Welcome our newest hires

These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!

  • Jake Renguso – Student – Switchboard Operator & Innovation Center Welcome Desk Attendant
  • Rachel Hadley – Supplemental – Nurse
  • Katelynn Probert – Supplemental – Banquet Server
  • Chuck Cleghorn – Supplemental – Neurodiversity Peer Mentor
  • Derek Hampel – Supplemental – Kitchen & Dining Room Help at Lobdells
  • Veronica Boals – Student – Audio Tech Lab Assistant
  • Arriam Windish – Student – Audio Tech Lab Assistant
  • Waleed Khalaf – Student – Aviation Line Crew

StoryWalk® Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day

The NMC Library is presenting a StoryWalk® in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day. Find Mnoomin maan’gowing / The Gift of Mnoomin by Brittany Luby along the walkway between the Dennos Museum and Osterlin building, from October 14th through October 27th.

This bilingual story (Anishinaabemowin and English) follows a child and family through a harvest day, revealing the cultural and ecological importance of mnoomin. As the author’s note explains, many Anishinaabeg agree that “wild rice” is an inaccurate term for this plant relation, since part of the harvest is sown every year to help sustain human and non-human beings.

The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

Honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day by Learning About the Anishinaabe Past, Present and Future

Books

The Eagle Returns: The Legal History of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians by Matthew L. M. Fletcher

An absorbing and comprehensive survey, this legal history shows a group bound by kinship, geography, and language fighting to reestablish their right to self-governance. The Grand Traverse Band has become a well-known national leader in advancing Indian treaty rights, gaming, and land rights, while simultaneously developing a nationally honored Indigenous tribal justice system. This in-depth study explores how federal Indian law and policy drove an Anishinaabe community to the brink of legal extinction, how non-Indian economic and political interests conspired to eradicate the community’s self-sufficiency, and how Indian people fought to preserve their culture, laws, traditions, governance, and language.

 

 

The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway by Edward Benton-Banai

Written by Ojibway educator and spiritual leader Edward Benton-Banai and first published in 1988, The Mishomis Book draws from the traditional teachings of tribal elders to instruct readers about Ojibway creation stories and legends, the origin and importance of the Ojibway family structure and clan system, the Midewiwin religion, the construction and use of the water drum and sweat lodge, and modern Ojibway history. Intended for readers from all cultures, but especially for Ojibway and Native youth, this book provides an introduction to Ojibway culture and an understanding of the sacred Midewiwin teachings, aiming to protect this knowledge by instilling its importance in a new generation. Encouraging the preservation of a way of life that is centered on respect for all living things, these vibrant stories about life, self, community, and relationship to nature are just as relevant to the modern reader as they were hundreds of years ago.

Kidwenan: An Ojibwe Language Book by Isadore Toulouse Bebamikawe

The author, a fluent speaker originally from Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island, is a graduate from Lakehead University’s Native Language Instructors Program and has taught Anishinaabemowin language classes at NMC. The text is organized into seventeen chapters that contain standard lists of vocabulary and short sentences. Topics include greetings, where are you going, places, table gestures, food, action verbs, feelings, family, numbers, days, months, weather, seasons, and locatives. The words and phrases reflect contemporary lifestyles and include references such as the bank, band office, restaurant, and day care center.

 

 

Me Tomorrow: Indigenous Views on the Future compiled and edited by Drew Hayden Taylor

First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, activists, educators and writers, youth and elders come together to envision Indigenous futures in Canada and around the world. Discussing everything from language renewal to sci-fi, this collection is a powerful and important expression of imagination rooted in social critique, cultural experience, traditional knowledge, activism and the multifaceted experiences of Indigenous people on Turtle Island. Includes essays by: Autumn Peltier, Clarence Louie, Dr. Cyndy Baskin & Minadoo Makwa Baskin, Darrel J. McLeod, Drew Hayden Taylor, Lee Maracle, Dr. Norma Dunning, Raymond Yakeleya, Romeo Saganash, shalan joudry, Shelley Knott Fife, Tae:howęhs aka Amos Key Jr., and Tracie Léost.

