Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
August 31, 2016
Students returning to classes this week will find construction projects poised on both ends of main campus, as the facilities of NMC’s future learners move from paper to reality.
NMC broke ground on a new student residence hall and fitness center July 11. That was followed by an Aug. 15 groundbreaking for an expansion of the Dennos Museum Center.
Both projects will update aging campus infrastructure and allow the college to meet the needs and expectations of twenty-first century students.
“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,” said President Timothy J. Nelson. “It’s an exciting time as we see years of hard work begin to materialize and we continue to invest in the future of education.”
Residence Hall
Located on the north side of East Hall, the residence hall will accommodate 140 students beginning in the fall 2017 semester. Current student housing at NMC has been at capacity for three years, and existing housing is more than 40 years old. NMC is self-funding the $8.8-million project.
Dennos expansion
Located on the southeast side of the existing museum, the project includes two new permanent collection galleries, a new sculpture gallery, a larger Inuit art gallery, additional classroom space and storage and loading dock improvements. Built in 1991, the expansion is targeted for completion in 2017, capping the Museum’s 25th anniversary year. The $5 million project was spearheaded by major gifts from Richard and Diana Milock and Dudley and Barbara Smith.
Also on the drawing board in 2017 is NMC’s renovation of West Hall into a student innovation center. Using a state planning grant, the college will move into design phase, conducting interview with designers and architects next year, and returning to the state for construction authorization by October 2018.
As envisioned, the project would almost double the size of West Hall, from 20,000 to 38,000 square feet. It would provide for 13 adaptive, technology-rich learning spaces to be used across the curriculum for simulation, team-based and project learning. Nelson noted the support of local legislators Representative Larry Inman (R-Traverse City), Senator Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) and Senator Darwin Booher (R-Evart) has been integral to the project’s progress.
Nov 27, 2022 | 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.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom
February 8, 2017
Consider the ideal working conditions for a chef, and Randy Weed has it all: Recipe development responsibility, gigantic pantry full of top-quality ingredients, and satisfied, often repeat customers.
The twist is that Weed wields his talents in the kitchen of an upscale grocery store, rather than a restaurant. The 1996 NMC culinary graduate is the vice president of culinary at Plum Market, an upscale retail grocer with six locations in metro Detroit and Chicago.
Weed’s career path illustrates the options available to current Great Lakes Culinary Institute students, who on Feb. 24 will host A Taste of Success, a strolling dinner of international cuisines and the program’s biggest scholarship fundraiser.
“When I started out in this career, the last place I ever wanted to work was a grocery store,” said Weed. But he’s found his passion for food, kindled at NMC by instructors like the late Lucy House and Pete Peterson, is stoked daily at Plum.
“My goal has always been to have the highest quality food we can get. There is no better pantry than what I could access here,” said Weed, who supervises eight other chefs and creates the recipes served up at six different stations in the store, from an all-organic salad bar to a hot bar to a carving station whose all-natural meat entrees change themes daily, from Asian to chophouse to Latin. Plum also offers in-store cafes and catering.
“It’s the next step in the evolution of what’s going on with food,” Weed said. “We don’t look at other retail markets as being our competition. We look at other fine restaurants.”
He would know. As a student, Weed did an internship at Tapawingo, Peterson’s legendary restaurant in Ellsworth, which closed in 2009. He later worked at other high-end northern Michigan restaurants including Latitude in Bay Harbor and the Garland Resort & Country Club east of Gaylord. After moving downstate, he cooked in top-tier restaurants including the now-closed Golden Mushroom and Roast in Detroit.
The interior of a Plum Market storeHe’s thrilled to have landed at Plum, which has doubled its locations since he joined the company seven years ago. Besides his daily kitchen duties, Weed enjoys tasks like last year’s trip to Spain, to develop a partnership with the world’s largest purveyor of Spanish olive oil.
“Everything I learned at NMC and all the different experiences prepared me for it,” he said.
Weed’s advice to current culinary students?
“Work for the job that you want, not the job that you have. You can always do a little more, learn a little more, try to be a little better.”
And remember that even with a VP in your title, certain tasks in the kitchen always need to be done.
“That’s an example of Lucy House. She was never afraid to sweep and mop the floor.”
Tickets to A Taste of Success are $100 each. Sponsor tables are also available. Buy online and support culinary student success.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom, Student News
October 12, 2022
The ranks of adult learners attending NMC on the Michigan Reconnect scholarship more than doubled this fall, as the program that seeks to improve the state’s talent pipeline surpassed the $500,000 mark in funds awarded locally.
