Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
February 7, 2018
For NMC Audio Technology students, Picnic at the Opera House is anything but.
Under the direction of instructor Jonah Powell (right, foreground), 20-some students are responsible for all set-up and tear-down, changing the stage between each of the seven acts and mixing audio for both live and television audiences.
“Audio is one of the more critical parts. It’s got to work on TV and it’s got to work in the house,” said Matt Cowall, communications director at the UpNorth Media Center, which broadcasts the free, live show that started its sixth season run today.
That pressure means Picnic, performed each Wednesday in February, offers an ideal experiential learning, or EL, setting. With spring semester now in full swing, audio technology students are among many at NMC gaining from EL, defined as experiences where learning is deepened and enhanced through direct application of knowledge, both in and out of the classroom.
Leaders of a project to expand EL at NMC estimate at least half of students have one experiential class, and are striving to increase that.
It’s a natural fit for classes like Audio Tech.
“We have to make an effort to make it like a classroom,” Powell joked of the program.
Picnic’s four-week run also fulfills the EL requirement of reflection on the experience in order to improve it the next time.
“It allows students the opportunity to tweak something and try it again the next week,” said Kristi Dockter, marketing director at the Opera House.
Classes traditionally taught via lecture and textbook are also working to incorporate EL in order to capitalize on research showing it deepens learning, student engagement, and persistence toward educational goals.
Check out NMC students’ talents as Picnic continues Feb. 14, 21 and 28, from noon–1 p.m. at the City Opera House. Cowall added that the students have enhanced the live side of the event in particular.
“It’s a different beast in the performance space. It’s something we on the TV side aren’t that well versed in,” he said of the house sound. “Having (NMC’s) expertise at the table really makes this thing go.”
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
April 27, 2022
Commencement 2022 means a quadruple celebration for the Myers-Rockwood family, whose four NMC graduates also illustrate the breadth of learning opportunities at the college.
Bridget Bernhard, David Myers and Olivia RockwoodOn May 7, the blended Traverse City clan will celebrate the graduations of brothers David and Jack Myers, stepsister Olivia Rockwood, and David Myers’ fiancee, Bridget Bernhard. All four arrived at NMC via different routes, studied vastly different subjects and have distinctly different future plans. Yet the college was able to serve them all.
“I really enjoyed it with the vast amount of curriculum I could take,” said Olivia Rockwood, 21, who enrolled in everything from anthropology to life drawing. She enrolled at NMC in the fall of 2020 to “reassess” after a year at Michigan Technological University, which wasn’t a good fit. Armed with her associate degree, this fall Rockwood will transfer to the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in product design.
Stepbrother David Myers, 26, started at NMC in 2013 as a dual-enrolled high school student. Now finishing “my 10-year, two-year degree,” he said being able to attend at his own pace was important to his persistence.
“I’ve had a lot of great classes. (But) I don’t think I’ve ever had a full-time semester,” said Myers. His next big step is marrying Bernhard in July.
Bernhard, 28, is earning two associate degrees, one of which is in electrical renewable energy. She chose the field after taking time following her 2012 Traverse City West High School graduation to travel in the developing world. At NMC, Bernhard especially appreciated the female instructors she had in the typical male world of skilled trades. She completed an apprenticeship and is considering either pursuing a journeyman electrician’s license or transferring for a four-year degree after her wedding to David Myers.
Youngest sibling Jack Myers, 19, studied computer science and will transfer to a four-year school next year.
Parents Bill Myers and Kris Rockwood have NMC connections, too. Myers is a former NMC trustee and Rockwood, the owner of Press On Juice, has employed NMC culinary graduates.
More than 600 graduates will earn degrees and certificates from NMC in 2022. In-person commencement ceremonies will be held Saturday, May 7 in Milliken Auditorium at the Dennos Museum Center.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
April 25, 2018
Reporter Garret Ellison atop the Mackinac BridgeMLive environmental reporter Garret Ellison, a 2006 NMC graduate, has been named the 2017 Michigan Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association.
Ellison, 35, was cited for his “watchdog work” on issues of water use and Great Lakes protection, which reaches a reported online audience of 11 million readers a month. MLive also feeds seven Michigan newspapers.
He says he found his career calling at NMC, after he started publishing photos in the White Pine Press. His writing was “good enough” but it was the timing that was perfect for the 2001 Traverse City West High School graduate, who found himself in the editor’s role when the rest of the staff graduated and longtime faculty advisers retired.
“We decided to redesign it and re-imagine some of the coverage scope,” Ellison said of himself and then new adviser Kim Schneider.
“I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t had the opportunity to helm the White Pine Press in the way I did,” Ellison said. “The White Pine Press was where I learned to be a journalist.”
He still uses those lessons, particularly the instinct to follow his own initiative, on the environmental beat, where he transitioned from business in 2014.
“I always wanted to be an investigative reporter, and I didn’t see much of a path to doing that covering business,” Ellison said. “At the time I didn’t have much environment experience (but) nobody was tasked with covering environment from a statewide perspective.”