 

Ottawa Stories from the Springs: Anishinaabe Dibaadjimowinan Wodi Gaa Binjibaamigak Wodi Mookodjiwong e Zhinikaadek translated and edited by Howard Webkamigad

The stories contained in this collection reached Howard Webkamigad nearly eighty years after they were recorded, after first being kept in their original copper wire format by the American Philosophical Society and later being converted onto cassettes and held by Dr. James McClurken of Michigan State University. These rich tales, recorded by Anishinaabe people in the Harbor Springs area of Michigan, draw on the legends, fables, trickster stories, parables, and humor of Anishinaabe culture. Reaching back to the distant past but also delving into more recent events, this book contains a broad swath of the history of the Ojibwe/Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawatomi, Algonkian, Abenaki, Saulteau, Mashkiigowok/Cree, and other groups that make up the broad range of the Anishinaabemowin-speaking peoples. Featuring side-by-side Anishinaabemowin/English translations.

 

The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815 by Richard White

An acclaimed book and widely acknowledged classic, The Middle Ground steps outside the simple stories of Indian-white relations – stories of conquest and assimilation and stories of cultural persistence. It is, instead, about a search for accommodation and common meaning. It tells how Europeans and Indians met, regarding each other as alien, as other, as virtually nonhuman, and how between 1650 and 1815 they constructed a common, mutually comprehensible world in the region around the Great Lakes that the French called pays d’en haut. Here the older worlds of the Algonquians and of various Europeans overlapped, and their mixture created new systems of meaning and of exchange. Finally, the book tells of the breakdown of accommodation and common meanings and the re-creation of the Indians as alien and exotic. First published in 1991, the 20th anniversary edition includes a new preface by the author examining the impact and legacy of this study.

 

The Trail of Nenaboozhoo and Other Creation Stories by Bomgiizhik (Isaac Murdoch), edited by Christi Belcourt

Nenaboozhoo, the creator spirit-being of Ojibway legend, gave the people many gifts. This collection of oral stories presents legends of Nenaboozhoo along with other creation stories that tell of the adventures of numerous beloved animal spirits. The Trail of Nenaboozhoo is a book of art and storytelling that preserve the legends of the Anishinaabe people. Each story is accompanied by strikingly beautiful illustrations by revered Indigenous artists Isaac Murdoch and Christi Belcourt.

 

 

This is How I Know : A Book About the Seasons / Mii Maanda Ezhi-Gkendmaanh: Niibing, Dgwaagig, Bboong, Mnookmig Dbaadjigaade Maanpii Mzin’igning by Brittany Luby; pictures by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley; translated by Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere

In this lyrical story-poem, written in Anishinaabemowin and English, a child and grandmother explore their surroundings, taking pleasure in the familiar sights that each new season brings. We accompany them through warm summer days full of wildflowers, bees and blueberries, then fall, when bears feast before hibernation and forest mushrooms are ripe for harvest. Winter mornings begin in darkness as deer, mice and other animals search for food, while spring brings green shoots poking through melting snow and the chirping of peepers. Brittany Luby and Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley have created a book inspired by childhood memories of time spent with Knowledge Keepers, observing and living in relationship with the natural world in the place they call home ― the northern reaches of Anishinaabewaking, around the Great Lakes.

Words Like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers by Lois Beardslee

Words like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers is a collection of poetry by award-winning Ojibwe author Lois Beardslee. Much of the book centers around Native people of the Great Lakes but these poems carry resonance and relevance for contemporary Indigenous people worldwide. Beardslee tackles contemporary topics like climate change and socioeconomic equality with a grace and readability that empowers readers and celebrates the strengths of Indigenous peoples.

 

 

Other Resources

”Indigenous Sovereignty” (Traverse City International Affairs Forum) May 2024 presentation by Matthew L. M. Fletcher, Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School

”Grand Traverse Band Seeks Its Day in Court for Theft of Reservation Lands” (Traverse City Record-Eagle) by Patti Brandt Burgess and Sierra Clark

The Legacy of Michigan’s Native Boarding Schools—and How Tribes are Reclaiming What Was Lost” (Stateside, Michigan Public Radio)

Coffee and Careers event

The Experiential Learning Institute and the Traverse Area Human Resources Association present Coffee & Careers on Tuesday, Oct. 22 from noon to 1 p.m. with Pracilla Venhuizen from Honor Bank for career conversations and networking.

The event will be held in the ELI Office in the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, room 103.

Surgical Tech, Dental Assisting reaccredited

TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College is proud to announce the reaccreditation of two of its highly respected health care programs: Surgical Technology, which offers an associate degree, and Dental Assisting, which offers an associate degree and certificate.