Meanwhile, a new state aid program, the Michigan Achievement Scholarship will make college more affordable for high school graduates attending NMC full-time next fall. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the legislation Tuesday.
“There’s never been a better time to improve your earning potential through higher education,” said NMC President Nick Nissley. “Together, Michigan Reconnect and Michigan Achievement mean NMC has dedicated state scholarships available for our two largest student pools: high school graduates and adult learners without a credential.”
NMC economic impact data shows that people with an associate degree earn $8,500 more per year than someone with only a high school diploma.
Launched last year, Michigan Reconnect is available to adults 25 and over who don’t already have a degree or certificate. This semester, 234 students took advantage of the free in-district tuition. Total NMC Reconnect participation stands at 400 students who have received $562,804. Reconnect followed a similar scholarship, Futures for Frontliners, for adult essential workers who stayed on the job through the shutdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 530 NMC students took advantage of Futures for Frontliners, receiving $1.3 million.
Now the Michigan Achievement Scholarship aims to provide similar financial incentive for high school students to attend college. Starting with the high school class of 2023, students will be eligible for up to $2,750/year in aid if they attend a community college full time (12 credits) and demonstrate financial need.
NMC Director of Financial Aid Linda Berlin estimates that up to 200 2023 high school graduates could qualify for Michigan Achievement, and NMC could award between $300,000–$400,000.
“This student financial aid program is a historic investment in the future of Michigan’s young people. The more we invest in our colleges and our students, the more prosperous our state will be,” said Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association.
In addition to those state funds, NMC also awards more than $1 million in institutional, donor-directed scholarships through the NMC Foundation.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom
January 6, 2016
When Aiden Voss graduates from Traverse City Central High School in June, she’ll simultaneously be just a few credits shy of an NMC culinary degree, thanks to dual enrollment.
The 18-year-old also discovered something even more valuable than the thousands of tuition dollars she saved by dual-enrolling: the confidence to forge her own opportunities.
While dual enrollment at NMC has increased rapidly the last three years — up almost 30 percent this semester vs. spring 2015 — Voss is the first dual-enrolled student in NMC’s culinary program. (Most students take general introductory classes like English, sociology or psychology, which transfer widely.) She had to get special permission from both her high school counselor and Culinary Institute director Fred Laughlin.
“To have that experience of asking for what I want, and pursuing it, and having these people count on me for quality product and quality grades, that’s been huge,” she said.
Voss had the chops to make the ask. At 13, she walked into the Cook’s House, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in Traverse City’s strong restaurant scene, and started staging, or apprenticing. From dishwashing to salads to food prep to the hot line, she learned her way around the entire kitchen.
Academically self-motivated as well, Voss tested out of several classes by the time she entered high school, leaving a gap in her schedule. Armed with her Cook’s House experience, she decided to see if she could dual enroll in the culinary program. Laughlin, who taught Voss in Introduction to Baking, called her an excellent student.
“She is inquisitive, hard-working and always has a smile on her face. She was a joy to have in class,” he said.
Voss kept pushing the bar for her internship credit this past summer, She worked at Chez Panisse, the venerable Berkeley, Calif. restaurant that pioneered the farm-to-table trend of showcasing fresh, local ingredients that has heavily influenced the Traverse City restaurant scene.
Whether it’s in the kitchen or the classroom, Voss looks for one thing.
“It’s the passion that’s important,” she said. She’s seen it outside the culinary program, too. Her Spanish instructor, Charles Fleis, can go on for half an hour on the etymology of a particular word.
“To see such passion, it just shapes you, I think,” she said. “It’s all about the people you’re around.”
Fleis said that phenomenon is circular. Voss and several other dual-enrolled students took his class in the evening, when they could have chosen other activities, and demonstrated curiosity and excitement about the subject.
“That puts fuel in my fire. They then help to motivate me,” said Fleis, who dual-enrolled himself more than 25 years ago, before it was an established practice. As a Kingsley High School senior in 1988-89 he took French at NMC. He went on to earn a PhD and teaches both Spanish and French now.
“I kind of relate to Aiden in that regard. I was impassioned about language and wanted to do something with it,” he said. “It’s not only a good thing economically for NMC, but it’s wise. It gets students motivated about higher education and what it can do for them.”
Voss’ post-high school plans are still fluid. She’d like to earn a business degree at a small, four-year liberal arts school. She wants to study abroad — Thailand and India are among her top destinations. Eventually, she’d like to return to Traverse City to finish up the culinary degree.