It made sense for him to try since he was based in Grand Rapids, MLive’s biggest city. The condition of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac was becoming a bigger issue, so Ellison started paying attention to that. At an editor’s suggestion, he started looking into Nestle’s groundwater withdrawals in northern Michigan. Then came legacy contamination, Superfund sites and more.
“You start looking for meatier angles to stuff,” said Ellison, who views investigation as his obligation. “We serve the public. As members of the press, we are uniquely resourced to hold power to account. That, I think is the ultimate point of having a free press.”
Ellison imparts that message to his own students, too. In addition to his daily reporting for MLive, Ellison is now an adjunct journalism instructor at Grand Valley State University.
“It’s a little weird. I’m not so far removed from being on the other side of the coin there,” said Ellison, who went on to Central Michigan University after NMC.
“I really feel a lot of value in the community college experience, and I’m grateful the institution was there for me,” he said.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
October 9, 2019
NMC today kicked off the public phase of the most ambitious fundraising initiative in its history. Be What’s Possible, the Campaign for NMC, has a goal of raising $35 million in four priority areas.
Eighty percent, or $28 million, has already been raised through leadership gifts. The priority areas are:
- The Fund for NMC – Flexible funding to help the college meet its highest priorities and greatest needs.
- Innovative Facilities – To create places where students and the community can connect to resources and with each other. Focused on the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center and the expansion of the Dennos Museum, gifts for other facilities are also welcome.
- Strong Programs – To stay at the forefront of educational innovation and drive economic growth through top-notch learning opportunities in all areas, from language arts to engineering technology.
- Scholarships – To guarantee access for motivated learners in our community. This campaign seeks to increase the number and breadth of scholarships available to students as well as increasing funding for existing scholarships.
Be What’s Possible campaign co-chair Susie JanisThe $35 million goal is more than ten times higher than the college’s most ambitious prior campaign, $3 million for the Great Lakes campus, which opened in 2003-04. Since 2016 the college has been the recipient of ten gifts of $1 million or more, designated in support of programs, scholarships, and facilities, which established the evidence of support for the $35 million goal.
“We believe that the response shown by the community so far is clear evidence of the appreciation and support that the college has in our community,” said campaign co-chair Susie Janis. “We are very grateful to the donors who have already stepped forward to be the leaders of this important endeavor.”
President Timothy J. Nelson said, “NMC has always been the community’s college. This campaign is reflective of this legacy of commitment, and the college and community will reach a new level of achievement together.”
To give to Be What’s Possible, visit nmc.edu/give or call (231) 995-1021.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
February 27, 2019
Brenda Clifton and Scott WilliamsDishwasher is not a job that lands on many top-ten career lists, meaning many hospitality employers, including NMC’s Hagerty Center, struggle to find them.
But for someone like Brenda Clifton, it can be life-changing.
“It helps me a lot because it gives me responsibility,” said Clifton, the Hagerty Center’s newest kitchen steward, who was initially hired through a transitional employment partnership with Traverse House, a unit of Northern Lakes Community Mental Health. “People depend on me to be there.”
Next month, the Hagerty Center will accept a statewide award for the partnership, which offers a vulnerable population an important hand up to independence and addresses an NMC strategic goal of building collaborative relationships.
“Of our independently employed individuals, probably 70 percent have been placed in a transitional experience,” said Traverse House Director Hannah Driver. She nominated the Hagerty Center, led by Executive Chef Scott Williams and Director Chad Schenkelberger, for the award, to be presented by state Rep. Larry Inman.
“They had faith in us and faith in our program, and it’s worked out wonderfully,” Driver said. “We choose the best employers.”
Under the program, two Traverse House members work as Hagerty Center kitchen stewards between 12 to 15 hours per week for six to nine months. Traverse House selects the employees, bypassing the interview process. Selected employees get work experience and an employer reference. After the transition period, ideally the individual goes on to independent employment, and a new Traverse House member takes the kitchen steward job.
Clifton, 63, says it’s the best job she’s ever had.
“I love it. The people there are really nice,” said Clifton, who now works up to 20 hours a week. She can walk to work from her home, and it offers structure to her life.
Transitional employees are usually scheduled for shorter shifts during the day. Traverse House provides backup if the employee misses work. Williams credited the entire Hagerty Center team for helping Clifton adapt to the often hectic work environment.
“It can be an intimidating environment, walking into a kitchen, for anybody,” he said, noting that Hagerty meals often seat 200 people.
Since completing the transition period, Clifton can work longer shifts on nights and weekends and doesn’t need much supervision, Williams said.
“She’s a rock star now. We love having her.”
Schenkelberger agreed the center benefits as much as the employee. “This position traditionally has one of the highest turnover rates in the hospitality industry. So this partnership has brought us a sense of security knowing we have additional members of Traverse House looking to fill the position if a spot opens up,” he said.
In fact, Williams is hoping to convert another Traverse House transitional employee to permanent status: Justin Reed, 32. For his part, Reed, a former Goodwill Inn resident, says both employment and housing help him get through daily challenges.
“I would be more hesitant to work at that employer, if there wasn’t support,” he said. “I’m a strong advocate for mental health services.”
