Dec 30, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will continue its free film program presented by Indy Lens Pop-Up in 2020 to connect audiences of all ages with the arts. Films cover racial, environmental, housing, and other issues that frame the theme of neighborhood. Additional information can be found online at dennosmuseum.org.
Indie Lens Pop-Up, a national program that has partnered with the Dennos Museum Center for 11 years, is a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on the PBS series Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics to family and relationships. All films are free and provide pre-film refreshments and post-film discussion.
Supported in part by Morsels of Traverse City.
| Thursday, February 13, 2020 — 7:00PM |
Always in Season |
By Jacqueline Olive |
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In Always in Season, descendants of the victims and perpetrators of lynching are working together to heal a violent history. Blending observational footage with first-person testimonies and expert input, Always in Season examines the lingering impact of lynching and the link between this historic form of racial terrorism and the racial violence that exists today.
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| Thursday, March 5, 2020 — 7:00PM |
Bedlam |
By Kenneth Paul Rosenburg |
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Filmmaker and practicing psychiatrist, Ken Rosenberg visits ERs, jails, and homeless camps to examine our national mental health crisis. Rosenberg follows the poignant stories of people grappling with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other chronic psychiatric conditions, whose silence and shame often worsen the suffering.
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| Thursday, April 23, 2020 — 7:00 PM |
Eating Up Easter |
By Sergio Mata’u Rapu |
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Easter Island is a microcosm of a planet in flux. Native Rapanui grapple with a booming tourism trade that rakes in money, but brings about a changing climate that threatens the fragile ecology on the island. Rapanui filmmaker Sergio Mata’u Rapu gives voice to his fellow islanders, who struggle to balance their strong cultural heritage with modern-day challenges.
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| Thursday, May 14, 2020 — 7:00PM |
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project |
By Matt Wolf |
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Marion Stokes secretly recorded television twenty-four hours a day for thirty years. It started in 1979 with the dawn of the twenty-four hour news cycle and ended when Marion passed away in 2012. In total, Marion recorded on 70,000 VHS tapes, capturing revolutions, lies, wars, triumphs, and catastrophes that tell us who we were and how television has shaped the world of today.
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The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday until 8 PM, and Sundays 1-5 PM. For information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
Dec 27, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is pleased to present three new exhibitions scheduled to open on January 19, 2020. Each exhibition explores some aspect of bravery and resiliency: from Howard G. Buffet’s photographs that document world hunger in 40 Chances, to artist Karen Bondarchuk’s struggle to make sense of Alzheimer’s disease in Ergo Sum: A Crow a Day, artists translate and decipher the world around us in ways that are relatable and meaningful. And in Pulped Under Pressure: The Art of Handmade Paper, seven contemporary artists experiment with one of society’s most ubiquitous of materials—paper— to “address some of the most pressing issues (environmental crisis to global marginalization) facing civilization today.”
A variety of public programs will occur throughout the winter months to connect audiences of all ages with these exhibitions. More information can be found online at dennosmuseum.org.
Exhibitions at the Dennos Museum Center are made possible with support provided by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Robert T. and Ruth Haidt Hughes Memorial Endowment Fund, with media support from TV 7&4 and TV 9&10.
| 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World |
January 19 – April 26, 2020 |
 Eight-year-old Justo Angel Torrez Diaz’s family improved their coffee production methods by using more sustainable agriculture practices. (Howard G. Buffett) In this powerful exhibit featuring the photography of Howard G. Buffett, 40 photographs document the world hunger crisis as part of a global awareness campaign. Traveling to more than 137 countries, Buffett turned his camera lens on the powerful forces that fuel hunger and poverty. A philanthropist and farmer, Buffett believes that each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our life goals, just as farmers have about 40 growing seasons to improve their harvests. His photography is a call to action to find lasting solutions to the world hunger crisis.
