you Colleen! You are making a difference for our students!
Kudos to Lisa Nadlicki: Lisa has taken on the extra responsibility of getting our Clothing Closet back in order and organized since December. She has not only cleaned up the space, she has organized the clothes and even washed things needing a refresh. Thank you so much for your efforts Lisa! This is something unique and extra we offer our students and is completely led by staff volunteers like you.
Kudos to Marysue Lessner: Marysue saw a need, suggested and implemented doc-u-sign to our department. Saving us paper and time and making us more efficient. Marysue has been an awesome addition to our team.
Kudos to Dan Gentry and Information Technology Services: There is a team we rarely meet face-to-face but whose work keeps the wheels turning at NMC. It may be hard for them to see how their daily contributions impact our students, but those of us on the front lines of student services see it and want to acknowledge some of the myriad ways Information Technology Services undergird the services we provide students daily.
Thanks to ITS (Dan Gentry & his team)…
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- 89% of NMC students from Michigan had full tuition and fees covered by grants and scholarships as a result of massive amounts of programming work to implement FAFSA Simplification, Michigan Community College Guarantee and our new scholarship system
- Most of our financial aid processing is automated, resulting in daily updates of student awards and balances so students always know where they stand
- NMCs is one of the state’s most “put together” financial aid offices. We brag about the contribution made by ITS at every conference! They are world-class!
- Students have library access set up from Day 1 as a Hawk Owl. To a student, this means, “You’re not a stranger. You belong here!”
- Students can self-serve within the library circulation system, resulting in an uptick in students placing their own holds, especially for textbooks at the beginning of the semester
- MeLCat (i.e. interlibrary loan) is configured and supported regardless of the clunky, antiquated system it is, making it possible to connect students to over 400 Michigan libraries and have books delivered to them at the NMC Library
- ITS support has allowed students to schedule Advising appointments online with ease. And by tracking students’ use of critical support services, Advising can quickly identify students who need extra resources. From the student perspective, it’s easier to know who is there to support them, to find services, and to schedule online — even at 2 a.m.!
- Dan’s team makes student data and information more accessible for all of us, which is hugely valuable for our decision-making processes. Having data through Banner reports and Argos reports allows the student services teams to identify students for advising and registration outreach.
- And so much more!
Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
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- Michael Teichman — Adjunct Law Enforcement Instructor
- Kelcie Hoalt, supplemental employee – Welding Assistant
- Lexi Dickman, student employee – Aviation Line Crew
- Madison Findlay – Resident Assistant
Adjusting HSA Contributions
Happy 2025! Beginning immediately you will be able to make changes to your personal HSA contribution amounts (if you choose to contribute) directly in ADP.
ADP > Myself > Benefits > Enrollments > Change to HSA Paycheck Deduction (Start Enrollment)
When you get to the page that says Select Benefits at the top, click on View All Plans next to Health Savings Account
Update your contribution amount (effective date will default to the date of your transaction) – Confirm Details > Confirm > Next > Submit Enrollment
Employee recognition
Congratulations to Jessica Parker for completing her provisional to regular faculty period. Jessica transitioned to regular faculty at the start of spring semester. We are fortunate to have her as one of our great NMC instructors and thrilled to welcome her into the NMC regular faculty employee group.
Thanks for supporting our students well, Jessica, and for being part of the NMC family!
Kudos!
Kudos to Molly Norville. The Friday before Spring semester opened, Molly noticed a student crying in the hall and she stepped away from the desk to console them. She spoke to the student calmly and quietly, comforting them to the point that they were able to walk out head held high.
Kudos to Sharon Angel. Sharon Angel is our custodian at Auto Tech and due to the nature of our work our building can be more of a challenge to keep clean. Sharon rises to the challenge every week and does a fantastic job for us and I just wanted her to know we notice it and appreciate it.
Kudos to Nicco Pandolfi, Paul Kolak, Joelle Hannert, Breanna Goodell and Jessica Parker. Over the past seven years, the NMC Food Pantry has been a vital resource for students, providing countless meals with dignity and convenience while navigating numerous logistical challenges. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our students!
