Understanding Generational Differences lunch & learn

Back by popular demand! Don’t miss this professional development opportunity!

Join fellow NMC colleagues to enjoy lunch and learn at this live session on understanding generational differences. Katie Sommer-Ford and Bridget Munroe will lead this session as attendees explore the unique characteristics and perspectives of each generation in an effort to better understand those around us. We will not only look at the historical, social and communicative context but also discuss how this can help us work together better and better serve our students.

Friday, March 7, 2025
12:30–2 p.m.
Osterlin Building, room 0203-0205

Please RSVP by enrolling in this course in NEOED Training. To enroll, follow these instructions.

For questions, please contact lhodek@nmc.edu.

 

    Center for Instructional Excellence

March mobile food pantry distributions

NMC Mobile Food Pantry

NMC will host two mobile food pantries during the month of March on Monday, March 3 and Monday, March 17. The distributions will occur from 3-5 p.m. in the Maple Lot at the Front Street campus.

This program is specifically designed to support NMC students (and their households) by supplementing their diets with fresh, healthy produce while helping to free up financial resources to cover other household expenses. Even if you’ve never come out before, check out our pantry and see how we can help support you!

All food is distributed free of charge, the only paperwork is just a sign in sheet in case of recall. There are no financial requirements or means tests. Our recent distributions have included menu items such as granola bars, pasta, oranges, grapefruit, carrots, and instant mashed potatoes. Each household should expect to receive at least 40 lbs of fresh foods and some shelf-stable products.

Walk-up and drive-thru options are both available. Come over and drive-thru or bring a backpack or reusable bag and take what you and your household can use in the next 7-10 days. 

These pantries are made possible in partnership with Feeding America.

Media mentions for February 24, 2025

The following college events and stories have appeared in the media recently. We want to share your media involvement too. Please send information about your NMC-related interview or appearance to publicrelations@nmc.edu. If possible, please include a link to the piece and information about where and when it was used.

Please note access to some stories may be limited by paywalls set up by the media outlet. This includes the Traverse City Record-Eagle, which limits free clicks to five per month. You may also read Record-Eagle articles in the print edition at the NMC Library.

From research to reality: Building a ‘blue tech’ ecosystem
Record-Eagle, Feb. 23
(more…)

Staying active at NMC!

NMC has lots of opportunities for employees to stay active. This March, the fitness center, located in North Hall, will be free for all employees to access. The fitness center is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Annual memberships to the fitness center are $40 and can be purchased through EES’ website (log in to see your employees-only fitness passes). All employees who currently hold memberships to the fitness center will receive an additional month of membership.

In addition to NMC’s fitness center, employees are welcome to come play a number of activities in the Rajkovich Physical Education Building such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, badminton, pickleball or ping pong on Mondays from 3-6:50 p.m. for free.

Please bring a pair of clean, non-scuff shoes to use in both spaces. For more information contact Marcus Bennett at mbennett@nmc.edu.

 

 

Participants needed for 2025 Cherry Festival booth

Let’s help get through the rest of this long winter by setting our sights on summer! The Admissions department in collaboration with Public Relations, Marketing & Communications will once again have a booth at the entrance to the Cherry Festival near Marina Drive (next to the food court near the beverage tent) from Saturday, June 28 to Saturday, July 5.

Admissions will be promoting NMC throughout the week and would like programs and departments to join them to help showcase all that NMC has to offer. Anyone who wishes to participate should bring information, materials, swag and/or interactive activities to engage festival-goers and promote your program, department, or initiative to prospective students, their families and the wider community.

If you would like to participate at this year’s festival, please fill out the Cherry Festival booth signup form. To help us organize the calendar, please submit a form for each day that you would like to be present. For example, if you plan to join for just one day, please complete the form once. However, if you plan to be present on 2 or 3 different days, please complete a new form for each day.

Our past couple years have been a success! We appreciate all who took part and look forward to expanding on the experience again this year.

If you have questions or require assistance, please contact Traci Heidbreder at (231) 995-2526, theidbreder@nmc.edu or Lisa vonReichbauer at (231) 995-1594, lvonreichbauer@nmc.edu.

Kudos!