40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World was developed by the Newseum in collaboration with Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The Newseum, located in Washington, D.C., increases public understanding of the importance of free press and the First Amendment. newseum.org
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| Ergo Sum: A Crow a Day |
January 19 – May 24, 2020 |
 365 pieces, 7-¾” x 5-¾” each Media: charcoal, ink, graphite, pastel, Pigma Micron, gold leaf, and press-type on handmade gessoed panels On August 1, 2014, Canadian-born artist Karen Bondarchuk set out to mark the passing time that her mother – diagnosed with dementia in 2010 – no longer could. For 365 days, she produced a crow a day on a hand-cut, hand-gessoed panel, remembering her mother as she once was and grieving her loss. The resulting work explores communication and an artist’s relationship to the world; it resonates for its depth, beauty, and elegiac and potent whimsy.
In the artist’s own words: “I began this series on August 1, 2014, as a way to honor my mother who is in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease. I chose to create a crow drawing every day for 365 days as a way of marking time that she no longer seems to recognize. Crows have figured largely in my work for several years and represent both the quotidian and the extraordinary – akin to the Buddhist notion of “ordinary magic.” The labor that went into producing each of the 365 panels – cutting the wood, preparing my own gesso from gelatin and powdered limestone, building up layers, and sanding between coats in preparation for the actual process of creating an image – seemed to evoke the overwhelming labor and repetitious activities of motherhood. The series is simultaneously a marker of my mother’s lost time and a constant and acute reminder of my own days, my life, and an attempt to signal visually the preciousness and individuality of each day. Although the project seemed sober to me at its outset, quirky cheer and serendipity came to inhabit many of the panels.”
Ergo Sum: A Crow a Day is organized by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin
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| Pulped Under Pressure: The Art of Handmade Paper |
January 19 – May 24, 2020 |
 Psyche-Anthropocene Projection, 2013 Handmade paper, inclusions, PVA 30” x 70” x 1½” (installed) (each panel 30” x 22”) With traditional hand papermaking at its core, Pulped Under Pressure underscores important contemporary issues steeped in history and craft. Enticed through touch, these works encourage a contemplative slowing down even as they urge acknowledgment of some of the most pressing issues (environmental crisis to global marginalization) facing civilization today.
Each of the artists, Jillian Bruschera, Julia Goodman, Reni Gower, Trisha Oralie Martin, Melissa Potter, Marilyn Propp, Maggie Puckett, start simply with a foundation of pulp made from natural fibers. Their multifaceted results incorporate a rich range of printmaking, letterpress, papercutting, and installation with a diversity of recycled disposable materials (junk mail, egg cartons, old cotton t-shirts, ripped denim jeans) as well as old bedsheets, beetroot, heirloom plants, and electroluminescent wires.
In very unique ways, these artists consider paper beyond its most common function as a passive surface of record or craft. Instead, the material is transformed and imbedded with content that turns communication into a public practice. By challenging assumptions, the artists of Pulped Under Pressure create artworks that are both beautiful and brave.
Pulped Under Pressure: The Art of Handmade Paper is co-curated by Reni Gower and Melissa Hilliard Potter and organized by Wylie Contemporary, Inc.
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The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sundays 1-5 PM. For information on the Museum and its programs, visit dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
Dec 26, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
Come by the store after Christmas for 50% off all holiday merchandise, holiday cards, planners and calendars while they last! Also, save on select exhibit related merchandise as we begin to change over exhibits! Sale begins December 26th at the Dennos Museum Store and continues while supplies last!
Dec 23, 2019 | Intercom, Media Mentions
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.
Last-Minute Stocking Stuffers; Local Goodies You Can Nab From Your Neighborhood Shops
Northern Express, Dec 21
(more…)
Dec 23, 2019 | Intercom
A lovely holiday pin was left at the name tag table in the lobby area of Great Lakes Campus after the NMC Employee Holiday Party on Friday, December 13. Did you attend the party and lose a pin? Please call Human Resources at (231)995-1026 or (231)995-2612. If you can describe the pin, we’ll send it to you!
Dec 19, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
Kari Kahler (click for high-resolution version)JACKSON, Miss. — The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) has selected NMC’s Kari Kahler as one of 30 chapter advisers to serve as Faculty Scholars during the organization’s 2020 summer conference, to be held in Chicago in June.
Kahler, associate dean of Learning Services, has served as adviser to NMC’s chapter of PTK, the international community college honor society, since 1997 and as the Michigan Regional Coordinator since 2010. Faculty Scholars are key figures at Honors Institute, PTK’s annual weeklong honors conference, as they lead small groups of the attendees in discussions about presentations by keynote speakers.
