Need a quick lunch?

May 13, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

Need a quick lunch but don’t have time to leave campus? Sandwiches, wraps, and drinks are available at the bookstore all summer!

Faculty Excellence winners named

May 10, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

Nicole Speelman (click for high-resolution version)TRAVERSE CITY — Science and English instructors were named the 2019 winners of NMC’s annual Faculty Excellence awards at commencement ceremonies May 4.

Chemistry instructor Nicole Speelman is the Imogene Wise Faculty Excellence Award winner.

English instructor Cathy Warner is the Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award winner. Chosen by a student selection committee, criteria for both awards include teaching excellence, rapport with students, innovation in the classroom and a sense of dedication.

Both joined the NMC faculty relatively recently. Of Speelman, who began in January 2018, students said:

• This instructor has gone above and beyond, holding study sessions every week even coming in on Saturdays to give extra help before exams.
• She is very good at connecting with her students. She also uses a flipped; classroom as a style of teaching. We would watch the lecture videos at home as homework and use class time to go over concepts that we were struggling with. I found this incredibly helpful.
• I never was thrilled to take a chemistry class, but after this semester I would definitely take another. I couldn’t thank her enough!

Cathy Warner (click for high-resolution version)Of Warner, who began in August 2017, students said:

• This instructor gets to know every one of the students so we don’t just feel like another face in the room. Our teacher understands the students’ strengths and weaknesses, and accommodates material for every one of the students to have success in the class.
• The instructor has us use Moodle, concept maps, and explains difficult concepts on the board. Also, the instructor uses YouTube videos to the class’ advantage.
• Our instructor is very caring and relates the material to real life events happening in our media to drive the points across.

The Imogene Wise award was first bestowed in 1971. The adjunct award was created as a companion in 1999.

Release date: may 10, 2019

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Diana Fairbanks
Executive Director, NMC Public Relations, Marketing & Communications
dfairbanks@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1019

New Books at the Library – May 2019

May 8, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

The library has purchased many new books so far this year. You can view a handful here along with descriptions or go here to see the full listing. These books are on display in the library’s lobby.

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Success Story: Grad helps shrink Michigan talent gap

May 1, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

May 1, 2019

It’s never too late to finish what you started.

Marilyn Dear, 70, (right) will exemplify that truth Saturday, when she accepts her associate degree at NMC’s 2019 commencement ceremony, finishing what she started more than 50 years ago.

“I’m so excited,” said the Traverse City mother of five sons, whose grade point average entitles her to wear the yellow stole of Phi Theta Kappa, the international community college honor society, with her cap and gown. “I’m going to hang this diploma up on the wall and be proud I finished.”

Until Saturday, Dear shared the position of more than 1 million fellow Michigan residents — some college, but no credential to show for it. Helping that group of people attain credentials is key to closing Michigan’s talent gap, says Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. NMC President Tim Nelson agrees.

“It’s a big need for the state, and community colleges are in position to help figure out how to meet that need,” he said in a recent interview.

Dear started at Schoolcraft Community College immediately after high school graduation in 1966, but dropped out after two semesters to join a friend on a trip to California. In Denver she met the man who would become her husband, Jerry Dear. A move back to Michigan, marriage, family, a move to Traverse City and work occupied the next four decades, and the 28 credits she’d earned at Schoolcraft sat parked on a shelf.

In 2011 her job was eliminated. Her children were grown. Dear seized her opportunity.

“I thought, ‘let’s go back to school,’ “ she said.

She was pleasantly surprised to discover the Schoolcraft credits transferred to NMC. “That was part of the reason I was encouraged to finish,” she said.

NMC Director of Advising Lindsey Dickinson said her office works with each student to make the most of any existing credits.

“We know how crucial it is for incoming students,” said Dickinson, who transferred from NMC herself in 2002. “We work one-on-one with students to help them maximize transfer credits towards completion at NMC.”

After taking just one business class, Dear found a new job, at Knorr Marketing in Traverse City. She’s been a working student ever since, taking one or two classes a semester, once taking a year off when work was busy, but always returning. She finds school invigorating.

“It’s healthy, because it’s making my brain work,” she said. “As I get older, I think that’s only a plus.”