Surgical Technology
The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) awarded continuing accreditation to NMC’s Surgical Technology program on September 20, 2024. This prestigious recognition highlights the program’s ongoing commitment to meeting the highest standards in education for surgical technologists.

The next comprehensive evaluation of the Surgical Technology program by the Florida-based CAAHEP is scheduled for 2034.

Dental Assisting
Based on a December 2023 site visit, the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) granted NMC’s Dental Assisting program the accreditation status of “approval without reporting requirements” at its August 8, 2024 meeting. This designation signifies that the program meets all accreditation standards and will not require additional reporting until its next site visit in 2030.

Additionally, the Chicago-based CODA approved NMC’s two program changes intended to benefit students:

  • Pathway II option: Launching in spring 2025, this option allows NMC to recruit local Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) who are currently practicing in dental offices, providing them with an opportunity to further their education.
  • Increased internship credits: The Dental Assistant Internship course will increase from five to six credits beginning May 2025. This adjustment ensures students meet financial aid requirements for their summer internship experience.

NMC was notified of the reaccreditation for both programs in September. Both Surgical Technology and Dental Assisting programs offer students a solid foundation for successful careers in these in-demand healthcare fields. A comprehensive Nursing program rounds out NMC’s allied health offerings. With a shared commitment to quality education and continuous improvement, these programs are well-positioned to prepare future generations of skilled healthcare professionals for northwest Michigan communities.

 

Release date: October 9, 2024

For more information:

Cari Noga
NMC Communications Director
(231) 392-1800 (mobile – call or text)
cnoga@nmc.edu

 

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE

Northwestern Michigan College does not discriminate in admission, campus activities, education, employment, housing, public accommodation or public service on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity/expression, handicap, height, marital or familial status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, service in the military, veteran’s status, weight, or any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local law. No act of retaliation shall occur to any person making a charge, filing a complaint, testifying or participating in any discrimination investigation or proceeding. nmc.edu/non-discrimination

Music Appreciation & Creation Student Group Open Jam Night

Once a month we host an Open Jam Night in Founder’s Hall from 5:30–7:30 p.m., opening up the building to everyone to come make some noise! Upcoming events are Friday, Oct. 11, Nov. 15 and Dec. 6.  

Regardless of skill level or experience, come have some fun and make some music with us!

Media mentions for October 7, 2024

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.

Tiff over TIFs – Opinion
Northern Express, Oct. 6 (more…)

On the menu: Hawk Owl Café specials for Oct. 7–11

The Hawk Owl Café serves specials daily on Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:40–6 p.m. The protein option is $9.99 and the vegetarian option is $7.99.

Monday, October 7

Chicken Fettuccine with pesto cream sauce served with crostini & broccoli

Roasted Vegetables (V) with pesto cream sauce served with crostini & broccoli

Tuesday, October 8

Chicken Enchiladas with peppers and onions served with Spanish rice & refried beans

Roasted Vegetables (V) with peppers and onions served with Spanish rice & refried beans

Wednesday, October 9

Potato Gnocchi with Italian sausage served with garlic bread & green beans

Potato Gnocchi (V) with roasted veggies and alfredo sauce served with garlic bread & green beans

Thursday, October 10

BBQ Meatloaf served with mashed potatoes & asparagus

Plant-Based Meatloaf (V) served with mashed potatoes & asparagus

Friday, October 11

BBQ Pulled Pork with brioche bun served with creamy coleslaw and mac & cheese

BBQ Jackfruit (V) with brioche bun served with creamy coleslaw and mac & cheese

Upcoming Extended Education classes for employees – Oct. 7

Did you know that your tuition waiver benefits extend beyond credit classes? Take a fitness class, learn a new hobby, or even enjoy a date night with your partner. Check out these upcoming classes! Place the class in your shopping cart in order to see the discount. Need help setting up your profile? Look for “EES” in the Help Desk drop down menu.

