These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
TRAVERSE CITY — The International Affairs Forum (IAF) at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) announces the launch of the Giles Press Freedom Lecture, a new annual program championing integrity in journalism and the essential role of a free press in democratic society. The lecture is made possible through a generous legacy gift from the late Robert “Bob” Giles and Nancy Giles, whose lives and work reflected a deep commitment to rigorous, ethical journalism and a compassionate worldview steeped in curiosity.
“Our parents always had a wide-angle lens of the world,” shared Megan Giles Cooney, daughter of Bob and Nancy. “Each of us still carries that sense of curiosity and respect for other cultures that our parents embedded in us. When our father led the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, that same expansive worldview found its fullest expression. He invested in expanding opportunities for international fellows, recognizing that a truly global program required a diversity of voices. Our mother embraced that mission with characteristic warmth, helping trailing spouses and children settle into their year in Cambridge. Growing that international dimension of the Nieman Program brought them both tremendous joy — and kept their eyes, and ours, wide open to the world.”
The inaugural IAF event on May 28, 2026, generally timed to commemorate United Nations World Press Freedom Day, will feature acclaimed journalist Deborah Amos and serve as a tribute to the Giles’ enduring impact on journalism and public life.
“Bob and Nancy Giles believed deeply in the power of education to enlighten, connect, and strengthen communities,” said Alexander Tank, Director of the International Affairs Forum at NMC. “This annual lecture honors their legacy through thoughtful, fact-based dialogue at a time when journalism practice and democratic integrity are being challenged.”
Bob Giles, who served on the IAF Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, was an impactful figure in American journalism. As curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University for 15 years, he helped shape generations of journalists and championed the highest standards of reporting and press freedom. His earlier leadership as editor and publisher of the Detroit News earned national recognition for journalistic excellence via his 2nd Pulitzer Prize. Giles’ first Pulitzer was awarded for his team coverage of the Kent State University shootings in 1970.
Nancy Giles, a psychologist and advocate for mental health and education, was an equally vital partner in this work, known for her intellectual engagement, compassion, and steadfast support of journalism’s public mission. Together, their legacy reflects a shared belief in truth, accountability, and an informed civic life.
About the event & speaker
Veteran international correspondent Deborah Amos brings decades of reporting from global conflict zones to northern Michigan for this inaugural lecture. A longtime voice on National Public Radio, Amos has covered the Middle East, migration, and the human consequences of war with depth and clarity. Amos’ work exemplifies the courage, rigor, and integrity at the heart of the Giles Press Freedom Lecture. In conversation, Amos will explore the evolving challenges facing journalists today—from disinformation and declining trust to increasing threats against press freedom worldwide.
Amos will be in conversation with Elizabeth Jensen, Knight-Wallace Great Lakes News Fellow 2025-’26. Jensen is the co-chair of Press Forward Northern Michigan, an organization working to support local journalism in the region. A longtime media beat reporter, Jensen is an expert on U.S. public media and served as NPR’s fifth public editor/ombudsman. In that role, she represented the interests of the public in the newsroom, and created a series of live events where NPR journalists discussed their newsgathering processes and ethical decisions.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026
Time: 6 p.m. reception | 7 p.m. hybrid event
Location: Dennos Museum Center Milliken Auditorium, 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City
Format: In person with online livestream available.
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at the door, $10 livestream. Open to the public. Free for students and educators. Tickets & details at tciaf.com
Sponsors & Support
International Affairs Forum programming at Northwestern Michigan College is supported by gifts from community members and sponsors. The Giles Press Freedom Lecture is made possible through the generosity of the Giles family and supporters who believe in the vital role of journalism in sustaining democracy. IAF thanks the following for their support of its 32nd season:
Central Michigan University | IAF Gold Sponsor
Grand Traverse Pie Company | IAF Gold Sponsor
Thompson Retractor | IAF Gold Sponsor
IAF Members | Across northern Michigan & across the country
Learn more about event sponsorship and opportunities to support here: tciaf.com/support
Alexander Tank
Director, International Affairs Forum at Northwestern Michigan College
atank@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1844
Join fellow students, employees and alumni on Friday, June 5 for Alumni Night at the Traverse City Pit Spitters.