Kudos to Lynne Moritz! Kudos to Lynne Moritz for organizing the All Employee Virtual Connections! It is a wonderful way to connect with our fellow staff members and to get valuable updates.


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 hire

Hayley Davidson recently started working at the college as a supplemental in food service (back of house). Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!

    •  

Success Story: Tower gardens notch quintuple win in first year

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

At Lobdell’s Teaching Restaurant, NMC’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute has shortened the concept of farm to table to hallway to table.

Six hydroponic gardens lining a hallway outside Lobdell's Teaching RestaurantThe six hydroponic tower gardens that greet guests in the second floor hall on NMC’s Great Lakes campus have 1) saved money, 2) provided fresher produce, 3) improved sustainability practices, 4) offered an experiential learning opportunity and 5) benefited recruitment since they were installed in January 2024 through a donation.

The six-foot-tall towers, from which lettuce, herbs and edible flowers sprout under a purple glow, were installed as a year-round way to supply herbs and greens for use in Lobdell’s and improve sustainability practices.

“”Our instruction emphasizes the importance of minimizing food waste,” said Chef Les Eckert, GLCI director. As part of the culinary program’s recent reimagination, GLCI integrated additional principles of environmental stewardship. The Tower Gardens represent a significant focus area, reflecting current trends and challenges within the industry.

“How can we reduce our waste in general? What if we could literally start growing our more expensive items that have a short shelf life?” said Eckert.

A Great Lakes Culinary Institute student harvests fresh greens from a hydroponic gardenItems like basil, used both fresh and to make popular sauces like pesto, which students make and freeze to use in the restaurant.

“We started doing the math, and came up with a rough estimate that we saved about $1,000,” on basil alone, Eckert said. At about $1,000 each, one tower — which was purchased with donated dollars – has already paid for itself.

Each tower has a 13-gallon reservoir, an automated water pump and lighting system.

“They simulate a long summer day,” Eckert said.

Students enrolled in GLCI lab courses make use of the produce cultivated in the Tower Gardens, which involves learning the correct techniques for trimming, snipping, and harvesting lettuce greens, herbs, and edible flowers. A committed team of students, the “Tower Garden Care Team” is responsible for the maintenance of the tower gardens, which includes tasks such as replenishing the water reservoirs, adjusting pH levels and lighting, as well as seeding, trimming, and harvesting the plants for use in the lab classes throughout the week.

The ultimate unexpected success of the towers lies in their ability to attract prospective students who visit GLCI.

“When the admissions team conducts their tours, it becomes a significant focal point at the entrance into the Institute,” Eckert said

Eventually, Eckert would like to have more towers to further reduce GLCI’s carbon footprint as well as to supply other campus food operations, like the Hagerty Center and Hawk Owl Cafe. For the short term, however, she just wants to get better

“This second year is taking what we learned,” she said. “What did we do right, and improving on our yields and the efficiencies the towers can bring.

“I see it as a great part of the curriculum.”

Extended Education earns international award 

TRAVERSE CITY — NMC’s Extended Education & Training division received an international award from the Learning Resources Network (LERN) for measuring and documenting the financial contribution of Extended Education students to NMC as $2.6 million since 2020.

NMC Vice President of Advancement Dino Hernandez and Extended Education and Training Director Laura Stevens MatchettNMC Vice President of Advancement Dino Hernandez, left,
and Extended Education and Training Director Laura Stevens
Matchett, right. (Download a high-resolution version here.)
LERN is the leading association in continuing education and workforce development. The award was one of only ten presented at LERN’s annual conference in January, attended by 1,500 professionals in lifelong learning from four countries. Working with the NMC Foundation, NMC Extended Education found that 14 percent of Extended Education students are donors to the college. Since 2020, their contributions have totaled $2.6 million.

In conducting the analysis, NMC has laid down a new benchmark for the continuing education and workforce development sector.

“The award is for innovation in the field of continuing education and serving communities,” said LERN President William A. Draves. “The NMC award is especially outstanding, since every organization can adopt this best practice.”

Laura Stevens Matchett, director of Extended Education and Training at NMC, accepted the award.

