To check your beneficiaries, go to ADP > Myself > Benefits > Enrollments > View Benefits
The Student Life Office, in honor of Black History Month, is sponsoring a free performance of the Zuzu Acrobats Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. at Milliken Auditorium. Zuzu Acrobats a five-person Kenyan acrobatic show which embodies the Bantu Culture of East Africa. The show lasts one hour and features fast pyramid building, limbo, chair balancing, comedy, fast skip rope, juggling and much more all set to high energy lingala music.
For any questions, feel free to contact the Student Life office at (231) 995-1118.
The following college events and stories have appeared in the media in the past week. We want to share your media involvement too. Please send information about your NMC-related interview or appearance to publicrelations@nmc.edu. If possible, please include a link to the piece and information about where and when it was used.
Please note access to some stories may be limited by paywalls set up by the media outlet. This includes the Traverse City Record-Eagle, which limits free clicks to five per month. You may also read Record-Eagle articles in the print edition at the Osterlin Library.
Nissley takes over as NMC president in Traverse City
Interlochen Public Radio, Jan. 27 (more…)
Dear NMC Community,
Over the past three weeks – has it been just three weeks that I’ve been on the job? – my focus has been three-fold:
That translates to more than 100 calendared meetings and events during these first three weeks – listening and learning – seeking to better understand who we are and how we serve our students and the wider community. (more…)
TRAVERSE CITY — NMC’s International Affairs Forum will host 18 area high school teams at its annual Academic WorldQuest from noon-5 p.m. February 6, at the Hagerty Center.
The teams will compete for the chance to participate in the national competition, the flagship youth education program of the World Affairs Councils, to be held in Washington, D.C. in April. Topics in the 2020 competition include preventing violent extremism, ocean protection and US-Russia Relations.
“Academic WorldQuest has a great atmosphere of friendly competition. Studying current topics in foreign affairs helped me expand my view of the world, and traveling to Washington, D.C. was a fantastic experience,” said Ted Roe, a 2019 Traverse City Central High School graduate and member of the Trojans’ winning team. Currently a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, Roe participated in AWQ for three years.
The event is free and open to the public. Sponsors include: The Traverse City Record-Eagle, Jimmy John’s, Shanty Creek Resort, Target, Best Buy, Common Good Bakery, Mundos Roasting & Co, Cicero’s Pizza. State Theater, Cherry Republic, Grand Traverse Pie Co. and Paesano’s Pizza.
Julie Doyal
juliedoyal@yahoo.com
(231) 649-1781
TRAVERSE CITY — Employers are invited to register for Northwestern Michigan College’s 14th annual career fair, to be held March 5 at the Hagerty Center on the Great Lakes Campus.
The event runs from 3–6 p.m. Employers will have the opportunity to recruit job-seekers for career-track, seasonal and entry-level positions as well as internships and service learning.
The Career Fair now encompasses the formerly separate Jobs4Vets and NMC Technology Career Fair events, and is open to students, NMC alumni and community members. It will open one hour early, at 2 p.m., to veterans and military families only. It is held in partnership with Northwest Michigan Works and Networks Northwest.
An alumni reception follows the event from 5–6:30 p.m. at Lobdell’s: A Teaching Restaurant.
Employer registration is $25 and handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration begins Jan. 27. To register or for more information, visit nmc.edu/career-fair.
Sally Smarsty
NMC Advising Center
ssmarsty@nmc.edu
231-995-1040
Thursday, February 20, 2020The Passport Student Talk Series is a chance to explore other cultures through the experiences of NMC students.
Edris Fana is from Kabul, Afghanistan and earned his Associates In General Studies degree from NMC and his commercial pilot license in 2018. He’s now in his last year at Ferris State University and hopes to work as a pilot for a company or manage a company.
Global Endorsement students, please bring your GE passport so that it can be stamped to earn your GE event points!
Enjoy an evening of music for band and choir featuring the NMC Concert Band and Grand Traverse Chorale with Pat Brumbaugh and Jeffrey Cobb, Directors. The event is Friday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Milliken Auditorium.
General admission tickets are $13 for adults, and $8 for students and seniors. Tickets are available from MyNorthTickets.com and available at the door. Call (800) 836-0717 for more information.
Join us for a wonderful afternoon of choral music featuring the NMC Children’s Choirs, Chamber Singers and Canticum Novum, directed by Jeffrey Cobb, Stephanie Schall-Brazee, Ashley Larimer-Kelly, Joanna Aldridge and Todd Vipond. The concert is Sunday, Feb. 23 from 3–5:30 p.m. at Lars Hockstad Auditorium.
