Kudos to Colleen Burry: Colleen goes above and beyond for students! I was working with a student in a tough situation regarding housing. Due to some intricacies of the situation, the student would lose his housing unless someone was available to check into his account and remove a hold over the weekend. The student doesn’t have a lot of support and disclosed the they would have nowhere to live if they lost their housing. When calling to troubleshoot, Colleen offered to help right away. Her willingness to give of her own personal weekend time to help a student in a tough situation is just one example of the empathy and kindness she shows every day. Thank you Colleen! You are making a difference for our students!
Kudos to Lisa Nadlicki: Lisa has taken on the extra responsibility of getting our Clothing Closet back in order and organized since December. She has not only cleaned up the space, she has organized the clothes and even washed things needing a refresh. Thank you so much for your efforts Lisa! This is something unique and extra we offer our students and is completely led by staff volunteers like you.
Kudos to Marysue Lessner: Marysue saw a need, suggested and implemented doc-u-sign to our department. Saving us paper and time and making us more efficient. Marysue has been an awesome addition to our team.
Kudos to Dan Gentry and Information Technology Services: There is a team we rarely meet face-to-face but whose work keeps the wheels turning at NMC. It may be hard for them to see how their daily contributions impact our students, but those of us on the front lines of student services see it and want to acknowledge some of the myriad ways Information Technology Services undergird the services we provide students daily.
Thanks to ITS (Dan Gentry & his team)…
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- 89% of NMC students from Michigan had full tuition and fees covered by grants and scholarships as a result of massive amounts of programming work to implement FAFSA Simplification, Michigan Community College Guarantee and our new scholarship system
- Most of our financial aid processing is automated, resulting in daily updates of student awards and balances so students always know where they stand
- NMCs is one of the state’s most “put together” financial aid offices. We brag about the contribution made by ITS at every conference! They are world-class!
- Students have library access set up from Day 1 as a Hawk Owl. To a student, this means, “You’re not a stranger. You belong here!”
- Students can self-serve within the library circulation system, resulting in an uptick in students placing their own holds, especially for textbooks at the beginning of the semester
- MeLCat (i.e. interlibrary loan) is configured and supported regardless of the clunky, antiquated system it is, making it possible to connect students to over 400 Michigan libraries and have books delivered to them at the NMC Library
- ITS support has allowed students to schedule Advising appointments online with ease. And by tracking students’ use of critical support services, Advising can quickly identify students who need extra resources. From the student perspective, it’s easier to know who is there to support them, to find services, and to schedule online — even at 2 a.m.!
- Dan’s team makes student data and information more accessible for all of us, which is hugely valuable for our decision-making processes. Having data through Banner reports and Argos reports allows the student services teams to identify students for advising and registration outreach.
- And so much more!
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!