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 updateLinkageto the Strategic Agenda, Strategic Directions and Goals will be made where possible.

•   Many members of our staff hosted visitors from the Beijing Channel Consulting (BCC) this week.  Our guests were Mr. Yao, CEO; Mr. Guo Lifan, COO; Wei Cao, Director of International Relations (and an NMC Alumna); and Mr. Yao’s son.  They spent Tuesday afternoon with TCAPS personnel, and that evening NMC celebrated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between BCC and NMC for a mutual desire to collaborate on education experiences including, but not limited to, an aviation exchange program. Our visitors spent much of the day Wednesday, meeting with NMC staff and touring our campuses. (SD1 and SD2)

•   A new online Student Newsletter, NMC Communique´ has been launched.  You’ll find the latest news for students there, as well as other college communications and the Intercom newsletter.  Click on the above link (NMC Communique´) to view. (SD4)

•   Jim Coughlin returned from a trip to Russia where he met with several universities to build relationships for student exchange programs.  Overall his trip was very positive and he feels confident that a partnership will be created with the University of Moscow for an exchange this summer. (SD1)

•   NMC Aviation staff members are traveling to India, February 3-10, to visit the Indian Institute of Aeronautical Engineering.  We expect seven Indian aviation students to begin at NMC next year.(SD1)

•   Thank you to everyone who participated in the Higher Learning Commission site checkup visit.  As you all know, accreditation is our license to operate.  We expect a report from the HLC sometime in the next two months.  While the visiting team cannot formally share with us their report intent, it was clear they were impressed with all they met and found the visit helpful and beneficial. (SD1 and all the IEs)  (See more info on this below.)

•   Thank you to Stephen Siciliano for his work in designing an Early College program with TBAISD, Ferris State University, and NMC.  A plan was submitted to the State of Michigan last week and we expect to hear from them in the coming month. (SD3, SD4 and SD5)

Activities of Note: Tim

•   Thank you Bob, Doug, Ross, Cheryl, and Jay for helping Nancy and me as hosts and hostesses at the Annual Chamber Dinner. It provided an informal opportunity to discuss some important legislative issues with our legislative guests. The entertainment was first class, showcasing the wonderfully talented youth from our area high schools.

•   I’ve been meeting with numerous individuals in our community to discuss the strategic plan and gather further insights.  I will pass along my findings in the future.

•   I will be leading a discussion at the MCCA Presidents Committee meeting on the topic of “Institutional implications of acquisition of college credits by high school students.”

•   Work with the Master Planning consultants has begun.  Yesterday, they outlined the process for the campus Leadership Group.  I’m looking forward to an informative and helpful process.  Board updates are planned on a monthly basis.

Legislative Issues

•   University testimony regarding the Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) took place on January 25 at the Senate Education Committee meeting.  This past Wednesday, Superintendent Jerry Achenbach, Cadet Gary Dauw, Cadet Joseph Berte (USAF ret), and Caden Martin Grindley attended what we believe is the final hearing on the CCB.  They were able to meet and talk with the Chair of the Committee and with one of the Senators.  I appreciate them taking time to represent NMC and GLMA at this event.

•   Our expectation is that the CCB legislation will be voted on in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, February 8, 2012.  Assuming that it passes, we expect there will be a two to three week period before it is taken up on the Senate floor.  During that period, we will be implementing a letter writing campaign for our community to voice their opinions.  More on this later in the week.

•   Testimony on Dual Enrollment legislation occurred on January 18 before the House Education Committee.  Representative Ray Franz, who sits on this committee, was a great advocate of the community colleges.

•   Over the past couple of weeks I have met with the local aides of our U.S. legislators Rep. Dave Camp, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and Senator Carl Levin.  This is part of our regular legislative updates and interactions.

Miscellaneous

•   The HLC AQIP Quality Checkup Visit week went very smoothly last week, and I thank the Board for their participation.   Over the three days, Perry Rettig, Provost and Vice Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh, and Jackie Boehnlein, Chief of Staff at the Lorain County Community Action Agency in Ohio, met with more than 75 NMC faculty, staff, students and trustees.  The reviewers had a final report-out meeting with President’s Council on the last day, and will now take about a month to draft their preliminary report to the HLC.  They were limited by the protocols of the review process in what they could say to us today, but they both commented during the visit how apparent it is that NMC has a true culture of continuous improvement and that it is apparent that the entire campus has embraced the concept.