Tickets are $15 for adults, and $10 for students and seniors. Family Ticket packages (for up to 5 immediate family members) are available for $45. Tickets are available through MyNorthTickets.com and at the door. Call (800) 836-0717 for more information.
NMC students from NMC’s Western Religions course examine the Derry Murals and the sordid history of “The Troubles” in Ireland.A near-record number of NMC students will study abroad in five countries this spring, gaining experiences to help them succeed in an increasingly global society.
Seventy students are registered to travel to Iceland, Ireland, Spain, England and Brazil. The previous high was 73 in 2015. Between 60-65 students have traveled each of the last three years, ranking NMC the No. 1 community college in Michigan for short-term study abroad, and usually in the top 25 nationally.
Faculty have been driving the additional interest this year, said Jim Bensley, director of International Services and Service Learning. Biology instructor Greg LaCross, who will co-lead the Iceland trip, says students gain lifelong benefits abroad, including maturity, self-assuredness and an appreciation of the world and different cultures. Once home, they share that.
“It’s kind of a ripple effect. You tell one person, it sparks interest in the world beyond your borders,” said LaCross, who has also led trips to South Africa and Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. “You don’t want to suffer from a parochial view of the world.”
Students agree that soft skills, in particular, improve on the trips. Those skills go with them into the workplace and community.
“The experience overall has served to benefit my patience, my perspective, and my humility,” said Jacqueline Ewing, who traveled to Brazil in 2016.
New this year, students will earn credit specifically for the study abroad experience. Previously it was part of the regular class credit. Most trips take place during spring break at the end of March, or immediately after the spring semester ends, in early May.
In Tiradantes, Brazil, future soccer stars show their U.S. visitors from an NMC study abroad trip how the game is played.“They’re not just traveling to see the sights. Our experiences are integrated with the curriculum being taught in the classroom,” Bensley said.
“It fits right into my teaching. It reinforces it and helps the students understand it in a larger context,” LaCross said.
Iceland (biology and freshwater studies) and Spain (culinary) are both new destinations in 2020. Aviation and archaeology students have previously visited England, and this year nursing and surgical technology students are making the trip.
Safety and security of students and faculty is a top priority of all trips. NMC works closely with in-country providers and host institutions, as well as U.S. agencies including the State Department and Centers for Disease Control.
“We’ve been smart in the way we’ve developed the programs, the places we’ve visited, and the teams we’ve built,” Bensley said. “We always attempt to mitigate any risk to our students and faculty,” he said.
Financial aid is also important to a successful study abroad program. Forty students received NMC’s Global Opportunities Scholarship. Sixteen culinary students received A Taste of Success scholarship.
NMC students from NMC’s Western Religions course examine the Derry Murals and the sordid history of “The Troubles” in Ireland.A near-record number of NMC students will study abroad in five countries this spring, gaining experiences to help them succeed in an increasingly global society.
Seventy students are registered to travel to Iceland, Ireland, Spain, England and Brazil. The previous high was 73 in 2015. Between 60-65 students have traveled each of the last three years, ranking NMC the No. 1 community college in Michigan for short-term study abroad, and usually in the top 25 nationally.
Faculty have been driving the additional interest this year, said Jim Bensley, director of International Services and Service Learning. Biology instructor Greg LaCross, who will co-lead the Iceland trip, says students gain lifelong benefits abroad, including maturity, self-assuredness and an appreciation of the world and different cultures. Once home, they share that.
“It’s kind of a ripple effect. You tell one person, it sparks interest in the world beyond your borders,” said LaCross, who has also led trips to South Africa and Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. “You don’t want to suffer from a parochial view of the world.”
Students agree that soft skills, in particular, improve on the trips. Those skills go with them into the workplace and community.
“The experience overall has served to benefit my patience, my perspective, and my humility,” said Jacqueline Ewing, who traveled to Brazil in 2016.
New this year, students will earn credit specifically for the study abroad experience. Previously it was part of the regular class credit. Most trips take place during spring break at the end of March, or immediately after the spring semester ends, in early May.
In Tiradantes, Brazil, future soccer stars show their U.S. visitors from an NMC study abroad trip how the game is played.“They’re not just traveling to see the sights. Our experiences are integrated with the curriculum being taught in the classroom,” Bensley said.
“It fits right into my teaching. It reinforces it and helps the students understand it in a larger context,” LaCross said.
Iceland (biology and freshwater studies) and Spain (culinary) are both new destinations in 2020. Aviation and archaeology students have previously visited England, and this year nursing and surgical technology students are making the trip.