Kudos to Nicole Wenstrup and Lindsey Dickinson. Nicole just started her role as the Testing Center Specialist and navigated exam week with the dreaded snow day expertly! Both her and Lindsey were instrumental in helping students and proctors have a smooth and successful experience.
Kudos to Residence Life. At the end of a long semester, the Residence Life team went above and beyond to help students by keeping the halls open through Saturday and Sunday. Last week’s snow day in the midst of final exams threw students, faculty, and staff for a loop and the incredible leaders in Res Life adapted! Thank you to Marcus, Kaitlyn, Brooklyn, Corbin, CJ and all of the RAs who courageously extended their time in the halls to meet students’ needs.
Kudos to the Testing Center Team: Nicole Wenstrup, Duane Dodge, Dan Isola, Alex Lane, Tom Auch and John Walker. A huge thank you and hats off to the Testing Center team for helping students get through finals week! The team exhibited patience, flexibility, and true collaboration as they navigated a snow day in the midst of the busiest time of the academic year. While the Osterlin Testing Center typically sees 200 tests on the busiest day of finals, last Friday the Osterlin Testing Center welcomed over 300 students! The team also opened the Parsons-Stulen Testing Center on Friday and the Osterlin Testing Center on Saturday for extra hours to accommodate student and faculty needs. Thank you to Nicole and all of the test proctors: Alex, Duane, Tom, Dan, and John, for your dedication to our students!
Kudos to Garret Croon. I am submitting this kudos to express how impressed I am with Mr. Croon. His presence on campus is truly remarkable. I have seen him walking around campus multiple times a day during the first week, and his visibility and dedication are truly commendable.
Kudos to Tyrel Stott, Michelle Beckett, and Ricky Hagberg. Tyrel, our newest Technology Help Desk staff member, single-handedly foiled a bad actor who called trying to impersonate a faculty member to obtain their credentials. He recognized the caller was acting suspiciously and raised a flag to his supervisor so that we could verify that the faculty member was NOT calling to change their password. Tyrel’s attention to his caller and their behaviors prevented a major issue. Kudos to Tyrel, as well as, Michelle and Ricky for their outstanding work helping clients at the beginning of the semester and staying on top of cybersecurity for NMC.
Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
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- Amy Lucas – Student Success Coach
- Will Harris – Adjunct Applied Music Instructor
- Sarah Dobbrastine – Adjunct Clinical Nursing Instructor
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
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- Marysue Lessner – Facilities Administrative Assistant
- Brianne Munch – Adjunct Art Instructor
- Richard Wolf – Adjunct Culinary Instructor
- Tait Ricks, supplemental – Student Life Office Assistant
- Emma Dyer – Adjunct Certified Flight Instructor
- Robert Grose – Adjunct Welding Instructor
- Krista Hepner – Adjunct Nursing Instructor
- Laura Ford – Adjunct Nursing Instructor
Remember to complete your DEIB goal reflection form!
How is your DEIB goal completion coming? If you completed your goal, remember to document your learning in the DEIB goal reflection form and send a copy to yourself to use in your spring performance evaluation. Use this form to reflect on your experience (reading or learning event/activity participation). Your feedback will help influence how we incorporate these learning experiences into our goals for 2025–2026.
Congratulations to those of you who have completed their DEIB goal(s) this year. Below are examples of some DEIB team building and engagement events that have occurred.
Images from the Jim Crow Museum tour led by DEIB and EES.
Images from the Jim Crow Museum tour led by DEIB and EES.
Images from the Jim Crow Museum tour led by DEIB and EES.
Educational Technology volunteers for Special Olympics
Want some ideas? Check out the Embrace the Dream calendar and this list of DEIB Learning Opportunities (feel free to add your ideas to this list to encourage others to participate too).
Thanks for participating.
Questions? Contact Marcus Bennett at mbennett@nmc.edu or Lori Hodek at lhodek@nmc.edu.
Employee anniversaries – January
The following employees are celebrating an anniversary soon. Please join us in congratulating them!
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
- Lexi Galla – Foundation Operations & Advancement Manager
- Marianne Dages – Library Services Specialist
- James Furstenberg – Adjunct CIT
- Tim Young – Adjunct CIT
- Miranda Tomczak – Adjunct Clinical Nursing
Employee anniversaries: December
The following employees are celebrating an anniversary soon. Please join us in congratulating them!