Your registration secures TWO tickets (you + a guest) in our exclusive, designated alumni area. The Finale: Stick around after the final out for spectacular Firework Friday!
Wear your NMC swag and be ready to have some FUN! Rumor has it…Swoop might be joining us in the stands! Keep your eyes peeled and your cameras ready—you might just snag a selfie with our favorite hawk owl.
Please RSVP by Thursday, May 21 to secure your ticket.
TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College has recognized several employees for excellence in the 2025-26 academic year:
Faculty excellence award winners are chosen by a student selection committee. Criteria includes teaching excellence, rapport with students, innovation in the classroom and a sense of dedication.
Kristen Salathiel (download high-resolution photo)Imogene Wise Faculty Excellence Award: Kristen Salathiel, Communications. Student nominators said of Salathiel, an who began teaching at NMC as an adjunct in 2002 and moved to full-time faculty in 2009.
Initiated by a contribution from longtime NMC benefactors Harold and Imogene Wise in 1970, the award was first made to a full-time faculty member in 1971.
Daniel Grim (download high-resolution photo)Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award: Daniel Grim, Communications. Student nominators said of Grim, who has taught two years at NMC:
The Adjunct Excellence award was created in 1999 as a companion to the Imogene Wise Faculty Excellence Award. This is the first time both the full-time and adjunct faculty winners have been from the same department. See a full list of all past faculty and adjunct faculty excellence winners at nmc.edu/cie.
Criteria for the team and staff excellence awards includes commitment “above and beyond” the NMC mission, vision, and values.
NMC Grounds Team (download high-resolution photo)Team Excellence Award: Grounds Team – Dan Hoseit, Max McColl and Jeremy Maloney. Cited for stewardship, collaboration and excellence, Grounds’ duties include plowing campus parking lots and sidewalks. Despite being down one staff member and the challenges of a very snowy winter, including an unprecedented three consecutive snow days in March, they rose to the task and helped keep the college community safe. Their efforts earned them nominations from four different sources.
Marcus Bennett (download high-resolution photo)Staff Excellence Award: Marcus Bennett, Associate Dean of Campus Life. Bennett, who joined the college in 2011, epitomizes going above and beyond in his work. He and his family live in East Hall and he is available to students 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. He works both behind the scenes, one-on-one with students, and in the spotlight, organizing large public events like the annual fall Welcome Week, when students move into the dorms, and the recent 75th anniversary Student & Community Block party.
Cari Noga
NMC Communications Director
cnoga@nmc.edu
(231) 392-1800 (Call or text)
The NMC Board of Trustees will hold its regular monthly meeting Monday, May 18 at 5:30 p.m. in Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, Room 106/107. More information is available here.
For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.
Join FishPass and friends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, May 22 for a post-storm cleanup of the lower Boardman/Ottaway River, from FishPass to the mouth at West Grand Traverse Bay. Our community river was deeply affected by the historic flood last month — let’s give it some love.
Meet at 10 a.m. in Rotary Square for coffee, donuts and to pick up supplies. Participants will then head out to clean at their own pace. Post a picture of the event on Facebook, use the hashtag #CleanBoardman, and tag @fishpass to have a chance to win a Downtown Traverse City gift certificate!
This project is being funded by FishPass.
At the April 23 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Jason Slade presented a summary of Strategy 2: Enrollment and Student Success: Advance enrollment and student success by removing barriers and ensuring every learner experiences the coordinated support needed to persist and achieve their goals.
Objective 1: Integrate and strengthen a unified, data-informed enrollment ecosystem that aligns all student services, PRMC, and academic programs around shared priorities to ease the enrollment and success pathways and increase the college attendance rates with key local audiences (high school and adult learners) and select national audiences.
Objective 2: Build a coordinated communication and information system that ensures important details stay accurate, visible, and accessible throughout the student journey. Shared dashboards, portals, and consistent messaging will reduce confusion, strengthen follow-through, and improve decision-making across NMC.
Objective 3: Create a coordinated advising system that ensures every student chooses a clear path early and stays on track to complete it. Integrated advising touchpoints, career exploration, faculty collaboration, and technology tools will support informed decisions and continuous progress.
