NMC joins basic needs initiative to support students

Jan 14, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — NMC this month joins a statewide initiative to help students connect with resources to support basic needs. The Michigan Community College Association was awarded a $442,000 grant to launch the initiative focused on improving student completion and success by addressing economic instability among students including access to food, housing, transportation, childcare and other basic needs.

The Michigan – Building Economic Stability Today (MI-BEST) effort is funded through June 2022 by a grant from the Los Angeles-based ECMC Foundation as part of its Basic Needs Initiative, designed to address and alleviate basic needs insecurity among students. National survey findings reported that 45 percent of respondents had been food insecure in the past 30 days, 56 percent had been housing insecure in the previous year and 17 percent had been homeless during that year.

NMC will begin by forming a team of college personnel and community leaders. Dean of Students Lisa Thomas, NMC’s project lead, said members will include executive leadership, advisers, faculty, development/fundraising staff, financial aid staff and community partners.

“What I would hope is we learn some ways to better structure or provide internal supports to our students,” Thomas said.

NMC has offered a food pantry since November 2017. It serves between 80 and 90 people per month. This year’s usage is on pace to equal the 2018 academic year, the first full year of operation, when 1,087 total people were served.
In addition to the food pantry, Thomas also has emergency textbook funds available, as well as gas cards and BATA passes for students with transportation issues. Now, accessing those resources is handled on a case by case basis, rather than systematically.

“We’re going to take a deep dive to see what are the structures and processes in place at NMC to see what is supporting or what is a barrier to students completing their education,” Thomas said.

The Michigan Center for Student Success is leading the initiative for the MCCA and will partner with nationally-recognized organizations including the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and Trellis Research along with Michigan-based organizations including the Michigan Association of United Ways, MiBridges, and Public Policy Associates to support Michigan’s participating community colleges.

“We know that the lack of access to basic needs is frequently the reason that students leave college,” said Erica Lee Orians, executive director of the Michigan Center for Student Success at the MCCA. “NMC’s participation in this initiative is a critical component of our student success efforts.”

The Michigan Center for Student Success, founded in 2011, serves as a hub connecting leadership, administrators, faculty, and staff in their emerging and ongoing efforts to improve student outcomes, emphasizing linkages between practice, research, and policy. The Center has led statewide initiatives focused on reengaging adults, developmental education, transfer, veterans, and advising. The Center is part of the 16-state Student Success Center Network working with over half of the community colleges across the nation.

Release date: January 14, 2019

For more information:

Lisa Thomas
Dean of Students
lthomas@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1043

Outstanding Alumni nominations due

Jan 14, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — The Northwestern Michigan College alumni program is seeking nominations for the 2019 Outstanding Alumni award. Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 28.

Celebrated since 1988, the Outstanding Alumni award recognizes alumni for significant professional achievements and/or exemplary leadership in the local or global community. The award(s) will be presented at NMC’s annual Commencement ceremony May 4.

Nominations may also be e-mailed to Director of Alumni Relations, Cameron Penny, at alumni@nmc.edu or mailed to the NMC Alumni Relations, 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City, MI 49686.

The 2018 Outstanding Alumni recipients were Ed Reynolds, Dr. Robert Tanis, and Trevor Tkach.

Release date: January 14, 2019

For more information:

Cameron Penny
Director of Alumni Relations
cpenny@nmc.edu
(231) 995-2825

Community invited to new president reception

Jan 7, 2019 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College invites the community to meet its 11th president, Nick Nissley, at a welcome reception from 5–7 p.m. Friday Jan. 17, at the Hagerty Center at NMC’s Great Lakes campus.

Nissley, an education executive with more than 25 years of experience, says there’s no place he’d rather be than NMC. While his first day in the office was Jan. 2,  Nissley said he’s been doing his homework on the college since his contract was finalized in October 2019.

“It’s obvious to me, NMC is a strong college in a strong community – it has a proud history and a future of possibilities,” he said. “Being here at NMC is a calling. It’s a calling for me to share my strengths.”

Those strengths are broad and diverse. Nissley’s career includes experience in K-12, community college and university settings. He has leadership experience in fundraising, professional development, human resources, teaching and the arts. His areas of focus include helping build individual and organization capabilities that support organizational effectiveness and innovation cultures in support of educational excellence.  Nissley describes himself as a collaborative servant leader and “possibilitarian.”

“I believe in NMC’s role that we have played historically, and that we must imagine together as we look to the future – our role in improving the lives of people and strengthening the fabric of our community. Together, let’s be driven to think and act beyond boundaries, and to achieve more than was originally imagined. That’s the possibilitarian spirit of NMC,” he said.

RSVPs are not required and there is no cost to attend the reception, which will include hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

Nissley’s most recent position was Executive Director of Cincinnati’s School for Creative & Performing Arts (SCPA) — the first K-12 public creative and performing arts magnet school in the country, recognized as a model magnet arts school and a crown jewel of Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). He previously served as Dean of the Business Division of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, one of Ohio’s largest community colleges.

Release date: January 7, 2019

For more information:

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

Success Story: Two TC students forge forward this fall

Dec 19, 2018 | Intercom, Student News

December 19, 2018

NMC seeks to help each student achieve their personal definition of success. As the fall 2018 semester concludes, enjoy a tale of two very diverse students, each succeeding in her own way.

This semester, on the heels of an internship in Seattle and a study-abroad trip to Italy, Maria Leggett, 27, completed the requirements for her culinary degree and co-founded a student group, all while working in two Traverse City restaurants.

She’s come a long way since she first enrolled, after graduating from Traverse City West High School in 2010. Then she studied business, but found it wasn’t for her. Leggett left and tried a range of jobs — factory work, banking, and the food industry. After three years she decided to give college a second try, re-enrolling in fall 2016. Her passion for food led her to the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.

She’s most proud of the student group, Spoonful of Foodies, which works to spread Traverse City’s “super foodie town” culture to the college, working with the food pantry to offer cooking demonstrations.

“Simple recipes that college students who have limited equipment can prepare,” Leggett said. “Some students just don’t know how to cook.”

While she clearly does, Leggett says she loves learning and plans to go on a second study abroad trip to Italy in the spring, while continuing to work at Trattoria Stella and The Good Bowl. Eventually she’d like to combine ethnic cuisines and work in a fusion-style kitchen.

Hannah Krohn, 20, is also a Traverse City native, graduating from Grand Traverse Academy in 2017. She maintains a 4.0 grade point average, serves on NMC Student Government, is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the international community college honor society, and three other college groups, all while managing severe dyslexia.

This semester, her class in Western Civilization helped Krohn to enhance and refine a language of symbols and color coding that she uses to compensate for poor reading fluency of traditional, written text. Her textbooks are audio and tests are read aloud, but her original language is key to effective studying.

“It’s the semester when I’m feeling the impact,” of the effort she’s put forth since enrolling in fall 2017, Krohn said. The Writing and Reading Center helped her create a resume that earned her a summer job as a behavioral technician, working with autistic children.

Her 4.0 GPA notwithstanding, her proudest achievement is the independent study in ceramics that she was approved for this semester. Post-graduation in 2020, she’d like to use her sculpting skills working as an installer for three-dimensional pieces in aquariums and museums.

In the meantime, she loves NMC.

“I really like the environment. There’s a small community and they’re very accepting here,” Krohn said.