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
April 11, 2018
When your summer trip requires putting 98,000 gallons in the tank, you pay attention to fuel prices.
NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy recently learned that it can expect full reimbursement of an estimated $196,000 fuel bill for the T/S State of Michigan’s upcoming spring cruise. The reimbursement is part of the 2018 omnibus spending bill approved by Congress last month.
In addition to the fuel reimbursement, GLMA received $1 million, double its 2017 funding, which will enable NMC to improve the ship’s docking area by installing mooring bollards and mooring fenders. Work will take place between May and August, while the ship is out of the harbor on its annual training cruise.
“The federal funds are crucial to the Academy and key to our being able to ensure the program maintains U.S. Coast Guard approval,” said GLMA superintendent Rear Adm. Jerry Achenbach.
“While these funds will primarily be used to upgrade the moorings at the harbor, over the past several years we have used federal funds to substantially upgrade our deck and engine simulators and upgrade the equipment in the vessel’s galley,” Achenbach said. “The omnibus spending bill also includes funds that ensure Academy cadets who volunteer to serve in the U.S. Navy after graduation will continue to receive an annual stipend of $8,000.”
NMC is grateful to its congressional delegation, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and Congressman Jack Bergman, for their continued support of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in securing these funds.
GLMA is hosting an open house/ship tour from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 21. Maritime cadets will host free tours open to the public. NMC offers a bachelor’s degree in maritime technology, the first community college bachelor’s degree available in the state. Find out more about the Academy at nmc.edu/maritime.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
February 5, 2020
Aspiring to an optometry degree, Dani Valentine anticipated many years of tuition bills. But thanks to NMC scholarships, in only her second semester she’s finding those bills substantially lower than expected.
Valentine is one of a record 964 institutional scholarship recipients this academic year, a whopping 40 percent more than in 2018-19. Collectively those students have been awarded a record $1.28 million, a 12-percent increase in scholarship dollars awarded over 2018-19.
“It’s definitely a long road, but because of scholarships I feel like I can do this,” Valentine, 26, said of achieving her goal of becoming an optometrist.
NMC Director of Financial Aid Linda Berlin said the increase is the result of process enhancements undertaken to encourage more scholarship applications, so that available funds are fully awarded. Enhancements included a second application cycle, a communication plan to students and a reformatted, more user-friendly scholarship application.
As a result, applications grew from 22 percent of students in 2016-17 to 28 percent last year. Simultaneously, scholarship funds awarded rose from 74 percent of available to 82 percent.
“We’re trying to make (scholarships) more accessible to all our students, and we’re trying to get the message out, it’s not just about merit,” Berlin said. Financial need, area of study, and hometown are all common scholarship award criteria.
Scholarship funds are donated through the NMC Foundation, which has made scholarships one of four priority areas in its current $35 million Be What’s Possible comprehensive fundraising campaign.
For the fall 2019 semester, Valentine got a $500 scholarship. This spring, she was awarded two more totaling $1,500. After earning her associate’s degree, Valentine plans to complete her bachelor’s through NMC’s University Center, and then complete a graduate degree in optometry at Ferris State.
Valentine will use her $1,000 Global Opportunities scholarship to participate in NMC’s first-ever trip to Iceland. She plans to earn NMC’s Global Endorsement in addition to her degree.
“I think it will help set me apart for anything I apply for in the future, as far as jobs or grad school,” she said.
The average scholarship award is $1,327 this year. Berlin said that her office is trying to keep the average above $1,000. That’s more than half the cost of tuition and fees for a student like Valentine — a Grand Traverse County resident enrolled in 12 contact hours per semester and studying an NMC general program — which total $1,714 per semester.
“I’m really just super grateful for all these scholarships, not just for me, but anybody,” Valentine said. “It really does make a huge difference. Any small amount really helps.”
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
April 13, 2022
Entrepreneurship is poised to take a giant leap forward at NMC this year, with five student teams in the final stage of developing products they’ll pitch during Northern Michigan Startup Week.
The student pitch competition is one of many events planned for NMSW May 9–15. It’s the region’s largest endeavor to date to teach and promote entrepreneurship, showcase local talent and foster a culture of entrepreneurship.
In the process, students practice experiential learning, an impactful and engaging learning style that NMC has embraced collegewide as part of its strategic plan.
Marine technology student Max Streeter, 21, and engineering technology student John Monaghan, 35 (left and right), are partners on one of the products. It’s a color ink cartridge – tentatively named the Prism – and kit that allows customers to adapt clear, 3D printer filament to the color of their choice.
The idea originated with Streeter, a longtime 3D printer user. Through five different iterations in which they focused on making the Prism more user-friendly, adaptable to multiple printers and less expensive, however, it’s truly become the pair’s joint venture. (The photo to the right shows the kit, installation and results.)
“It wouldn’t be where it is today without someone to bounce things off of,” Streeter said.
“He could take this to be the Amazon of 3D printing,” said Monaghan.