Objective 4: Expand learning options and clarify stackable pathways so every student, especially adult, rural, and part-time learners, can advance toward employment or further education.
The full memo can be viewed here. Next up — Strategy 3 (May Board of Trustees meeting).
The Bayshore Marathon will be held on Saturday, May 23, from approximately 5:45 a.m. until 4 p.m. This event begins and ends at Central High School and impacts NMC’s Campus including College Drive and multiple parking lots. The main entrance to NMC at College Drive and Front Street will close at approximately 5:45 a.m. that day and other entrances to campus will close shortly thereafter. Barricades will be set up to block parking lots along College Drive to prevent exiting vehicles for the safety of the runners.
The Cedar lot will close Friday afternoon, May 22, and barriers will be set up around the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center in preparation for the event.
Please be patient when traveling to campus during these times.
The NMC Board of Trustees Executive Committee will meet Thursday, May 14 at 2 p.m. in Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center Room 104/105. The agenda is available here.
For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.
May 15, 2026, from 6–8 p.m.Curious about a future in Audio Technology? 🎧 Stop by Founders Hall anytime from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 15 to see where creativity meets cutting-edge sound.
Explore our studios, talk with instructors and get a feel for what you’ll learn in NMC’s Audio Technology program.
The following college events and stories have appeared in the media recently. 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 NMC Library.
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Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine will screen at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17 in the Dutmers Theater as part of NMC’s Global Cinema Series.
Admission is FREE and is open to students, staff and the community, although seating is limited. Doors open and 5:30 p.m. and films begin at 6 p.m. in the Dutmers Theater at the Dennos Museum on NMC’s Front Street Campus.
The Michigan Virtual EdTech Pitch Contest and Innovation Bootcamp is built for Michigan educators, school leaders, parents, recent grads, education professionals and anyone connected to our education ecosystem who has an idea for a technology-driven solution and wants to take it further. The Bootcamp gives participants hands-on training in startup fundamentals, and the Pitch Contest awards over $22,000 in grant funding to help winners bring their ideas to life.
All the details — eligibility, how to apply, and program structure — are available at michiganvirtual.org/edtechcatalyst.
Please note: This is for idea-stage programming. The Conquer EdTech accelerator, focusing on growth and scale of already founded companies, will open for applications later this summer.
The 32nd Annual Smart Commute Week is June 1–5. The week consists of events that promote cycling, walking, taking the bus and carpooling—anything creative and human-powered that gets you where you need to go!
Free daily breakfasts are hosted at various locations around town for smart commuters. Every year community members challenge each other to a friendly competition known as the Commuter Cup Challenge. The Challenge is open to ALL and totally FREE to participate. If you would like to join the NMC Swoop Loops team, please contact Dave Weaver, the team captain, at dweaver@nmc.edu.
For more information about Smart Commute Week, visit the TART trails website.
Every summer, Traverse City hosts talented college students who intern at local businesses, take seasonal jobs and begin imagining what their future could look like in northern Michigan.
To help students and young professionals connect with the community, the Traverse Area Human Resources Association (TAHRA) and Michigan’s Creative Coast are hosting a free networking event from 5:30–7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, at the Hagerty Garage.
The evening will include local stories from people who chose to build their lives and careers in northern Michigan, good music, catering by Las Lagunas and the Hagerty Garage’s incredible lineup of classic cars. Housing connection resources will be provided by Liv in TC. Learn more by emailing hbaugh@livcommunities.com or at Livintc.com.
If you are interning or employing an intern this summer, attending this event event is a great opportunity to plant seeds for future careers and connections in the Traverse City region.
Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
The following employees are celebrating an anniversary soon. Please join us in congratulating them!
Kudos to Heather VanStratt! NOMIAC in September of 2024—This quarterly meeting took place at Baker College in Cadillac. Attendees included representation from HBA, NWMiW!, GVSU, MMTC, Baker College, and more. Heather VanStratt, Grant Manager & Community Coordinator through the Sixty by 30 grant initiative, leads the NOMIAC; the common agenda planning, and the identification of six regional strategic pathways that align with the Hot Jobs Report, MCCA data, and other regional data and industry input.