Each speaker is an expert on an idea related to PTK’sHonors Study Topic, the focus of the organization’s honors program. Students will explore the 2020 Honors Study Topic: “To the Seventh Generation: Inheritance and Legacy” and Kahler will discuss the importance of leadership in building your personal legacy.
“Honors Institute sets the stage for many of our chapters to begin their honors projects, which is where some of the deepest benefits of PTK membership come into play,” said Dr. Blake Ellis, PTK’s Vice President of Student Engagement. “The guidance Faculty Scholars give can be the first step in igniting a student’s passion, getting them involved, and setting them on a course to gain leadership experience and develop soft skills.”
Phi Theta Kappa’s honors program guides chapters in a research-based, action-oriented project on their campuses and in their communities. The timely, interdisciplinary topic is developed biannually by a group of volunteer chapter advisors known as the Honors Program Council.
Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 3.5 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 nations, with approximately 250,000 active members in the nation’s
colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.
Release date: December 19, 2019
For more information:
Diana Fairbanks
Executive Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Communications
dfairbanks@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1019
NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE
Northwestern Michigan College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, height, weight, marital status or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. nmc.edu/non-discrimination
Dec 18, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
December 18, 2019
This month, as Experiential Learning expands at NMC, the community has an opportunity to take advantage of one of the most enduring EL projects, while five faculty members selected as the college’s first class of EL Fellows will substantially convert their courses to the high-impact instructional style’s principles in 2020.
EL principles include students working in teams, immersive experiences or project-based assignments, and flipped classrooms, with faculty offering guidance and help more than direct instruction. All of those are embedded in the community opportunity offered by NMC’s Visual Communications department, which invites area non-profits to submit graphic design, art direction and new media projects by Jan. 6 for consideration as pro bono class projects during the spring semester.
Instructor Caroline Schaefer-Hills introduced the studio format to the class in 2002.
“It’s almost a mini-internship,” Schaefer-Hills said. “Our students are having real-world experiences and printed and produced pieces before they transfer.”
2019 projects included logos for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce (right), Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network, and Wagbo Farm & Education Center. Past projects included the design for the local Bay Bucks currency, streetscape and signage for the city of Alden, and newsletters and brochures for TART Trails.
Schaefer-Hills is also one of the first EL fellows selected for 2020. The fellows project is one of the first initiatives of NMC’s Experiential Learning Institute, announced earlier this year.
Chosen across disparate disciplines, the instructors have committed to making substantial conversions of their courses to experiential learning principles. They are Brian Sweeney, metallurgy; Tammara Coleman (biology) & Lisa Blackford (social science) working together on a new class called the Science of Stress; John Velis, Computer Information Technology; and Sarah Montgomery-Richards, philosophy.
Each applicant met minimum criteria set by the Institute and were then chosen by lottery. Blackford has gradually converted both her social work and psychology classes from traditional lecture format to experiential learning. This semester, she structured her Psychology 100 course to culminate in a “Psymposium” in which teams of students debated theories and questions from different psychological perspectives in a timed competition. One student, Fisher Heck (right, with Lisa), went so far as to dress up as Sigmund Freud.
“I think they learned more in the last two weeks doing this than anything I taught them,” said Blackford, who held the Psymposium in a theatre-style classroom.
Vis Comm projects will be completed by the end of the spring semester in April 2019.
A brief description of the project and the organization’s needs are required and should be sent via email to cschaefer@nmc.edu by Jan. 6. Contact Schaefer-Hills at (231) 995-1334 for more information.
Experiential Learning has been a college focus since late 2016. The new Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, slated for completion in 2020, will be key to implementing EL campus-wide.
Dec 18, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
The library has purchased many new books so far this year. You can view a handful here along with descriptions or go here to see the full listing. These books are on display in the library’s lobby.
(more…)
Dec 18, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
December 18, 2019
This month, as Experiential Learning expands at NMC, the community has an opportunity to take advantage of one of the most enduring EL projects, while five faculty members selected as the college’s first class of EL Fellows will substantially convert their courses to the high-impact instructional style’s principles in 2020.