Monaghan and Streeter are enrolled in a special topics course sponsored by the NMC Foundation through an innovation grant. The course requires a problem or issue to be selected, customers to be identified, a solution to be created, and value to be validated. Keith Kelly is the instructor. He said students have embraced the spirit of NMSW in their work this semester.
“There is so much great work around ideation, design thinking, project management, and communication,” he said.
A start-up weekend was held in 2014. This year’s week-long event reflects the growth of the area’s entrepreneurial culture since then, with many partners and collaborators.
“Community engagement has been huge,” Kelly said.
“You don’t need to be working at a startup to attend these events,” said Keri Amlotte, director of marketing at 20Fathoms and spokesperson for Northern Michigan Startup Week. “Everyone is invited and the events will be of interest not only to startup veterans, but to anyone who is curious about entrepreneurship, has an idea for a new business they want to explore, or those who simply want to learn about some of the exciting things happening in our local startup scene.”
Besides the pitch competition, other events include Space Night at the Hagerty Center, a “Funding Innovation” lunch, a Startup Expo at 20Fathoms in downtown Traverse City, and a showcase of startups from Michigan universities. The NMC Innovation Center will also host the final event, TechStars, on May 13–15. The experience of building a startup will be condensed to a weekend. Peruse and register for all NMSW events here.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
November 23, 2021
On Monday, culinary student Michelle Carrizales brought home something besides books and her knife kit to her family in Harrietta — a Thanksgiving meal, courtesy of an NMC business class which organized and executed the meal drive as a class project.
The meal means that the Carrizales family of four will get to spend a stress-free holiday together. Husband Richard is home after working out of state for a few months. Michelle gets a breather from juggling work and school and her hour-long one-way commute to classes in Traverse City. Their two kids will be on school break, and will lend her a hand cooking the meal that Carrizales didn’t have to scour stores for sales or coupons in order to put on the table.
“It’s been a pretty stressful last couple of months,” said Carrizales. “We’re just looking forward to sitting down and not doing anything.”
The Carrizales family is one of more than 125 who received donated meals from the business class, taught by Kristy McDonald, (pictured right, far right.) This was the eighth year McDonald’s class has completed a meal or food drive as an experiential learning project. Recipients were selected through Big Brothers Big Sisters and the NMC Food Pantry. Marking its fourth anniversary this month, usage is at its highest level since it opened. NMC counselor Paul Kolak, a member of the food pantry committee, said the college is always trying to improve the service, and just this month added an ordering system from Costco.
“We’re trying to step up our game and offer more fresh and frozen options,” he said.
The pantry served 164 and 196 people in September and October, respectively. Those are the two highest months for utilization since the pantry opened in November 2017. So far this academic year average monthly people served, at 146, and average monthly orders, at 11, are both significantly higher than the 2020–21 academic year, when the pantry averaged 102 people served and 4 orders per month.
Being a student is the only requirement to use the food pantry, Kolak said. An online order form is available 24-7, and orders are packed for pickup five days a week. He said the pantry’s support from donors and its continued use are both gratifying.
“Seeing how students have latched onto it and are thankful for it, and keep using it,” strikes Kolak the most about the past four years. People can donate at nmc.edu/give by typing “food pantry” into the “designate my gift” field.
“Once they heard about the need, they helped fulfill the need. That’s been huge,” Kolak said.
Carrizales said she has accessed the food pantry from time to time, when her own pantry is running low or on a week in between paydays.
“It means a lot that the school does these programs,” she said. “I’m very grateful.”
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
August 24, 2022
Entry-level salary: $60,000.
Entry-level vacation: Six months.
That’s what students who graduate with NMC’s new Culinary Arts certificate with Maritime emphasis, a specialty field with high industry demand, can expect.
Approved by NMC’s Board of Trustees Monday, the one-year certificate formalizes an internship program that’s existed for about five years. Students in NMC’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute have interned as cooks aboard the T/S State of Michigan, the training ship for NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy. All have been immediately employed upon graduation, including 2021 intern/2022 graduate Megan Cook (above).
She anticipates finalizing her job offer this week, after wrapping up a second short-term gig in the training ship’s galley. Cook will sail on the Great Lakes for the May–January shipping season, working a 60 days on/30 days off schedule. She’ll earn a salary of between $60,000 and $70,000.
“This is such a great program. It’s going to be amazing,” said Cook, 20, originally from Sylvania, Ohio. “It makes me so happy that all my hard work paid off.”
The shipping industry hopes to find more cooks like Cook. To meet that demand, NMC hopes to enroll 20 students in the certificate program during the first year, 2023–2024.
“Skilled culinary staff is critical to a well-managed vessel. The maritime industry continues to see this need across all areas. I would 100 percent encourage any culinary student who is seeking adventure while honing their craft to pursue a career at sea,” said Jenny Johnson, director of Labor Experience and Recruitment at Crowley. The Florida-based company has hired past GLCI graduates for its shipping division of more than 200 vessels, in addition to recruiting graduates of NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy.
GLCI student Carolyn Fairchild (left) interned aboard the ship this summer. She says she’s 90 percent sure she’ll seek shipboard employment after she graduates in spring 2023.