Safety and security of students and faculty is a top priority of all trips. NMC works closely with in-country providers and host institutions, as well as U.S. agencies including the State Department and Centers for Disease Control.
“We’ve been smart in the way we’ve developed the programs, the places we’ve visited, and the teams we’ve built,” Bensley said. “We always attempt to mitigate any risk to our students and faculty,” he said.
Financial aid is also important to a successful study abroad program. Forty students received NMC’s Global Opportunities Scholarship. Sixteen culinary students received A Taste of Success scholarship.
The following college events and stories have appeared in the media in the past week. We want to share your media involvement too. Please send information about your NMC-related interview or appearance to publicrelations@nmc.edu. If possible, please include a link to the piece and information about where and when it was used.
Please note access to some stories may be limited by paywalls set up by the media outlet. This includes the Traverse City Record-Eagle, which limits free clicks to five per month. You may also read Record-Eagle articles in the print edition at the Osterlin Library.
Martin Luther King Jr. remembered in music, messages of hope
Record-Eagle, Jan. 17 (more…)
Check out this exclusive offer from Yen Yoga for NMC employees and those authorized for employee tuition waivers. Currently offering more than 115 classes a week (check schedule at yenyogafitness.com).
Yen is Northern Michigan’s largest class-based fitness studio, offering yoga, indoor cycling, group fitness, TRX and more. Teachers and staff at Yen know that walking into a yoga or fitness studio can be intimidating at first, so they strive to create an environment that is welcoming and non-judgmental — emphasizing mind, body, spirit and joy. Purchase a 30-class package for $40 with a 100% tuition waiver (normally a $360 value). Start your classes anytime, January to May 8; expires 12 months after purchase date.
Easy 2-step sign-up:
The International Affairs Forum hosts its annual Academic WorldQuest competition at the Hagerty Center Thursday, Feb. 6 from noon to 5 p.m. Eighteen local high school teams will compete for the chance to take part in the national flagship youth education program of the World Affairs Councils in Washington, D.C. on April 22. (more…)
NMC’s Great Lakes Water Studies Institute and Freshwater Solutions, along the lake associations from Glen, Lime, Leelanau, Long, Elk/Skegemog, Three Lakes, Intermediate, Big Platte, Charlevoix, Walloon, and ZeroGravity LLC have contributed financial resources to host this FREE symposium focused on various water quality parameters, including the latest in swimmer’s itch prevention, discovery of a new schistosome species host, snail-parasite distribution in Michigan, enteric bacteria testing, and promotion of qPCR within a community-based monitoring model. Seating is limited and pre-registration is required by February 9. RSVP to “reimink@hope.edu“
When & Where: Feb. 17, 2020. 8 a.m. – noon. Hagerty Center-NMC-715 E. Front St. Traverse City 
The Traverse City Parking Patrol will begin issuing citations for parking violations at NMC on Monday, January 20. All NMC students and employees must have their 2019-2020 permits displayed by that date.
The Traverse City Police Department has provided the following information on how to avoid parking tickets on campus by properly displaying your parking permit:
If you do get a ticket, payment can be made at the red drop-off payment box at the east end of the Cedar lot in front of the Health & Science Building on main campus. You can also mail the fine to the city, or pay at the parking services office in the public parking garage at 303 E. State St. Payment information is also on each ticket.
If you have any questions about parking enforcement on campus, please call Campus Safety & Security at (231) 995-1111.
TRAVERSE CITY — Enrollment Services at Northwestern Michigan College will offer several “pop-up” scholarship events this winter in addition to its annual Financial Aid Fair for prospective college students, parents, alumni, and current NMC students.
Two of the pop-up events will focus on NMC scholarships available to culinary students and will be held at Lobdell’s Teaching Restaurant on NMC’s Great Lakes campus, 715 E. Front St.
A pair of nursing-specific workshops will be held 8:30–9:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17 on NMC’s Main Campus, with the exact location still to be determined.
A tech-aviation scholarship-specific workshop will be held from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26 in Parsons-Stulen 217/219 on the Aero Park Campus.
The Financial Aid Fair will be held from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 in room 113 of the Osterlin Building. It offers half-hour workshop sessions and time for students to meet individually with a financial aid representative. Snacks will be included!
Sign up for half-hour workshop sessions at nmc.edu/financial-aid. Walk-ins are also welcome.
Before or after the workshops, get one-on-one help with:
NMC Enrollment Services
(231) 995-1035
sfs@nmc.edu
Let me begin with a sincere thank you for your warm welcome at our January Conference. It was great to meet you and share a little bit of what shaped me as a person as we begin our journey together. Best of all was feeling the student-centered passion that filled the room! Yes, that was your energy.