EL principles include students working in teams, immersive experiences or project-based assignments, and flipped classrooms, with faculty offering guidance and help more than direct instruction. All of those are embedded in the community opportunity offered by NMC’s Visual Communications department, which invites area non-profits to submit graphic design, art direction and new media projects by Jan. 6 for consideration as pro bono class projects during the spring semester.
Instructor Caroline Schaefer-Hills introduced the studio format to the class in 2002.
“It’s almost a mini-internship,” Schaefer-Hills said. “Our students are having real-world experiences and printed and produced pieces before they transfer.”
2019 projects included logos for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce (right), Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network, and Wagbo Farm & Education Center. Past projects included the design for the local Bay Bucks currency, streetscape and signage for the city of Alden, and newsletters and brochures for TART Trails.
Schaefer-Hills is also one of the first EL fellows selected for 2020. The fellows project is one of the first initiatives of NMC’s Experiential Learning Institute, announced earlier this year.
Chosen across disparate disciplines, the instructors have committed to making substantial conversions of their courses to experiential learning principles. They are Brian Sweeney, metallurgy; Tammara Coleman (biology) & Lisa Blackford (social science) working together on a new class called the Science of Stress; John Velis, Computer Information Technology; and Sarah Montgomery-Richards, philosophy.
Each applicant met minimum criteria set by the Institute and were then chosen by lottery. Blackford has gradually converted both her social work and psychology classes from traditional lecture format to experiential learning. This semester, she structured her Psychology 100 course to culminate in a “Psymposium” in which teams of students debated theories and questions from different psychological perspectives in a timed competition. One student, Fisher Heck (right, with Lisa), went so far as to dress up as Sigmund Freud.
“I think they learned more in the last two weeks doing this than anything I taught them,” said Blackford, who held the Psymposium in a theatre-style classroom.
Vis Comm projects will be completed by the end of the spring semester in April 2019.
A brief description of the project and the organization’s needs are required and should be sent via email to cschaefer@nmc.edu by Jan. 6. Contact Schaefer-Hills at (231) 995-1334 for more information.
Experiential Learning has been a college focus since late 2016. The new Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, slated for completion in 2020, will be key to implementing EL campus-wide.
Dec 16, 2019 | Intercom
Congratulations to the NMC Foundation, winners of the 2019 Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest! The winning entry was determined via applause-o-meter at the NMC Holiday Party on Friday, Dec. 13.
Other outstanding entries included the The Dennos Museum Center, NMC Enrollment Services, Roger Heeres (winner of the individual category) and CJ Schneider.
Dec 16, 2019 | Intercom, Media Mentions
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.
GTPulse – Harpe Star Captures Northern Michigan Creatively and Beautifully: ‘We’re in a bohemian renaissance’
9 & 10 News, Dec. 13 (more…)
Dec 12, 2019 | Intercom, Welcome to NMC
Please join us in welcoming these new additions to our NMC staff!
(more…)
Dec 12, 2019 | HR Corner, Intercom
Link to Priority Health Approved Drug List- HERE
Link to updated Summaries-CORE and High Deductible
Link to Prior Authorization form for prescriptions (Traditional)- HERE
- A 90-day prescription will be 2 co-pays
- Priority Health uses Express Scripts for mail order (same as Blue Cross)
- You should expect your Priority card in the mail the first week of January- If you have an immediate need to access care and have not received your card, please contact Hollie DeWalt in HR and she will be able to assist.
Dec 12, 2019 | HR Corner, Intercom
Here are some fun holiday workouts to try! (more…)
Dec 12, 2019 | HR Corner, Intercom
The following employees are celebrating an anniversary soon. Please join us in congratulating them! (more…)
Dec 12, 2019 | HR Corner, Intercom
The following employees were promoted internally. Please join us in congratulating them! (more…)
Dec 11, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
NMC Health Services has the regrettable distinction of having the first diagnosed and lab-confirmed case of influenza in Traverse City. Influenza B was diagnosed in a student last Wednesday and laboratory-confirmed yesterday. I even received a call from the Health Department. This is a particularly nasty strain of the flu. Symptoms include high fever, body aches, headaches, dizziness, cough, congestion, sore throat, nausea, loss of appetite, and possibly vomiting. The student who was diagnosed with the flu had NOT had a flu shot.
