Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Activities of Note: Faculty and Staff
This section recognizes the good work being done and linkages to the Strategic Agenda, Strategic Directions and Goals are provided where possible.
- NMC’s Computer Information Technology department hosted an IT Academy Olympics on May 6 for students of the TBA Career Tech Center IT Academy program. Students in the TBA program competed in different events and tested their knowledge against that of their peers. Students competed in events such as Network Build, Cable Build, Knowledge Throw- down, and Game Skill Development. Students were divided into teams and prizes were awarded to the winners. This event was sponsored by NMC, Frontier Computer Corp, Best Buy, TBA Credit Union, and City Mac. Our goal for next year is to expand this event to include other Career Tech Centers in the region. (IE1, IE2)
- The class waitlist feature has been successfully instituted into the registration process. This electronic process sends notification to students that a seat is available for a waitlisted closed class, which enables students to get into classes they want without having to continuously check for possible openings and ensures that students who enroll sooner have a better chance of getting into a closed course. This feature also allows departments to monitor how many students are waiting to get into a particular course to determine whether a new section needs to be added. (IE3, IE5)
- Leanne Baumeler, Disability Support Services Specialist was chosen as the 2016-2018 President-Elect of the Michigan chapter of the Association on Higher Education and Disabilities (MI-AHEAD). The election was held at their spring conference on June 3 in Lansing. She will assume her role as president of the organization in June 2018. AHEAD is an organization for professionals working with higher education students with disabilities. (IE2)
Activities of Note: Tim
- Over 7,300 people came out to enjoy our 61st Annual NMC Barbecue on May 22! The beautiful weather made for a great community get-together. Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped make it a great event!
- Vicki Cook, Marguerite Cotto, Gabe Schneider, Kennard Weaver and I, traveled to Lansing on May 24 to hold a roundtable discussion with several Michigan legislators and their staff members. From the Michigan House of Representatives we hosted Rep. Phil Potvin, Rep. Larry Inman, Rep. Peter Pettalia, Rep. Lee Chatfield, Rep. Jon Bumstead, and Rep. Bruce Rendon. State Senators Darwin Booher, Wayne Schmidt, and Tonya Schuitmaker also attended. In addition to highlighting NMC’s contributions to our region, during the meeting we also discussed potential legislation regarding community colleges offering baccalaureate degrees, dark store taxation, and the Michigan New Jobs Training Program.
- I had the opportunity to tour TentCraft’s facility and discuss NMC’s engagement in their training and manufacturing processes. The most recent edition of Traverse City Business News included an article about TentCraft and how our training assistance contributed to their success.
- Vice President Marguerite Cotto and I traveled to Austin, Texas, over Memorial Day Weekend for NISOD’s International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence. Marguerite and I presented “Driving Innovation through Continuous Improvement” at the Administrators Series. Jason Slade, an instructor in the Engineering and Marine Technology programs, also attended the conference where he received a NISOD Excellence Award. Jason was nominated by Ed Bailey and Hans Van Sumeren for his work facilitating the Manufacturing Technology Academy, which high school students attend through the Career Tech Program.
- 5 faculty members and 10 doctoral students from the Higher Education Program at the University of Toledo and 5 international educators from Europe visited NMC on Monday, June 6, as a part of their Summer Leadership Academy. The group visited our main campus and joined a discussion with Jim Bensley, director of international services and service learning, Marguerite Cotto, and myself regarding internationalization and the future of community colleges.
- Kevin Concannon, the USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, observed the NMC/MMC Child Development Program at the Oleson Center. Mr. Concannon observed the preschoolers arriving for the day, eating breakfast, and composting food scraps during their morning circle time. Munson Healthcare officials, aides to U.S. Senators Stabenow and Peters, and others involved in the NMC/MMC childcare partnership were also in attendance. The focus of this visit was for the undersecretary to witness how healthy food is being incorporated into our childcare facilities, as nutrition standards were strengthened in April for food and beverages served to young children in day care settings.
- A series of six budget update forums began on Thursday, June 2. Vice President Vicki Cook presented the current budget model for FY 17. She and I answered questions of faculty and staff at each meeting pertaining to the budget and legislative issues. The forums are scheduled on each of the four campuses at varying times to encourage participation from the entire college.
- Thank you to all who were able to help honor Chuck Judson as NMC’s 2016 Fellow, the Board’s highest honor bestowed upon those who have made special contributions to the college’s mission in numerous ways. It was a wonderful evening event to celebrate our friend Chuck along with his family and closest friends and colleagues.
Legislative Issues
- Capital Outlay—Last week the legislature passed the state’s general government omnibus budget bill for FY2016-17, which included capital outlay planning authorizations for our West Hall Innovation Center project. Once completed, the project will transform the existing hall into a state-of-the-art learning center providing 38,000 square feet of space to accommodate the use of simulation, team-based and project learning across all curricula. The renovation of the 50 year old building is part of the college’s efforts to update and modernize its facilities. Since 2005, among Michigan’s 28 community colleges, NMC ranks 23rd in capital outlay appropriations, having received only $650,000 in state investment. After reducing the total project cost by 20% to $14,499,400 in our FY17 application, the scoring of the West Hall Innovation Center moved NMC up from ranking 14th statewide in FY16 to ranking 3rd this year in the governor’s budget. Additional support from State Representative Larry Inman, State Senator Wayne Schmidt, and State Senator Darwin Booher helped to keep the project in the final budget bill now awaiting Governor Snyder’s signature. The final capital outlay report includes funding for 8 university projects and 6 community college projects. The community colleges included were Delta, Kellogg, Monroe, Muskegon, NMC and Southwestern. Two community colleges, Mott and Wayne, had been originally recommended by the governor but were not included in the final report.
- State Budget—Also last week, the legislature finalized the FY2016-2017 education budget which included an operations increase for community colleges of an average 1.4% statewide (down from 2.4% that was originally recommended by the governor). Including the $3.7 million dollar increase from MPSERS funding, the total increase for community colleges averages 2.1%. NMC will see a performance funding increase of $117,500 or 1.3%. Unlike the budgets for the universities, the community college budget does not include tuition restrain language.
- Dark Stores—Last Wednesday, the full House of Representatives gave its approval to HB 5578 which would provide guidance to the Michigan Tax Tribunal in determining commercial valuations. The Bill is a response to the so-called “dark store” strategy, whereby certain national chain retailers are using deed restrictions to limit their property tax assessments. This not only allows those retailers to shirk their support for local services but grants them an unfair competitive advantage over locally owned retailers. The bill now goes to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration.
- Legislative Session Schedule—Following the completion of budget work last week, both the House and Senate adjourned officials until July 13. Although, it is likely that no further legislative action will take place until the August 2 primary election.
Miscellaneous
- The June 27, 2016, Board meeting will be held at the Great Lakes Campus in room 112.