Kudos!
Kudos to Marina Call. Back in September, Marina found a lost rental book in the Osterlin Building and returned it to the bookstore. Today, the student called to report it missing and pay the restocking fee, but was thrilled to find out that his lost book had already been returned by Marina.
Kudos to Nicole Wenstrup, Duane Dodge, Dan Isola, Alex Lane, Tom Auch and John Walker. A huge thank you and hats off to the Testing Center team for helping students get through finals week! The team exhibited patience, flexibility, and true collaboration as they navigated a snow day in the midst of the busiest time of the academic year. While the Testing Center in the Osterlin Building typically sees 200 tests on the busiest day of finals, last Friday they welcomed over 300 students! The team also opened the PTC on Friday and OTC on Saturday for extra hours to accommodate student and faculty needs. Thank you to Nicole and all of the test proctors (Alex, Duane, Tom, Dan and John) for your dedication to our students!
Kudos to Residence Life Team. At the end of a long semester, the Residence Life team went above and beyond to help students by keeping the halls open through Saturday and Sunday. Last week’s snow day in the midst of final exams threw students, faculty and staff for a loop and the incredible leaders in Res. Life adapted! Thank you to Marcus, Kaitlyn, Brooklyn, Corbin, CJ and all of the RAs who courageously extended their time in the halls to meet students’ needs.
Kudos to Nicole Wenstrup and Lindsey Dickinson. Nicole just started her role as the Testing Center Specialist and navigated exam week with the dreaded snow day expertly! Both her and Lindsey were instrumental in helping students and proctors have a smooth and successful experience.
Kudos to our food pantry volunteers. Over the past seven years, the NMC Food Pantry has been a vital resource for students, providing countless meals with dignity and convenience while navigating numerous logistical challenges. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our students!
Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
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- Garrett Croon – Campus Safety Coordinator
Welcome our newest hires
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
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- River Leachman, student employee – Audio Tech Lab Assistant
Kudos!
Dr. Christa Abdul-Karim: Kudos to Dr. Christa Abdul-Karim for very successfully planning, managing, and guiding our third International Tour! Extended Education & Training has specialized in serving lifelong learners ages 55+ for over four decades. In the last year, our Extended Education team has applied an innovative mindset to our offerings and developed unique Tier III learning opportunities, which include International Tours. This November, Extended Education successfully carried out a third international tour, this time to Greece. Dr. Christa Abdul-Karim and Brian Lillie from Chateau Chantal led 18 participants on this wine, food and cultural tour through Athens, Kalabaka and Meteora, Crete, and much more, creating an engaging learning opportunity for our community. The median age of Extended Education International Tour registrants is 68. The average cost of an International Tour with Extended Education is $7,300.00 per person. “It was truly an unforgettable experience. We got to do things we never would have imagined. The attention to detail was phenomenal. It was a pleasure to experience this journey with such a wonderful and adventurous group of fellow travelers”, said one participant who attended this learning adventure with their husband.
Tammy Coleman: I asked Tammy early in the semester if she would be willing to lead my PSY101 class through some yoga exercises—she enthusiastically agreed! The week we tackled our Stress Chapter and Tammy shared with students the science/biology of stress, demonstrated quick “tools” for controlling the effects of stress and ended with a chill yoga flow. Thank you, Tammy, for going above and beyond—for the time you committed to these students and the important lessons shared. Amazing job!!
Justin Casey: Today we received a letter from a student in the program highlighting the outstanding job Justin Casey did teaching Instrument Ground School this semester. We were not surprised to receive this letter as Justin does an amazing job with all the students he works with in our program. Thank you, Justin, for your dedication and commitment to our students!
Suzanne Rizzo and Colleen Burry: Kudos to Colleen and Suzanne in the Records Office for weathering a challenging 2024. They both took on new and complex tasks with the retirement of a long-time team member. They also covered the duties of the office assistant that were unfilled for most of the year. In the fall, they assisted in covering for the Registrar who was out of the office unexpectedly and then moving very slowly. Both have followed through on maintaining excellent student service, quality and accuracy during a year that unfolded in unexpected ways. Thank you both for the extra effort and kindness this year. May you enjoy a restful holiday break!
Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!