Thank you all for everything you do in pursuit of “Keeping Learning at the Center.”
Notable Accomplishments provided by Faculty and Staff
This section recognizes the good work being done and linkages to the Strategic Directions (SD) and Institutional Effectiveness Criteria (IE) are provided where possible.
- NMC students participated in a 14 day international experience in Bunaken National Park, North Sulawesi Indonesia. The students used drones and underwater ROVs to map the coral reef system surrounding the park. The project was a capstone course for the Marine Technology program and also included students from the unmanned aerial systems and water studies programs. The project was in collaboration with Manado State Politeknik and involved both students and researchers from that institution. (IE1, IE2)
- NMC instructors completed the second series of course offerings to our partner school, Yellow River Conservancy Technical Institute in China. The courses delivered to a cohort of 40 students from YRCTI were Construction Blueprint Reading and Supervision. (IE2)
- Congratulations to the following NMC Audio Tech students for their recent accomplishments:
- Jose Garcia has received a paid internship at Kensington Church, in charge of the Front of House mix, as well as an internship at Lookout Music Studios, where he directed and edited some excellent videos for their new webpage. Jose came to the NMC Audio Tech Program to increase his knowledge of Digital Audio and Studio Recording after serving six years in the Air Force managing audio/visual production. We are lucky to have him around, and hope he will stay in the Traverse City area!
- Devin Elhert was awarded a paid internship at Faith Reformed Church, where he is in charge of the Audio/Visual department. He is responsible for the Front of House mix, and recording the services. For his final project he worked on producing and album featuring performances by church members. After graduating, Devin will stay on as a full time staff member at the church. Congrats, Devin!
- Chris Reid has received an internship at New Hope Church, working with Music Director Rick Stewart. Chris has started his own company, Chris Reid Productions, which produces a weekly video series called Music Mondays, interviewing musicians and producers from around the state of Michigan. He is getting thousands of views on YouTube for his videos. Chris enjoyed this project so much that he enrolled at Grand Valley State University in the fall of 2018, where he will study Film Production. Congrats, Chris!
- Spencer Norrod completed an internship at Midwestern Broadcasting, where he learned audio editing for radio spots, which you can now hear—in his own voice—on New-Talk 580 AM, WCCW, Z93, WATZ, and WZTK. Bravo, Spencer! (IE1, IE2, IE3, IE4)
Activities of Note: Tim
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- Thank you to all who were able to help honor Dr. Edward and Sharon Rutkowski as they were inducted as the newest NMC Fellows at the dinner in their honor on June 26 at the Dennos Museum Center. The Rutkowskis are longtime supporters of the Dennos and the Thomas A. Rutkowski Discover Galley is named in memory of their late son.
- I joined a dozen other NMC faculty and staff at the Experiential Learning Retreat held at Crystal Mountain on June 28 – 29. During this time the group worked on developing a prototype for experiential learning and also planning for next month’s Opening Professional Development Day on August 20.
- Marguerite Cotto, Alex Bloye and I met with visitors from Tasmania on July 10. Tasmania’s University College is bidding for Qantas Airline’s proposed pilot academy to address the world’s pilot shortage and wanted to visit a college that provides quality pilot training through an associate degree while here in the U.S. NMC was recommended to them by a senior VP at American Airlines who suggested our college as a must-visit for them, not only for our rich history and associate degrees, but also our extensive overseas partnerships.
- I want to thank Casey and Dana Cowell for hosting two wonderful events at their home this week, which helped us bring current and potential donors closer to NMC. Faculty, staff, and alumni came together to share some inspiring NMC stories!
Legislative Issues
State
Following completion of the State Budget in June, the Michigan Legislature is currently on recess until after Labor Day. This means that legislators are back in their districts, campaigning and meeting with constituents. Of note, the 2018 election will result in significant turn over in the state legislature where there are 11 term limited state representatives and 19 term limited state senators. There are also a number of contested primary elections, so the August 7 election is shaping up to be an interesting one as well. For a full listing of all August 7 Primary candidates- check out this link. Remember to vote on August 7 and November 6.
Federal
After a short Fourth of July federal recess period, Congress is returning to Washington where several education related issues remain in play for the remainder of the legislative session. These include the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (known as the PROSPER Act in the House), the reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and the passage of FY19 Appropriations funding for the Department of Labor, Education and Transportation (funding for state maritime academies is included in the Transportation Budget).
Of these pieces of legislation, the Perkins Reauthorization and FY19 funding bills are the most likely to see action before the end of the year. Of note, the most recent versions of the FY19 funding bills include some increases in Pell Grant funding, as well as additional funding for the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, which we support. We will continue to watch these bills closely as Congress returns to working on them between now and the end of the year.
Miscellaneous
- Tuesday, July 24 through Friday, July 27 – MCCA Summer Institute, Traverse City
- Thursday, August 2 – NMC Scholarship Open
- Monday, August 20 – NMC College-Wide Picnic and Opening Professional Development Day