A Taste of Morocco
Get ready to tantalize your taste buds and experience the food of Morocco! Explore the tastes of one of the world’s most flavorful cuisines through traditional Moroccan soups, tagines, bastillas (filled sandwiches), and khobz (traditional bread). Enjoy a glass of wine or other beverage while you cook!
Wednesday, October 9; 6-9p
Employee price: $37 per person (includes a beverage) (public price: $125)

 

Family Dinner Fun
Ready to trade the drive-thru for delicious, healthy creations? Through sizzling, chopping, and simmering, you’ll discover how quick and easy it is to make healthier versions of your favorite fast foods.
Saturday, October 19; 10a – 12p
Employee price: $46 for two people (public price: $125)

 

Learn & Play Dungeons & Dragons
Don your adventuring gear and polish up your Great Axe. Instructor Nick Roster has been playing D & D since the 70s, and has an active campaign going with his family and friends. This introduction to the popular role-playing game will prepare you with a lifetime of fun, no matter the weather. 
3 sessions; Wednesdays, October 23 – November 6; 6 – 8p
Employee price: $33 (public price: $99)

 

Need help setting up your profile? Look for “EES” in the Help Desk drop down menu.
EES Help Desk

Kudos!

Kudos to Carolyn Andrews: Congratulations to Carolyn Andrews and her team for another wonderful Building Tomorrow event. Students were engaged and eager to learn about the different programs NMC has to offer.

Kudos to Kristy Jackson & The Extended Education & Training Team: College for Kids, in its 47th year, served 745 unique students ages 3-17 this summer with classes from Geology Rocks with NMC Instructor Tiffani Wilke, Instant Rock Bootcamp with NMC Instructor Brady Corcoran, to Model-Makers: Build a Sustainable Demonstration House with MTU instructor Jay Meldrum, and 85 more experiential and exceptional classes! Kristy Jackson, College for Kids Program Manager, and the Extended Education & Training team held the most financially successful College for Kids summer term on record. Net revenue* increased profit per seat by 49% from last year in 2023. Expenses decreased by 40% from 2023. In addition, Extended Education & Training awarded over $20,000 in scholarships to College for Kids families to make programming accessible to more learners. College for Kids is now positioned to grow enrollment and programming in a financially sustainable model. *Net Revenue is program profit, not including NMC staff wages and benefits.


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!

Welcome our newest hires

These employees recently started working at the college. Let’s welcome them to the NMC community!

  • Avery Verschaeve – Student – Switchboard Operator & Innovation Center Welcome Desk
  • Alex Roush – Student – Biology Lab Assistant
  • Nate Porras – Student – Student Life Office Assistant
  • Travis Thenikl – Adjunct – Law Enforcement
  • Grantland Armstrong – Adjunct Law Enforcement
  • Gabriel Lantz – Student – Residence Hall Front Desk
  • Jackie Paulosky – Supplemental Peer Mentor
  • Lily Smith – Supplemental – Food Service Back of House
  • Lisa Nadlicki – Supplemental – Learning Services Office Assistant
  • Ayri Nortena – Student – Switchboard Operator & Innovation Center Welcome Desk Attendant
  • Megan Crawford – Adjunct – Surgical Technology
  • Gabby Westcott – Supplemental – Kitchen & Dining Room Help At Lobdells
  • Alex Yount – Adjunct – CFI

NMC Magazine call for submissions for Fall 2024

Do you have hauntingly good horror work? Anxiety-inducing artwork or poetry? Scribbles that make you squeamish? Ghost stories, childhood fears, bad trips, frightening realities, found footage, monsters or phobias?

Give us the heebie-jeebies and help us create a dread diary in this semester’s issue of the NMC Magazine student publication. Visit nmc.edu/nmcmagazine for more information and complete a submission form for each entry by Friday, Nov. 1.

FAFSA Fridays

Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) Retired Educator FAFSA Specialists are going to be in the NMC Enrollment Services Office in the Tanis Building every Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at least through November.

Stop in to get help completing the 2024–25 FAFSA. You might be missing out on financial aid opportunities through federal, state and NMC scholarships. The FAFSA is the key to accessing all of these!

Trunk or Treat

Get ready for some spooky fun at the 4th Annual Trunk or Treat hosted by your friendly neighborhood NMC Student Ambassadors! Join us Thursday, Oct. 24 from 5:30–7 p.m. in the Cherry Lot on NMC’s Front Street Campus for a frightfully fun evening.

Community: Dress up your little ghosts and goblins and come ready for a night of sweet treats and spooky smiles!

NMC Students: Want to join the fun and decorate a trunk? Sign up to be a host here.

We can’t wait to see you there! #NMCTrunkOrTreat #CommunityFun #SpookySeason

Success story: Aviation to break ground on $7M hangar Monday

October 2, 2024

Rendering of aviation program hangar expansion
Architectural rendering of hangar expansion

When American Airlines Capt. Todd Zrimec flies with another NMC pilot, he’s confident of the quality sitting next to him in the cockpit.