As part of our journey, over the next five weeks, I will be sharing personal reflections on what shaped me as a leader each week in “The Intercom” employee e-newsletter. I will begin with the importance of trust; then, work my way through – conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. (more…)
New to NMC? Check out this Getting Started Guide for Technology.
New to NMC? Check out this Getting Started Guide for Technology.
Celebrate the release of Creatures NMC Magazine’s Fall 2019 edition. Enjoy light refreshments and network with community members! Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/
TRAVERSE CITY — NMC this month joins a statewide initiative to help students connect with resources to support basic needs. The Michigan Community College Association was awarded a $442,000 grant to launch the initiative focused on improving student completion and success by addressing economic instability among students including access to food, housing, transportation, childcare and other basic needs.
The Michigan – Building Economic Stability Today (MI-BEST) effort is funded through June 2022 by a grant from the Los Angeles-based ECMC Foundation as part of its Basic Needs Initiative, designed to address and alleviate basic needs insecurity among students. National survey findings reported that 45 percent of respondents had been food insecure in the past 30 days, 56 percent had been housing insecure in the previous year and 17 percent had been homeless during that year.
NMC will begin by forming a team of college personnel and community leaders. Dean of Students Lisa Thomas, NMC’s project lead, said members will include executive leadership, advisers, faculty, development/fundraising staff, financial aid staff and community partners.
“What I would hope is we learn some ways to better structure or provide internal supports to our students,” Thomas said.
NMC has offered a food pantry since November 2017. It serves between 80 and 90 people per month. This year’s usage is on pace to equal the 2018 academic year, the first full year of operation, when 1,087 total people were served.
In addition to the food pantry, Thomas also has emergency textbook funds available, as well as gas cards and BATA passes for students with transportation issues. Now, accessing those resources is handled on a case by case basis, rather than systematically.
“We’re going to take a deep dive to see what are the structures and processes in place at NMC to see what is supporting or what is a barrier to students completing their education,” Thomas said.
The Michigan Center for Student Success is leading the initiative for the MCCA and will partner with nationally-recognized organizations including the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and Trellis Research along with Michigan-based organizations including the Michigan Association of United Ways, MiBridges, and Public Policy Associates to support Michigan’s participating community colleges.
“We know that the lack of access to basic needs is frequently the reason that students leave college,” said Erica Lee Orians, executive director of the Michigan Center for Student Success at the MCCA. “NMC’s participation in this initiative is a critical component of our student success efforts.”
The Michigan Center for Student Success, founded in 2011, serves as a hub connecting leadership, administrators, faculty, and staff in their emerging and ongoing efforts to improve student outcomes, emphasizing linkages between practice, research, and policy. The Center has led statewide initiatives focused on reengaging adults, developmental education, transfer, veterans, and advising. The Center is part of the 16-state Student Success Center Network working with over half of the community colleges across the nation.
Lisa Thomas
Dean of Students
lthomas@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1043
Are your lectures the Hottest on Campus? You can handle the heat of student review! But can you handle the heat of the national hot sauce day challenge, on January 22 @ 11 a.m.?
The Hawk Owl cafe is looking for instructors to join our National Hot Sauce Day Challenge. We want 3 questions, (1 easy, one medium and one SUPER HARD) from the area you teach in; answer the question from the other instructors incorrectly and eat a wing with the appropriate hot sauce level on it. The last instructor standing wins lunch on us. The instructor who eats the hottest wings wins lunch on us. Basically, everyone who participates wins lunch on us!
Please email ptesner@nmc.edu, no later than January 17.
Who: Tutoring, Personal counseling, Advising, Success Coaches, Student Government & more
What: A time to introduce yourself to the on-campus resources that are here to help you be successful. Also, stop by the success fair either or BOTH days to enter a drawing for free textbooks up to $250 value, 2 lucky students will be selected!
Location: Health & Science Building Lobby
Date: Tuesday, January 14th & Wednesday, January 15th
Time: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The following college events and stories have appeared in the media in the past week. We want to share your media involvement too. Please send information about your NMC-related interview or appearance to publicrelations@nmc.edu. If possible, please include a link to the piece and information about where and when it was used.
Please note access to some stories may be limited by paywalls set up by the media outlet. This includes the Traverse City Record-Eagle, which limits free clicks to five per month. You may also read Record-Eagle articles in the print edition at the Osterlin Library.
International Affairs Forum Sets Next Slate Of Speakers
The Ticker, Jan. 8 (more…)