“I really like traveling. It was something different than a normal restaurant,” said Fairchild, 20. A Flint native, she transferred to GLCI from Michigan Tech after discovering how much she enjoyed the hands-on and creative aspects of cooking on a prep cook job.
“You can be cooking every day, but not make the same thing for months, and that’s really appealing,” Fairchild said.
Creation of the certificate is an objective within NMC’s strategic plan. It originated in a yearlong reimagining project for the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, which sought to increase enrollment and improve GLCI’s future sustainability.
“This certificate creates a unique offering that will distinguish the Great Lakes Culinary Institute from other programs. It also gives our students more options and meets the needs of industry,” said NMC President Nick Nissley.
It combines and repackages existing curriculum in both the culinary and maritime programs and maximizes assets like the State of Michigan when it is not at sea. Students will take a specialized galley cooking course in the spring semester, the only new course.
“It’s challenging, spacewise and inventory-wise,” Cook said of working in a galley. The course as well as help obtaining maritime credentials will give certificate students a big advantage.
“They’ll get a huge kickstart to being able to sail on a ship,” she said.
More culinary news:
- Farm-to-table dinners at Lobdell’s Teaching Restaurant: September 15, September 29 and October 6. Reservation line opens Aug. 30: (231) 995-3120.
- November and December happy hours at Lobdell’s, hosted by GLCI’s Beverage Management class. Subscribe to the GLCI newsletter to be notified of dates.
- New curriculum emphasizing sustainability: Limited waste, local food, and green cuisine.
- New curriculum emphasizing health and nutrition: Plant-based, gluten-free, and dairy alternatives.
- New content delivery–two short sessions per semester. Students will take fewer courses at the same time, allowing more concentrated learning and quicker goal achievement.
- Lobdell’s lunches are paused for fall semester but will return in February 2023.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
September 28, 2022
As a first-generation college student attending NMC, Alex Walsh had a lot of company. As an NMC graduate, he became one of a rarified few who transfer to an Ivy League college.
Now, with his 2022 Harvard University diploma adorning the wall of Walsh’s office in NMC’s Student Success Center, he’s eager to help more students complete paths like his, taking advantage of NMC to make a degree both more affordable and achievable.
“I want to help fellow community college students,” said Walsh, right, a college completion coach. He joined the Success Center staff in June through NMC’s partnership with the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), and specializes in working with first-generation students from Antrim and Kalkaska counties.
Specifically, MCAN is aimed at achieving Michigan’s goal that 60 percent of residents have a post-secondary degree by 2030. Reaching more first-generation students like Walsh, 30, is key to that.
“The heart of MCAN is all about increasing access to higher education,” said Walsh, who graduated from NMC in 2012 and then enlisted in the Navy before starting at Harvard in 2019. “I saw it as a really good opportunity to come back to NMC. I’m definitely happy to be here.”
This is NMC’s second year as part of the MCAN coaching network. Walsh’s position is funded through AmeriCorps. In its first year, the program exceeded all its goals, notably the number of students who persisted in their educational journey or completed it.
“Partnering with the state to receive some of the funding for this position has allowed us to have our first full-time coaches on campus. They work as an integral part of our coaching team,” said Sally Smarsty, NMC’s Student Success Coordinator.
“We have valued NMC’s investment in the partnership and were excited to award a second coaching position at NMC,” said Trisha Caldwell, AmeriCorps program director for MCAN. “NMC has created a welcoming environment where coaches have felt welcomed and valued at the college; ultimately, providing opportunity for strong collaborative efforts to support students as they navigate their college journey.
Coaches help students develop a support network, an academic plan, a financial plan, and time management skills. They are a newer part of the support service network NMC offers to all students, in addition to instructors, advisors and tutors.
As living proof transferring can be done, Walsh plans to encourage students to aim high while they’re at it. Seeking to diversify their student bodies, some historically elite colleges are now offering generous financial aid to students from community college or first generation backgrounds, Walsh said. The University of Michigan’s Go Blue Guarantee, for instance, offers free tuition to students whose families earn $65,000 or less. Harvard’s income threshold is $75,000 and Princeton’s is $100,000.
As a veteran Walsh also aims to work with fellow coach Bob Hammond to reinvigorate services to veterans, as well as NMC’s chapter of Student Veterans of America.
Walsh’s own academic journey isn’t done, either. While serving as a coach he plans to take both the LSAT and GRE exams as he considers law school or graduate school.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
January 20, 2021
Comprehensive student support and the value of community colleges within higher education overall are topics NMC faculty and staff believe might come up during dinner conversation in the White House starting today.
Photo courtesy NOVA Community CollegeWhile her newly-inaugurated husband works in the Oval Office, Dr. Jill Biden (right) will teach English at Northern Virginia Community College, where she’s taught since 2009. Prior to that, she taught at Delaware Technical & Community College. Having a 28-year veteran of community college classrooms as First Lady presents a unique opportunity for NMC and the 1,100 community colleges nationwide over the next four years.