Health Services still has a limited number of flu shots. Please stop by for a flu shot if you haven’t already received one. Do not have your Holiday break ruined by getting the flu!
Free for faculty and staff with NMC Health Insurance. $20 if not.
Students $15 (which is below our cost and cheapest in town)
Have a wonderful and healthy holiday!
Dec 11, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
TRAVERSE CITY — NMC’s Visual Communications department invites area non-profit groups to submit graphic design, art direction and new media projects for consideration as pro bono class projects during the spring semester. Submissions are due by January 6, 2020.
Part of the Visual Communications curriculum, the class project is free to the non-profits selected. The goal is a real-world assignment that allows students to interact with clients and exposes them to the commercial printing and production worlds, including film and new media production, creative advertising, graphic design and packaging. Projects will be completed by the end of the spring semester in April.
Potential projects could include logos, brochures, ad campaigns, packaging, graphic design, branding, posters, infographics, announcements, invitations, film, web animations, Flash animations, exhibition design, TV commercials or anything relating to visual communications, commercial art, illustration and film or web design. The department is especially interested in conceptually-driven projects that will offer the students substantial opportunity for interaction with the client and process. 2019 projects included logos for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network, and Wagbo Farm & Education Center.
Interested non-profits with valid 501(c)(3) status in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Antrim, Kalkaska and Wexford counties should direct questions to Visual Communications instructor Caroline Schaefer-Hills at (231) 995-1334. A brief description of the project and the organization’s needs are required and should be sent via email to cschaefer@nmc.edu by Jan. 6.
Release Date: December 11, 2019
For more information:
Caroline Schaefer-Hills
Visual Communications Department Chair
(231) 995-1334
cschaefer@nmc.edu
Non-discrimination Policy Notice
Northwestern Michigan College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, height, weight, marital status or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. nmc.edu/non-discrimination
Dec 10, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
TRAVERSE CITY — December graduates of Northwestern Michigan College’s associate degree nursing (ADN) program will receive their nursing pins, the traditional symbol marking their transition into the profession, at a ceremony set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11 in Milliken Auditorium of the Dennos Museum Center on main campus.
Signifying the achievement of completing a nursing education, the pinning ceremony is a tradition dating back centuries. Its present, candlelit setting format dates to Florence Nightingale, the nineteenth-century founder of modern nursing. She was known for her night rounds during the Crimean War and her work to improve patient care and conditions.
About 30 graduates will receive their pins from a mentor each has chosen. The ceremony will include remarks from nursing faculty members Mac Beeker and Tami Livengood as well as student speakers Noah Degan and Katie Logan. Nursing students led the revival of the pinning ceremony at NMC last year, after it was discontinued some years ago.
NMC’s first nursing class graduated in 1963. Both degree and certificate options are available. Simulation labs on campus and clinical rotations at Munson Medical Center complement the classroom education. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
Release date: december 10, 2019
For more information:
Cameron Penny
Director, Alumni Relations
cpenny@nmc.edu
(231) 995-2825
NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE
Northwestern Michigan College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, height, weight, marital status or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. nmc.edu/non-discrimination
Dec 9, 2019 | Intercom, Media Mentions
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.
Pauly Group Recruits 11th President for Northwestern Michigan College
Hunt Scanlon Media, Dec. 5 (more…)
Dec 6, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
The 12 Days Before Christmas Vacation Sale for NMC Students and Staff at The Dennos Museum Store!
Beginning Thursday, December 12th, NMC Staff and Students receive a double discount for 20% off all regular priced merchandise. The museum store is stocked with gifts chosen not only for their uniqueness, quality, and beauty but also for their sustainability and story. Come in for holiday shopping and then deck the halls, trim the tree and light the menorah with 30% all holiday items and calendars.
December 12th – 23rd
20% Off All Regular Priced Merchandise*
30% Off All Holiday Items and Calendars
*excludes Consignment items
Dec 6, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
Protecting your personal information online is important. Read more about protecting your personal information online here.
Dec 4, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
December 4, 2019
Almost three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is water, and in its 50 years, graduates of NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy have been over just about all of it.