Nov 27, 2022 | Intercom
NMC students both past and present, along with faculty, staff and alumni, are achieving success in the classroom and their chosen fields. This section showcases just a few of those successes. Sign up for NMC Now below to get these stories (plus upcoming campus events and media mentions) delivered to your inbox every other week during the fall and spring semesters. You can unsubscribe at any time. (Check out past issues here.)
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
August 29 2018
The Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, among NMC’s most transformative capital projects, will take a major stride forward this semester when the old building is demolished.
Following a multi-year planning process begun after state matching funds were initially approved in June 2016, the $14.4-million project entered its active construction phase this summer with utility and other site preparation work. When completed, the new building will serve as a campus centerpiece not only physically but in terms of instruction, the student experience and environment.
- Instruction – The building’s design of flexible classrooms and workspaces enhances experiential learning, which flips higher education’s traditional “learn to do” style of instruction into “do to learn.” EL emphasizes interdisciplinary, project- and team-based learning and skill development as well as community and business partnerships.
- Student experience – The library will move to the new building, and will be open 24–7 to facilitate learning on demand. It will also be home to food services, making it a true hub for all student needs.
- Environment – The building’s innovative function is reflected in the choice of renewable geothermal energy as its power source. Costing an additional $400,000 initially, the system has an expected payback period of 14.5 years and continued savings to the college for at least 30 years.
Project rendering by J. Scott Smith Visual Designs, inc.During construction, all NMC departments and services have been relocated. Among the most-visited, Dining Services has moved to the Oleson Center and the NMC Bookstore to the Health & Science Building.
A formal groundbreaking event is set for late September, when NMC will also rededicate the Osterlin Fine Arts Building, renovated during 2017–18.
On its Aero Park Campus, NMC also received news that the Aero Park Labs building has been formally LEED-certified, meaning it meets standards for leadership in energy and environmental design.
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
March 2, 2016
From sweet sixteen to top ten, Northwestern Michigan College is pushing its study abroad standing ever higher.
In 2014, NMC ranked sixteenth among community colleges nationwide for student participation in short-term study abroad experiences, according to the Institute for International Education. Using 2015 numbers NMC would rank tenth, placing among colleges whose enrollments are double or triple, said Jim Bensley, director of International Services and Service Learning.
An increased emphasis on study abroad is part of NMC’s strategic direction to ensure that learners are prepared for success in a global society and economy. This year, 60 students from a dozen academic disciplines will travel to six different countries on three continents, all in the month of May. Here’s a May Madness preview:
Greece
Humanities students are headed to the cradle of Western Civilization for the first time May 9-20. Visual communications student Jennifer VanderVlucht will be along, too, documenting the experience by creating a daily, 60-second video of their travels to Athens and its historic sites, Olympia, Delphi and more.
“It will help me use the skills that I’ve learned,” said VanderVlucht, 30, of Traverse City. “This will be an awesome, challenging experience.”
She’s also anticipating the day student will spend helping Syrian refugees through a Greek humanitarian agency. She’s hoping to capture the refugees’ point of view directly.
“We only hear what the media tells us,” she said.
Ghana
Social work and psychology students are headed to this first-time destination May 6- 18. Students originally planned to go to Brazil, but began seeking an alternative due to concerns about the Zika virus spreading throughout South and Central America. The destination switch offers students a lesson even before departure: Expect the unexpected.
“The world’s an ever-changing place,” Bensley said.
Ecuador
A contingent of culinary and business students will visit here May 6-16. (Zika is not a concern on this trip since the mosquitos that spread the virus don’t live at the higher altitudes students will visit.) They will spend much of their time in Yunguilla, an eco-tourism cooperative.
Culinary student Nick Berden is excited to learn about feeding a community whose remote location forces it to be self-reliant. There won’t be a GFS or Sysco to fall back on.
“Everything’s from where it’s planted to its cultivation and production,” said Berden, 38.
Traveling for the first time outside the U.S. or Canada, he hopes the trip also triggers a desire to see more of the world.
“Everything about the trip interested me,” he said.
South Africa
Pre-med student Shelby Christensen will join a group of nursing students visiting South Africa. She aspires to become a pathologist and work for Doctors Without Borders.
“It’s important to me to understand the other cultures,” she said. “I see this as an opportunity to become a well-rounded person.”
Christensen, 21, was awarded a Global Opportunities scholarship and also raised money on the GoFundMe crowd-funding site to cover the cost of her trip, her first out of the United States.
Read more about study abroad opportunities at nmc.edu/study-abroad »