“Dr. Biden will have a nuanced understanding of our open access mission, and she’ll know that our mission is fulfilled when all students are supported, not just admitted,” said NMC instructor Janet Lively (left), who teaches English like Biden. “She’ll know tuition subsidies are helpful but not enough. She’ll know that a community college education is accessible to everyone when everyone has access to childcare, housing, transportation, health care, and healthy food.”
“She has that first-line, real time experience, and she can bring that experience to the White House and advise the president on what should be done,” agreed Stephen Siciliano, NMC’s vice president for academic affairs. “We can look at statistics and we can look at reports, but there’s something really valuable about that experience, which enables our leader to have that connection.”
Beyond her teaching career and a dissertation that focused on community college retention, Siciliano noted that Biden officially promoted community colleges while Second Lady during the Obama administration. Under her leadership, that administration “elevated the image and focus on community colleges,” he said.
“I’m very hopeful that there will be a continued focus on community colleges, and the role of community colleges in rebuilding the economy,” he said.
The American Association of Community Colleges, of which NMC is a member, has enumerated multiple policy priorities for the new Biden administration, from economic and workforce development to financial assistance for students to investing in rural community colleges like NMC. In addition, Jill Biden’s classroom role will be a daily reminder of the essential function of education.
“It is easy, as a leader, to get caught up in crisis or to lose one’s bearings in a sea of endless administrative challenges. But time invested in the classroom can bring clarity and remind you that teachers transform lives and help enable students’ dreams,” said NMC President Nick Nissley. “The First Lady’s investment in continuing to serve as a teacher is a direct investment in our students’ futures.”
NMC English faculty member Dr. Cathy Warner (right) said Biden’s first-hand knowledge of the varied identities of community college students, including non-traditional older students seeking retraining, military veterans, and parents, bodes well for an overdue broadening of college readiness beyond four-year university preparation.
“As a community college, we are able to translate education into the needed skills and certifications our economy needs – and our national economy is going to need these contributors in order to recover from the many concurrent challenges our nation faces,” said Warner, who won NMC’s teaching excellence award in 2019.
Siciliano agreed that President Joe Biden will have “an overflowing plate,” making Jill Biden’s access invaluable.
“To have his partner be able to speak directly to an important part of higher education is going to be really great,” Siciliano said.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
September 12 2018
In another effort to remove barriers to student success, NMC this week launched Transfer Tuesdays, a drop-in advising opportunity aimed at the 25 percent of full-time students who will start their degree path here, but finish elsewhere.
“Our goal is to help students save time and money at NMC by helping them to identify their career pathway and academic program as soon as possible, so they don’t spend unnecessary time and money,” said Lindsey Dickinson, director of the Advising Center.
In 2016-17, 708 transfers occurred from NMC. The Advising Center organized the seven universities, including six NMC University Center partners, that set up shop in NMC’s Health & Science building for the first time Tuesday.
Victoria AlfonsecaIt was exactly what Victoria Alfonseca needed. She’s in her last semester at NMC and plans to transfer in January. As the mother of a 10-year-old daughter, she wants to stay in Traverse City.
“My family’s here, I was basically raised here, so I’m really glad they offer the University Center here,” said Alfonseca, 30, who chatted Tuesday with a representative from Ferris State University at the UC, where she plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business. “It was definitely helpful to get face-to-face, have an actual person to talk to.”
Simply saving students the drive to the UC campus for the meeting knocks down a barrier.
“Sometimes even that small physical barrier is hard to overcome for our students,” Dickinson said.
Carley Hooper of Traverse City said Transfer Tuesdays will help map her path to a veterinary degree. She’ll earn her associate degree from NMC next spring, and needs a bachelor’s that offers specific science classes before she can apply to Michigan State’s graduate program in veterinary medicine. Also a parent off young children, ages 2 and 7, she’s hoping to find online and local classes that will meet her needs, enabling her to postpone an East Lansing move as long as possible.
“I’m definitely interested in a lot of these places,” said Hooper, 27, who was especially intrigued by a Central Michigan University bachelor’s in business program that could help her with her own practice down the road. “I’ll definitely be looking into a lot of these programs to see if they offer the prerequisites for the veterinary program.”
Transfer Tuesdays will continue throughout the fall semester, from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. The drop-in structure eliminates the barrier of scheduling, too. Other NMC services, like math tutoring, have found a drop-in structure, vs. scheduled appointments, increases usage and student success.
NMC will still hold admissions-focused Transfer Fairs twice a year. Transfer Tuesdays allow students to actually meet with advisors at their destination school and make personal academic plans.
“What we really saw was a need to build awareness with our students that transfer planning starts as soon as your first semester here,” Dickinson said.
As she wraps up her NMC career, Alfonseca has some advice to other students to maximize their tuition dollars and time.
“Try to take as many classes as you can at NMC,” she said.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
June 12, 2019
As a pastry chef, petit fours and artisan breads are Les Eckert’s favorite things to bake, but as the new director of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, she expects to focus on numbers and people.
Eckert, 51, (right) began her tenure at GLCI last week with a clear list of priorities: Increase enrollment, continue to improve student retention, get to know her team and insure GLCI is matching industry needs.