As the Academy formally celebrates its golden anniversary with a celebration this weekend, we look back at snapshot: A graduate from each decade. Collectively, they represent the breadth and diversity of the maritime industry, from Great Lakes freighters to ocean tankers, from commercial shipping to U.S. military, aboard vessels or shoreside.
“There’s a lot to see in the industry. It’s worldly. It’s global,” said 1998 graduate Scott Powell. He spent 11 years sailing the Great Lakes on ore boats, and in 2009 began teaching at the California State Maritime Academy, one of GLMA’s six sister academies. There he was the navigator for eight training cruises, in which the T/S Golden Bear sailed from Vallejo to places such as New Zealand and the Mediterranean Sea.
“That’s halfway across the world,” said Powell, who in 2018 moved back to teach at GLMA. “Now I’m back on the lakes again. I’ve now been around the world a lot on a ship.”
1970s: Mike Surgalski, 1979: Surgalski has come home, too. He’s currently the captain of GLMA’s training ship, the T/S State of Michigan, and was instrumental in its acquisition from the U.S. Coast Guard. The vessel arrived in Traverse City in 2002 and since then has provided about 60 days of required sea time to not only GLMA cadets, but those from other academies. Most recently the ship has offered internship opportunities to NMC culinary students, who are finding a lucrative niche working as cooks aboard ships.
1980s: Margo Marks, 1983: Former president of the Beaver Island Ferry Co. She joined the company that provides transportation to the island from Charlevoix in 2001. During her tenure, Marks also served her industry as the president of the Passenger Vessel Association, a national association representing owners and operators of dinner cruise vessels, sightseeing and excursion vessels, car and passenger ferries and other vessels that carry more than 200 million passengers per year. Prior to the ferry company, Marks worked as Elk Rapids Harbormaster. Her husband Todd also graduated in 1983 and worked on tankers on the West Coast.
1990s: Scott Powell, 1998, GLMA navigation instructor: Powell’s advice to prospective cadets is “to get as many different experiences as you can,” and the Flint-area native has certainly done so himself. In addition to his years sailing the Great Lakes and teaching at both Cal Maritime and GLMA, Powell is also an author. He contributed to six chapters of the 2017 edition of The American Practical Navigator. The Bible of the maritime industry, the text is kept on every military vessel, commercial vessels and in every maritime school. Powell’s specialty is Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), which is “slowly replacing paper charts” aboard ship, he said.
2000s: Pat Drayer, 2003, U.S. Coast Guard: Since graduation, Drayer’s been stationed all over North America, from Miami, Florida to Juneau, Alaska. He currently holds the rank of commander and executive officer of the Marine Safety Unit at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Duluth, Minn. His career has focused on safety inspections of commercial vessels. “I can’t speak highly enough of the education I got,” Drayer said, citing the licensing credential the Academy offers as a major mark of industry credibility. “The standard of education they provided at GLMA and NMC was fantastic and really set me up.”
2010s: Alec Giamboi, 2019: Polar Tankers, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips operating in the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System, lifting crude oil in Valdez, Alaska, and discharging at ports along the West Coast and Hawaii. Giamboi was studying political science at Loyola University Chicago when he decided he wanted a more hands-on career, something that tapped into his love of water and that offered a fulfilling career immediately upon graduation. Google searches led him to GLMA. He interned with Polar Tankers as a student and went on to be hired after graduating this year. “I’ve loved it,” said the Youngstown, Ohio native.
In honor of the Academy’s 50th anniversary, NMC and GLMA have also published a history book. Contact the NMC Alumni Office for information on obtaining a copy. (231) 995-1021.
Dec 4, 2019 | Intercom, Student News
Student Health Services will be closed for the semester break starting December 20. We will reopen Thursday, Jan 2, 2020, at 9 A.M.
Emergency medical services may be obtained at:
- Munson Walk-In Clinic, 550 Munson Ave. (935-8686)
- Bayside Docs, 501 Munson Ave, Tc, (933-9150)
- The Walk-In Clinic, Us 31 South, (929-1234)
- Munson Medical Center, 1105 6th Street, (935-5000)
***Please call 995-1255 or stop in by Wednesday, Dec 18 if you need refills***
Dec 4, 2019 | Student News
The Advising Center wishes you great success on your final exams in the coming weeks! Make sure you are registered for the Spring semester before this semester is over!
