Celebrate Constitution Day September 17

Sep 13, 2018 | Intercom, Student News

The annual celebration of Constitution Day will be held in the Osterlin Library lobby on Monday, September 17. Free pocket Constitutions, cake at noon, and a chance to voice your opinions on Constitutional issues. Join us in celebrating the document that has kept our nation on course for 229 years!

NBSU Presents “Roxanne Roxanne”

Sep 13, 2018 | Intercom, Student News

On Friday, September 14 from 4-6:30 p.m. in Scholar’s Hall your friendly neighborhood Black Student Union presents: “Roxanne, Roxanne”, based on the ugly but true story of 14-year old rap legend Roxanne Shante. “The most feared battle emcee in the early 1980s in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenager from the Queensbridge projects. At the age of 14, Roxanne Shante was well on her way to becoming a hip-hop legend, as she hustled to provide for her family while defending herself from the dangers of the street.”

Come by, watch the flick, and learn more about what the black student union can do for you. Our regular meetings are every Friday from 4-5 p.m., come by and ask about leadership and travel opportunities, community events and outreach that our group has planned for the year. WARNING: movie contains adult content and themes. 

NMC celebrates two building milestones

Sep 13, 2018 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) welcomes the community to the groundbreaking of the new West Hall Innovation Center and the rededication of the Shirley S. Okerstrom Fine Arts Building Monday, September 24, 2018.

“The building projects and the dual celebrations highlight our proud NMC past, as well as our exciting future,” said NMC President Timothy J. Nelson. “Their design, student impact, and community support demonstrate how NMC is, and has always been, a leader in creating forward-thinking structures to help our learners succeed.”

The West Hall Innovation Center project combines state investments of more than $7 million for important renovations and modernizations of the 50-year-old West Hall building with NMC-funded investments of more than $7 million to create a 54,000-square-foot, multi-story library and flexible learning space. It will incorporate innovative and transformative learning environments and multiple academic and simulation spaces. The project has received extensive campus, community and legislative support. For more information on the project go to www.nmc.edu/innovation.

The Shirley S. Okerstrom Fine Arts Building was the last building in the United States designed by famed Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius in 1969. The College invested in refurbishing the building’s unique cedar exterior and windows in 2018.

Groundbreaking at the West Hall Innovation Center begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the rededication on the Shirley S. Okerstrom Fine Arts Building at 12:30 p.m.

Release date: September 13, 2018

For more information:

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

Success Story: New initiative guides students to goals

Sep 12, 2018 | 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.

Program to scout out careers starts Sept. 15

Sep 11, 2018 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — This fall, a new career exploration program will give students from area schools the opportunity to take a deep dive into the careers of the future, including robotics, rocketry, and healthcare.

The “Exploring” program is a partnership between Northwestern Michigan College and the Boy Scouts of America offering both male and female students ages 14-20 a 10-month module of meetings where they will receive hands-on training under the guidance of experts in their fields.

An open house for the Exploring program will be held at 11 a.m. September 15 in NMC’s Parsons-Stulen building, 2600 Aero Park Drive. The first meeting in the 10-month series will follow the open house. Meetings thereafter will be held one Saturday each month from noon-4 p.m. Registration is $34 for the entire 10-month series.

Other supporting organizations include Inland Seas, Michigan State University’s Institute of Agricultural Technology, and Munson Medical Center. NMC instructors will work with students in areas such as robotics and automotive technology, while representatives with MSU will guide them through technology in agriculture.

Earlier this summer, students had the opportunity to participate in a CanSat High Altitude Balloon Launch which was a collaboration between Exploring, Atlas Space Operations, and Magnitude IO, which brought aerospace and STEM career related project-based learning experiences into classrooms similar to this series of programs.

Ryan and Shannon Pierson, whose son R.J. was a participant, said they liked watching the students brainstorm and figure out to make it work.

“With technology, there’s not a lot out there to help inform the kids and let them learn,” Shannon Pierson said. “They were learning how to work together as a life skill.”

When putting the schedule together, Boy Scout leaders said they worked with experts to make sure students would be given exposure to careers that will be in high demand when they graduate.

“These classes offer a unique approach to learning and are designed to give students early access to the careers of the future,” said Aaron Gach, CEO of Boy Scouting’s regional Michigan Crossroads Council. “Our program partners have the type of expertise to take these young people to the next level of their career exploration.”

For additional information or to sign up, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exploring-stem-careers-tickets-49452921018

Release date: September 11, 2018

For more information:

Marguerite Cotto
Northwestern Michigan College
mcotto@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1775

International Affairs Forum kicks off 25th season

Sep 7, 2018 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — National Geographic magazine editor Susan Goldberg will kick off a celebratory 25th anniversary season for the International Affairs Forum at 7 p.m. 3eptember 20 at the )nterlochen Center for the Arts’ Corson Auditorium.

Each speaker in the series running from September-June will offer his or her insight on the theme of Envisioning the Future — a wide-open topic considering that when the lecture series began in 1994, the Internet was not yet publicly available. (Now IAF lectures are streamed live on YouTube.)

Goldberg will speak “National Geographic’s Changing World,” discussing the top upcoming stories readers will find in the pages of the venerable, 130-year-old magazine, including climate change, millennials, race, gender and the shifting media landscape.

Subsequent lecture speakers include:

October 18 – “Trade, Migration and Borders” Hon. Alan Bersin, former assistant secretary for International Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security. Also known as the “Border Czar,” Bersin will discuss the future of borders and the challenge of secure their borders and mitigate threats even while expediting trade and optimizing the movement of peoples and ideas. 6 p.m., Milliken Auditorium, Dennos Museum Center

November 15 – “Securing America in a Hostile World.” Richard Clarke, former Special Advisor to the President on Cyber Security. Clarke, who served 10 years under three presidents, offers an insider’s perspective on the future security threats facing the United States. Is it Russian meddling? Cyber or drone attacks? Rising sea levels? Or something else? 7 p.m., City Opera House, in conjunction with the National Writers Series.

For ticket information on all lectures, visit tciaf.com. Since its founding in 1994, the International Affairs Forum at NMC has brought season after season of diplomats, ambassadors, economists, military leaders, journalists, educators and other authoritative voices to Traverse City to challenge residents to think critically about issues of local and global significance.

The original lecture series, most of which are held in Milliken Auditorium on the third Thursday of each month, is now augmented with special film screenings and speakers invited in collaboration with partners like Interlochen and NWS. An annual Academic World Quest competition for high school students and ad hoc Global Hot Spots events round out IAF’s often sold-out programming.

Season tickets for lectures and more information is available at tciaf.com.

Release date: September 7, 2018

For more information:

Karen Segal 
IAF co-chair
karenpsegal@gmail.com
(231) 715-6064