“We have to make the program so added-value that it’s attracting students from across the state, across the country,” said Eckert.
In taking the GLCI helm, she’s done so herself. A Florida native, Eckert studied, taught and managed programs at three campuses of the International Culinary Schools, in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and most recently, Raleigh, N.C.
She said the opportunity to direct an American Culinary Federation-accredited program following former director Fred Laughlin’s retirement was a major attraction of the NMC position. In both Tampa and Raleigh she went through the ACF process. Valid for five years, accreditation assures students that a program meets a set of standards and competencies for faculty, curriculum and student services.
“It’s an incredible feeling when your team has worked that hard,” Eckert said, adding that accreditation should serve as a beacon to students, distinguishing GLCI from other culinary schools.
“That is a huge deal for a culinary school. Chefs in the industry… when you are a graduate of a program that has it, they know you have a solid background,” she said.
As most GLCI students do, Eckert initially earned an associate’s degree. She then went on to earn a bachelor’s in culinary management and an MBA with a concentration in hospitality management. She hopes to cultivate a desire for career advancement among GLCI students, too.
“When you start building on those degrees, it really opens doors for you,” she said.
Building upon traditions like the annual Great Lakes, Great Chefs dinner where GLCI chef alumni return to cook a fundraiser dinner alongside current students, Eckert would like to see alumni return as mentors, internship partners and speakers.
As a Floridian, she’s also planning to try snowshoeing or cross-country skiing as a means of embracing her first northern winter.
“I’m just super excited to be here,” Eckert said.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
August 30, 2017
North Hall ribbon cutting ceremonyNMC’s fall semester will be bookended by celebrations of new campus facilities, with last week’s opening of the North Hall residence hall and a grand re-opening of an expanded Dennos Museum Center targeted for November.
“It’s an exciting time at NMC as we see years of hard work begin to materialize and we continue to invest in the future of education,” said President Timothy J. Nelson. “These projects will increase NMC’s ability to serve our learners and the community, while also updating outdated campus infrastructure.”
The $8.8-million, 135-bed North Hall is the first new student housing on campus in more than 40 years and was built in response to demand, since on-campus housing has been at capacity for four years. Units are designed in quad suites with shared kitchen and living space. (See a 360-degree view of the shared space.) Laundry facilities and study or meeting space is available on each floor, with a fitness center on the ground floor.
Located on the eastern end of main campus, North Hall has also been designed with a flexible format where sections could be used for workforce development housing in off-peak times.
In July, the Dennos Museum Center re-opened on a limited basis, with exhibitions in the Sculpture Court and Inuit gallery. Admission is reduced while the rest of the 15,000-square-foot expansion is completed. Construction of two new galleries and other renovations are scheduled to be finished this fall, with a grand re-opening of the entire museum planned for November. The expanded galleries were funded by generous donations from Richard and Diana Milock and Barb and Dudley Smith.
Meanwhile, construction of the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center is set to begin in May 2018 after funds were committed in the state of Michigan fiscal 2018 budget.
Once complete, the center will combine state and NMC investments of more than $7 million each for renovations and modernizations of the 50-year-old West Hall into a new multi-story library and flexible learning space.
“Combined, these projects show the dedication of our NMC employees, donors, community, business and governmental partners all working together to help ensure our learners are successful,” Nelson said.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
November 20, 2019
Updates to NMC’s longstanding engineering partnership with Michigan Technological University designed to increase student success and reduce costs will receive statewide recognition this week.
Faculty members Jerry Dobek (seated) Jay Smith (right) and NMC adviser Deb Maison (center) will receive the 2019 Innovation in Transfer Award on Thursday at a statewide conference.
The trio’s work to establish a “2 + 2” program with MTU in seven different engineering specialties is especially significant as more universities seek to enroll students for all four years, rather than accepting them as transfer students from community colleges. NMC was also ahead of others in the state in terms of a transfer pathway specifically for engineering.
“Michigan Tech is acknowledging the quality of our courses, the quality of our instruction, and the quality of our students with this agreement,” said Lindsey Dickinson, NMC director of advising, who nominated the trio for their 18 months of work. Students who complete NMC’s engineering certificate with a 2.75 GPA are guaranteed admission to MTU, entering as juniors to complete their bachelor of science. The agreements are expected to increase NMC’s enrollment pipeline to one of Michigan’s leading engineering schools, located in Houghton, Mich.
“Our engineering program here is in a growth period, which should only be aided by agreements like these,” Smith said.
The first seven agreements became effective this fall. Another 12 are in the works, Dobek said. They plan to work with other schools, including Kettering University, Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University, to establish more engineering options.
Other community colleges are also seeking NMC’s advice on how to replicate the agreements, Dickinson said.
NMC-MTU engineering articulation agreements date to 1990. The new agreements reflect how engineering programs have changed and how graduation requirements have become more specialized. Read more at nmc.edu/engineering.
Beyond engineering, NMC has articulation agreements in place with 35 educational institutions for more than 100 programs. Read more at nmc.edu/transfer.