Kudos to Dan Hoesit, Max McColl, Jeremy Maloney, Cam Palmer and Tom Caswell! Dan, Max, Jeremy and Cam were performing spring clean up around Scholars Hall during Finals Week and as a part of that work they were using leaf blowers, and happened to be working right underneath the windows of my public speaking class as they were delivering final speeches. Concerned that the noise was distracting my students during their last speeches I walked downstairs and asked them if they could work somewhere else until 3 p.m. when our class ended. They were all really, really gracious and agreed to work in a different area to minimize the disturbance, allowing our class to finish up. The students appreciated their flexibility!
Kudos to Cathy Warner, Brandon Everest, Kristy McDonald, Becca Richardson and Charles Macphee! Kudos to Cathy Warner (ENG 111), Brandon Everest (SOC 201), Kristy McDonald (BUS 231), Becca Richardson (MTH 120), and Charles Macphee (EGY 105) for opening their final class presentations to NMC and the community for the 5th Annual NMC Learning Symposium. Their student presentations were outstanding!
Kudos to Caroline Schaefer-Hills, Kyle Morrison and Sarah Montgomery-Richards! Kudos to those who participated in the 5th Annual NMC Learning Symposium Reflective Table Talk session! Caroline Schaefer-Hills had her Studio Visual Communicarions students share their final projects. Kyle Morrison shared the accomplishments of this year’s E-Sports team. Sarah Montgomery-Richards had three students share their reflections from the GVSU Interfaith Learning Lab. It was a pleasure to hear the students’ reflections and pride in their work!
Experts suggest maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” increases positivity for yourself and for others. Please encourage your colleagues by submitting a KUDOS. Let them know you appreciate their hard work and are thinking of them!
These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!
Yesterday, May 7, Instructure, owner of the Canvas Learning Management System utilized by NMC, experienced additional unauthorized activity relating to the same security breach reported earlier this week in Intercom. At this time, there remains no indication that NMC student data has been compromised. Our information security teams are continuing to investigate and monitor this fluid situation, and we will provide updates as they become available.
After a brief outage last night, NMC’s Canvas system is online and fully functional. As Instructure and the media continue to commmunicate on a wider scale, the best place to get information about how this situation affects NMC students, staff and faculty will be communicated directly through NMC channels like Intercom. Thank you.
May 6, 2026
NMC’s class of 2026 increased by 10% and the number of degrees and certificates those graduates earned rose nearly 12% over 2025, a rise most likely due to two state scholarship programs.
An NMC graduate receives her diploma during the 2026 Commencement ceremonyA total of 579 students earned 632 degrees and certificates over the 2025–26 academic year, pending final grades. More than a third of the graduates are recipients of the Community College Guarantee or Michigan Reconnect, the statewide scholarship programs. The CCG offers free tuition to recent high school graduates, while Reconnect is for adults 25 and older who don’t already have a degree or certificate.
The CCG was first offered in fall 2024. It imposes no income or GPA requirements, but does require full time enrollment (minimum of 12 credits per semester.) Research shows that the likelihood of graduation is associated with full-time enrollment, due to the momentum students establish.
“Scholarship programs like the Michigan Community College Guarantee are the spark for many students,” said Lindsey Dickinson, NMC’s director of student success and retention. “But their ability to shift their attention from financial burdens to ‘completion mode,’ where they can focus on the finish line of graduation, is the engine that keeps them moving forward.”
Reconnect started in 2021 and requires students to be enrolled in at least 12 credits for the academic year. Both programs were implemented to meet Michigan’s Sixty by 30 goal of having 60% of the working population with a post-high school degree or certificate by 2030. The region started at 34.2% in 2017 and now stands at 53%.
The high school class of 2026 is eligible for the CCG for 15 months. Class of 2025 graduates are eligible until the start of the fall 2026 semester.
Commencement ceremonies also honored NMC’s 75th anniversary. Each graduate wore special green cords with their caps and gowns, in recognition of the anniversary. Watch the recorded ceremony on NMC’s YouTube channel.
Instructure, the company that creates Canvas, NMC’s Learning Management System, experienced a security breach April 30. The organization claiming the attack released a list of 8,800 K-12 schools, community colleges and universities whose potentially Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was leaked. NMC was not included in the list.