“They’re the best pilots out there that we can be hiring at American,” said Zrimec, a 1992 graduate of NMC Aviation who is now a check pilot for American, training new captains for the airline, as well as an FAA examiner.

So he’s excited that NMC is breaking ground Monday on a new hangar that will allow the college to purchase more planes, which means accepting more students, which will address the industry’s need for more pilots.

“That’s a big deal, being able to bring more students in and produce more pilots for the industry with the expansion of the fleet,” Zrimec said. “Having facilities and equipment that replicate what students will use in the industry is a critical component for the students in their learning.”

The new hangar will expand the college’s aviation facilities and increase its capacity to train pilots by 25 to 40 percent, according to Aviation Director Alex Bloye.

Presently NMC’s Aviation program enrolls 50 students per year, but has a up to a two-year waitlist.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of our state and federal legislators, donors and community partners who have made this project possible,” said NMC President Nick Nissley. “This expansion demonstrates NMC’s responsiveness to the needs of our region and our ability to deliver results.”

The current hangar is 48 years old. The renovated, 40,000-square-foot hangar will feature state-of-the-art facilities,, and a secure facility to store and maintain the college’s growing fleet of technically advanced aircraft.

“Thousands of pilots have started through those facilities. Those facilities met those needs. Now as we progress forward, we need updated facilities that match what students are going to see in the industry,” said American’s Zrimec, who also serves on the program’s advisory board.

Total project cost for the hangar is $7 million. NMC matched a $3.75 million state grant. The project also received $550,000 in federal funding.

The hangar is also the first project in NMC’s 10-year campus master plan, NMC Thrive. It is expected to be complete by August 2025, in time for the fall 2025 semester.

“I’m just extremely excited about this next phase of expansion. It’s really going to set the program apart,” Zrimec said.

Ballot information for the Nov. 5 election

Vote buttonLooking for information on who and what are on the ballot for the November 5 election? The League of Women Voters’s nonpartisan vote411.org website can help.

Enter your street address at vote411.org/ballot to get personalized ballot and candidate information, including biographical information and questionnaire responses from the five candidates for three NMC Board of Trustee positions.

Also, the American Library Association has put together a comprehensive state-by-state voting and elections toolkit ahead of the election to provide voters a one-stop resource covering everything from registration deadlines and polling places to ballot information and resources for getting a ride to the polls.

International Affairs Forum event on global migration

IAF will host a discussion on global migration trends, including key dynamics on the U.S. Southern border, featuring two expert guest speakers Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. “Global Migration & The Southern Border” is a hybrid event, in person at the Dennos Museum Center and online. Read more and get tickets here.

Alan Bersin served as the former assistant secretary in the Office of Policy in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2012-2017. He is the former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2010-2011. Bersin served as California’s Secretary of Education in the Administration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Andrew Selee, Ph.D. is the president of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), “an independent, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to improve immigration and integration policies through authoritative research and analysis, opportunities for learning and dialogue, and the development of new ideas to address complex policy questions.” Prior to his work at MPI, Dr. Selee was the founder & executive vice president of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Alan Bersin will speak in person and Andrew Selee, Ph.D. will appear via video link for this hybrid event at the Dennos Museum Center Milliken Auditorium.

All regular season events are open to the public. Current students, educators, and all NMC employees receive free admission.Tickets are required. Presentations begin at 6:30 p.m. and receptions begin at 5:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Visit TCIAF.com for advance in-person tickets and online livestream access: $15 per person or $10 for online livestream access. For in-person tickets on event days, purchase at the door while seats remain.

NMC Jazz Bands @ The Alluvion

The NMC Jazz Bands under the direction of Joshua Wagner will be performing as part of The Alluvion Thursday Night Jazz 4 All series. The NMC Jazz Bands will be joining the Jeff Haas Trio from 6–8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 (Jazz Lab Band) and Thursday, Oct. 17 (Jazz Big Band). These groups contain NMC students, community members and area professionals with a mission of promoting the American art form of Jazz! Audience members will be treated to a variety of styles including blues, latin, swing, fusion and contemporary.

The Alluvion is located on the 2nd floor of the Commongrounds Cooperative at 414 East 8th Street in Traverse City. There are no advanced sales. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with a $1–$20 honor cover at the door. We hope to see you there!

Media mentions for September 30, 2024

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.

Letters to the editor: TIF and NMC
Parsons
Record-Eagle, Sept. 29 (more…)