Dear will miss some of her favorite instructors — business instructor Nicole Fewins and Tom Gordon in history. She’s not sure how she’ll celebrate. She will have more time to train for the triathlons she does annually. She might visit her son who lives in New York City. Her sons might have something planned, too.

“My kids want to celebrate big,” she said.

Dance Mix 2019

Apr 30, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — NMC’s Dance department will present Dance Mix 2019 at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 5 in Milliken Auditorium.

Under the director of Dorothy Eisenstein, the annual end-of-year concert will feature choreography by NMC faculty, students and guest artists.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for students and seniors and available at mynorthtickets.com at and the door. Call (800) 836-0717 for more information.

For more information:

Dorothy Eisenstein
NMC Dance Department
deisenstein@nmc.edu

Food Drive April 25 in the Health & Science Building

Apr 23, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

On Thursday, April 25, between 2 and 5 p.m., the Null Squad Paintball Team will hold a food drive in the Health & Science Building lobby near the NMC Bookstore to help fill the NMC Food Pantry. Please bring items to donate.

World Press Freedom Day marked

Apr 23, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — NMC’s International Affairs Forum will mark World Press Freedom Day Tuesday, April 30 with a presentation by Rami Khouri, Beirut-based journalist and international commentator and professor of journalism at the American University in Beirut.

Set for 6 p.m. at Traverse City’s State Theatre, the event is an opportunity to evaluate press freedom around the world and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. In 2018, 53 journalists were killed in the line of duty and more than 250 imprisoned.

Dialogue on stage will be facilitated by Jacob Wheeler, NMC journalism instructor and adviser to the student-run White Pine Press newspaper. The event will include recognition of local journalists. Tickets are $5 and free to students, educators, and journalists.

Release date: April 23, 2019

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Karen Segal
International Affairs Forum co-chair
(231) 715-6064
karenpsegal@gmail.com

Success Story: NMC pilots to compete in historic Air Race Classic

Apr 17, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

April 17, 2019

Hannah Beard and Jessi Martin (click for high-resolution version)NMC’s aviation program will get a lofty showcase before a national audience this summer when a pair of student pilots fly across North America in the Air Race Classic, the oldest air race of its kind, and exclusively for female pilots.

Ninety years after legendary aviator Amelia Earhart made cross-country racing popular, Team Hawk Owls — Hannah Beard of Interlochen (left) and Jessi Martin of Maple City (right) — will take off from Jackson, Tenn. on June 18 in an NMC Cessna. The 2,500 mile trip is a race against the clock broken into nine legs. They expect to land in Welland, Ontario, by June 21.

“It’s going to be marathon,” Martin, 43, said.

“Sunrise to sunset flying,” agreed Beard, 23.

Entering the Air Race Classic is the latest example of how women at NMC are making significant strides in what has long been a male-dominated field. While only four percent of U.S. airline pilots are female, nearly 20 percent of current NMC aviation students are now women. The college is now home to a chapter of Women in Aviation International, which allows them to network and support each other.

Women are also becoming leaders among the overall student population. Beard is NMC’s top-performing aviation student this year, mastering commercial pilot skills faster than any other student, Aviation director Alex Bloye said.

“She met all the requirements of the certificate much quicker than any other student we’ve seen in recent years,” Bloye said.

He said competing in the Air Race Classic will drawn more awareness to NMC’s aviation program. Only one other community college has entered. Among the 15 academic teams are mostly large universities including Western Michigan University, Purdue and Ohio State.

“This race will put NMC and our pilots on the national stage with some of the best aviators in the world,” he said. “This is an exciting opportunity to not only inspire the next generation of NMC students, but to give Hannah and Jessi a chance to expand their envelope of experience.”

Their plane’s tail number — N157KC — honors former flight instructor, Kevin Copeland, who passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2017. An NMC flight instructor, Victoria Gann, will be racing as part of another team. Air Race Classic pilots range from ages 17 to 90.

“We look forward to seeing Hannah and Jessi cross the finish line. This will be a huge accomplishment that will help to solidify interest of future NMC race teams,” Bloye said.

NMC is seeking sponsors to help underwrite the $10,000 cost to compete, which includes fuel, transportation and lodging. Contact Paris Morse at the NMC Foundation, pmorse@nmc.edu, for more information.

Follow Beard and Martin’s progress at the NMC Aviation Facebook page. They expect an NMC cheering section may show up at the race’s seventh stop, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.