Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Activities of Note: Faculty and Staff
I hope to recognize the good work you are doing in this new section of the update. Linkages to the Strategic Agenda, Strategic Directions and Goals will be made where possible.
• Opening Conference was well attended and a good kick off to the semester. A list of accomplishments over the fall semester and an overview of the presentation was included in the February 13 edition of the Intercom, which was sent to you last week. (SD 1 – 5)
• The Spring Semester Professional Development Day – Understanding Poverty Simulation was an eye opening event for many of our faculty and staff. The simulation put people in the shoes of citizens struggling to deal with a sometimes cumbersome support system and gave many a sense of the frustration some of our students have to deal with on a day to day basis. Thank you to PRI and to our Social Sciences Department for coordinating this event. (SD 3)
• The Business Academic Area successfully launched our new Entrepreneurial course. Of three student entrepreneur teams, a total of $7025 was returned to the Foundation…not a bad ROI for the Innovation Grant of $5000! Great job to all those involved. (SD 2)
• Our Nursing faculty continued their strong partnership with Munson Medical Centers’s Cerner Education (Powerchart) staff to create a domain for electronic charting specifically designed for NMC’s nursing students. Used in practice and simulation scenarios it allows the students to practice on the exact system they will be using during their clinical experiences. (SD 2 & 3)
• For any who missed it, the Board of Trustees approved the new Engineering Technology Degree AAS at their December meeting. This is an example of a degree built on a strategy of “stackable credentialing.” Thanks to everyone in the Tech area and the Curriculum Committee for their thoughtful work on this project. (SD 5)
Activities of Note: Tim
• The NMC Emergency Management Team participated in a table top exercise including regional first responders. Part of our on-going preparation for emergency issues on campus, this approach affords us the opportunity to practice and improve on our processes. Thank you to all who participated.
• I visited with Jason Allen, Senior Deputy Director of Veterans Affairs to discuss ways in which NMC might do more in serving veterans. We currently have 250 veterans enrolled and expect to see that number rise. I will provide an update to this in the near future.
• I visited with Steve Webster, CEO of Prima Civitas Foundation in Lansing to discuss their new strategic orientation and to discuss my role as a member of their board. We will be hosting a visit with their executive staff to discuss how their strategic orientation and our strategic agenda may complement each other. I will provide more information on this later in the spring.
• The opening at the Dennos Museum Center this past Saturday was standing room only. This is the juried show featuring local and regional artists. I strongly encourage you to attend. We have a wealth of talent in our region.
• Thanks to Bruce Byl for arranging a meeting with retired Dow Chemical and Dow Corning executives to discuss our strategic plan. Marguerite and I reviewed our plan and fielded questions. The result is an offer to engage and help as we move forward. We are planning similar sessions with other retired talent in our region.
Legislative Issues
• University testimony regarding the Community College Baccalaureate is expected to take place on January 25 at the Senate Education Committee meeting. Our hope is to have the bill reported out of committee at that or the next meeting. We would like a few weeks before it goes to a floor vote. We continue to be hopeful that the Senate will pass the bill. We have been told that Governor Snyder will sign the legislation when it reaches his desk.
• Testimony on Dual Enrollment legislation will occur on January 18 before the House Education Committee. We have asked for two changes to this legislation. One is the removal of limitations on the number of courses a student could take. The other is the removal of language that restricts tuition charges to in-district rates regardless of the student’s residency. I have attached both an MCCA talking points sheet and a copy of a letter that I sent to Representative Ray Franz who sits on this committee.
• We continue to work with the Legislature to clarify the application of the dollar cap to the Michigan New Jobs Training Program. The cap is listed as $50 million. While we have committed just shy of that amount in total, it will come due over 20 years.
Miscellaneous
• As a reminder, NMC will host two AQIP reviewers January 25-27, 2012, for our AQIP Quality Checkup Visit. Staffs are working on preparing for the visit.
• We held our first meeting with the Master Campus Plan consultant last week. I will keep the Board informed about our progress.
— Timothy J. Nelson, President, NMC