Instructure has not corroborated the list, but at this point, to the best of our knowledge, no NMC student, faculty or messaging information stored on the Canvas servers was compromised. We will update you if that changes. Instructure also maintains a public status record.
TRAVERSE CITY — The International Affairs Forum (IAF) at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) is proud to partner with On The Ground Global for a screening of the documentary Land of Canaan with filmmaker Q&A on May 14 at Milliken Auditorium in Traverse City.
“This project – and interaction with visiting filmmakers – represent a rare opportunity to bring humanity and compassion into public dialogue, around a region that has seen so much inhumanity, today and over many generations,” said Alexander Tank, Director of the International Affairs Forum at NMC. “Our partners at On The Ground Global have developed lasting, impactful relationships with Dr. Nasser Abufarha, the film’s protagonist. We are so honored to collaborate and shine light on this story for our community. This free event is a continuation of IAF’s investment in public discourse on the difficult issues we face as Americans and global citizens.”
On The Ground Global, founded by Chris Treter, has developed a long-standing partnership with Nasser Abufarha through shared work supporting Palestinian olive farmers, including expanding fair-trade markets, replanting olive trees, and strengthening farmer cooperatives through Canaan Fair Trade. This collaboration—also central to The People and the Olive—has connected Midwestern communities directly with growers in the West Bank, bringing depth and lived experience to the film Land of Canaan and the dialogue this event encourages.
May 14 | Land of Canaan
This documentary feature film presents a rare and intimate view of Palestinian farmers and their ancient olive trees – symbols of resilience, heritage, and home. Faced with ongoing political violence and the loss of their land, a visionary olive farmer in the occupied West Bank brings thousands of small-scale olive farmers together in fair trade cooperatives that connect them to global markets and create a future for their families, one that is life-affirming and nurtures their ancestral relationship to the land and the ancient olive trees they serve.
Nasser Abufarha, Ph.D., Protagonist & Producer, Anthropologist
Dr. Nasser Abufarha was raised among the olive groves of Jenin. Abufarha founded Canaan Palestine, the world’s first fair‑trade and organic olive oil company. Through his work he has connected more than 2,000 small‑scale Palestinian farming families to global markets, brought Palestinian olive oil to international recognition and funded scholarships and women’s cooperatives. His vision of sustainable, community‑based trade has been celebrated worldwide and is even more relevant today as conflict threatens to sever farmers from their land.
Maggie Lemere, Director
Award‑winning filmmaker and oral historian Maggie Lemere is a National Geographic Explorer and co‑founder of the Rhiza Collective. Lemere’s storytelling focuses on the intersections of humanity and the environment; she is currently directing Land of Canaan, “a National Geographic Society‑supported feature film about Palestinians’ relationship with ancient olive trees” . In a recent interview, she said that making the film has become one of the hardest things she has ever done; as violence escalated in the West Bank the project “became a historical document … because of the horrible escalation of violence in the communities where we filmed”. Lemere’s approach uses oral history to foreground love, joy and connection rather than trauma alone, revealing a seldom‑seen side of contemporary Palestine.
Date: May 14
Time: 6 p.m. reception w/ olive oil sampling | 6:30 p.m. film screening | 8 p.m. filmmaker Q & A
Location: Milliken Auditorium, The Dennos Museum, 1410 College Dr, Traverse City
Cost: This event is free and open to the public. Register in advance at tciaf.com.
Alexander Tank
Director, International Affairs Forum at Northwestern Michigan College
(231) 995-1844
atank@nmc.edu
Chris Treter
Co-founder, On The Ground Global
chris@highergroundstrading.com
The NMC Board of Trustees Building & Site Committee will meet Wednesday, May 6 at 2 p.m. in Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, Room 104/105. More information is available here.
For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.
To find these selections and many other new titles, see the NMC library catalog.
On Monday, May 4 from noon to 8 p.m., and Tuesday, May 12 from 4 to 8 p.m., Central High School will host track meets.
Campus Safety Coordinator Garrett Croon has given verbal permission for the organizers (Traverse City Area Public Schools) and attendees to park on NMC’s campus. School buses will park on the south side of the Maple Lot.
Be aware that parking may be difficult in the Cedar Parking Lot during these times.