“This award gives voice and value to the hard work that continuing education units do for their college communities all over the world,” she said. “I’m proud of my team for creating high interest classes and events that meet the learning desires of NMC alumni, our community’s youth, adult learners looking to upskill in the workplace, and residents who simply wish to continue learning and engaging with the college.”

Release date: February 18, 2025

For more information:

Cari Noga
NMC Communications Director
cnoga@nmc.edu
(231) 392-1800 (Call or text)

 

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE

Northwestern Michigan College does not discriminate in admission, campus activities, education, employment, housing, public accommodation or public service on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity/expression, handicap, height, marital or familial status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, service in the military, veteran’s status, weight, or any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local law. No act of retaliation shall occur to any person making a charge, filing a complaint, testifying or participating in any discrimination investigation or proceeding. nmc.edu/non-discrimination

Art and craft night

NMC art and craft nightCampus Life, Student Life, Residence Life and Craft Club will be hosting a craft night for employees, students and their families from 3:30–6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3 at the open space in the Osterlin Building on NMC’s Front Street Campus (#3 on the campus map). Whether you like knitting, sand art, etc., there will something fun for everyone. The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

For more information, please contact Marcus Bennett at mbennett@nmc.edu.

Save the date: Campus Day is May 9

Did You Hear? Campus Day is returning in 2025! 

Campus Day is a community event put on by NMC Extended Education & Training that is geared toward a 50+ audience where community members experience a variety of learning opportunities. Previous sessions ranged from “Climate Change in the Great Lakes” to “Life Changing Foods” to “Never Get a Computer Virus Again.”

Campus Day will be held on Friday, May 9. Registration fee (coming soon) includes coffee and donuts, three sessions and lunch. 

Here’s a sneak peek of the tentative schedule:

    • 8:30–9:30: Coffee & Connection at Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center
    • 9:30–10:45: Session 1
    • 11:15–12:30: Session 2
    • 12:30–1:30: Lunch
    • 1:30–2:45: Session 3

Add To Your Google Calendar

Sessions will be available for preview on April 2, and full details will be included in the Extended Education & Training summer catalog. Online, phone, in-person and mail-in registration options will be available beginning on April 9. The Extended Education & Training office is open to the public Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the NMC University Center.

We can’t wait to bring back this community favorite event; stay tuned for additional information!

Media mentions for February 17, 2025

The following college events and stories have appeared in the media recently. We want to share your media involvement too. Please send information about your NMC-related interview or appearance to publicrelations@nmc.edu. If possible, please include a link to the piece and information about where and when it was used.

Please note access to some stories may be limited by paywalls set up by the media outlet. This includes the Traverse City Record-Eagle, which limits free clicks to five per month. You may also read Record-Eagle articles in the print edition at the NMC Library.

Education newsmakers
Record-Eagle, Feb. 16
(more…)

NMC Music department winter and spring events

JAZZ 4 ALL! The Jeff Haas Trio featuring Laurie Sears + Lisa Flahive

February 27, 6 p.m., The Alluvion, 414 E Eighth St., Traverse City
NMC Jazz Big Band with the Jeff Haas Trio, Josh Wagner – Director
Honor cover at the door.
Read more

NMC Chamber Singers – “Music of Solace and Strength” Directed by Jeff Cobb

February 28, 7:30 p.m., The Alluvion, 414 E Eighth St., Traverse City
NMC Chamber Singers, Jeffrey Cobb – Director
Join the NMC Chamber Singers as they share a wonderful evening of choral music.
Purchase tickets

(more…)

Board of Trustees Audit Committee to meet Feb. 18

TRAVERSE CITY — The Audit Committee of Northwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 in the President’s Office Conference Room in the Tanis Building on NMC’s Front Street campus, 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City. The official meeting notice is available here.

For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.

 

Release date: February 14, 2025

 

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE

Northwestern Michigan College does not discriminate in admission, campus activities, education, employment, housing, public accommodation or public service on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity/expression, handicap, height, marital or familial status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, service in the military, veteran’s status, weight, or any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local law. No act of retaliation shall occur to any person making a charge, filing a complaint, testifying or participating in any discrimination investigation or proceeding. nmc.edu/non-discrimination