Read more about it
Read about more success stories like the NMC-MTU partnership in the next issue of Nexus, the NMC magazine. The next issue mails Dec. 16 with a cover story on retiring president Timothy J. Nelson’s legacy, a feature on NMC’s reality TV stars, and much more. Call (231) 995-1021 to have one sent to your mailbox!
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
December 6, 2017
Commuters hurrying home along Eighth Street these dark evenings will find a bright spot, thanks to a collaboration between NMC and Roost.
NMC’s solar power trailer is lighting up the Roost prefabricated tiny home located at 444 E. Eighth, opposite Family Video. The home is illuminated from 5–8 p.m. nightly.
The collaboration is designed to show what’s possible with solar energy, said NMC construction technology adjunct instructor Mike Schmerl.
“It does work, in northern Michigan, in the winter,” said Schmerl.
And it’s ideal for Roost, said Geoff Nelson, a co-founder of the company that created the 370-square-foot, finish-ready home that’s occupied the former vacant lot since June.
“There’s a great many people who want to live smaller, greener,” Nelson said. Roost’s other green features include renewable materials, a sustainable building process and tight building envelope to maximize energy efficiency.
Parked on the home’s west side with its solar panels tilted south, the trailer is only illuminating the home, not heating it or powering appliances. Still, it kick-starts consideration of solar, said Schmerl, whose own Traverse City home is 50 percent solar-powered.
“All things are possible,” Schmerl said. “What we demonstrate is expandability.”
NMC first developed the solar trailer in 2006. Schmerl updated it for the Roost project using equipment sold to the college at a discount.
“The technology has become more user-friendly, easier to understand, and more adaptable to people’s power requirements,” said Schmerl. “Using that trailer and our classroom skill set, we can adapt to almost any inquiries.”
As electric cars become more prevalent, Schmerl sees more opportunity for solar growth. The website Charge Hub lists 26 public charging stations in Traverse City, including at the Cambria Suites hotel, the original Meijer parking lot, and the Old Towne parking deck just down the street from Roost.
“Why wouldn’t they package the sale of an electric vehicle with the sale of the charging equipment, which would lead to the sale of the solar,” he said.
Nelson agreed that he’s seeing interest increase among all kinds of clients, from millennials to boomers.
“It’s been super encouraging to see the people responding to living smaller, greener, low-maintenance,” he said.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
November 22, 2017
In this season of gratitude, quality child care is near the top of the list for the young families fortunate enough to have found it.
This fall, one NMC alumna took a step toward filling that crucial community need by doubling her home child care capacity, including more desperately-needed infant care. Alison Burns’ Healthy Start Child Care in Traverse City also now employs two NMC child development students, (including Emily Spica, above) providing them valuable work experience.
A licensed provider in Michigan since 1996, Burns (right) originally chose child care as a way to stay home with her own three children. Until this year, her license limited her to six children in care simultaneously, only two of whom could be under a year old. However, Burns self-limited infant enrollment to one. She frequently had a waiting list, and felt badly for the families she had to turn away.
“There’s such a demand for infant care,” she said.
Then this fall, timing and preparation coincided, allowing Burns to help meet that demand.
Back in 2011, inspired to learn more about children with special needs after one came into her care, Burns enrolled in an Exceptional Child psychology class at NMC. Child development program coordinator and instructor Cheryl Bloomquist then persuaded her to complete the entire Child Development certificate course sequence — 32 credit hours. Even after practicing child care for 15 years, Burns found herself invigorated in the classroom.
“It reinforced what I already knew, (and) I learned so much,” she said. An Infant and Toddler Development class was especially beneficial, she said, bolstering her knowledge of best practices for that age group and confidence working with them.
She completed her certificate in 2013 and returned to running her six-child daycare home. She also made time to serve on Bloomquist’s Early Childhood Advisory Committee.
“Her input is so valuable, because I don’t always have a family home provider there,” Bloomquist said.
Fast-forward to this fall, when Burns’ youngest daughter left for college, creating more physical space for child care in their home. Simultaneously Burns was up for relicensing, and the lack of child care regionally had become an acknowledged obstacle to continued economic growth.
“Babies need care, and they need good care,” said Bloomquist. “They take up a lot of space and they take up a lot of employees.”
Burns decided to expand her license to allow her to care for 12 children, up to four of whom can be younger than 18 months. All those slots are filled, and in fact she cares for 19 different children over the course of a week, since some attend part-time.
She also turned to NMC to find staff. Both Kalee Lown, lead infant and toddler teacher, and Spica, lead preschool teacher, are NMC students. On a recent brisk morning, Spica played with preschoolers in Burns’ backyard while Lown and Burns each held an infant, and another napped.
“I get to apply the things we’re learning in class,” said Spica, who will graduate next spring. “A lot of (the work) coincides with the assignments we’re given.”
Burns empowers them to use their education on the job.
“These teachers are teachers. They’re not just waiting for me to tell them what to do,” she said.
“Now she is the mentor,” Bloomquist said. “It’s just been a really good fit.”
For information on Healthy Start Child Care, call (231) 933-7002.
