Success Story: Student engagement fosters academic success

Feb 17, 2016 | Intercom, Student News

February 17, 2016

Black Lives Matter. So do women’s lives, LGBT lives, and allies’ lives. And all of those causes might matter, it turns out, to whether the students advocating for them graduate, or even earn a better GPA.

NMC’s Student Life office presently has more groups focused on social issues — including a Black Student Union, a feminist-oriented Students United for Gender Rights (SUGR), and PRIDE, an LGBT group — than Student Life dean Lisa Thomas can remember.

That’s important because research shows engaged students are more likely to succeed in college. (A 2010 Purdue study even showed that student group members earned higher GPAs than non-members. Group officers had higher GPAs still.) 

Moreover, Thomas says that when the groups are related to a student’s area of academic interest, it magnifies the connection between engagement and success.

“Seventy-five to 80 percent of the time, the student group they’re in makes sense because of an academic interest they have in their area,” she said. “This kind of engagement leads to student success.”

SUGR founder Kia Schwert exemplifies that. A dean’s list student, she entered NMC intending to study social work. After her sociology instructor gave her a book, “Feminism is for Everyone,” by bell hooks, she decided to start a feminist group.

That instructor, Rachel Johansen-Wilczewski, now advises SUGR. She said the members’ dedication, even meeting over the winter holiday break, impresses her.

“They mean business,” she said.

In addition to on-campus events, SUGR is now focused planning an alternative spring break trip focused on awareness of human trafficking and assistance to victims. Schwert herself is looking ahead to transferring to a school with a women’s studies program.

BSU founder Maya James, who’s believed to be the first dual-enrolled student to start a group, is another example of the activist-success feedback loop. She aspires to law school. Later this month, her group will go to Lansing to attend the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus Capitol Day.

“The activism we’ve been doing has been shaping our community,” said James, 17, who holds weekly discussion meetings, monthly black writer book club discussions and curated a display of books in the Osterlin Library for this month’s Black History Month.

James also initiated the January campus performance of Sampson McCormick, a gay black comedian, reaching out to Schwert and Caleb Yorty of PRIDE for help.

“There’s been a lot of student leadership stepping forward,” said Yorty, 20, who’s also a dean’s list student and involved with a grief support group in addition to the social justices causes. He studies psychology.

“I’ve never watched three student groups work so effectively together,” Thomas said of the comedy event. “While they have different missions, they have overlapping values. It was really encouraging.”

Success Story: Student engagement fosters academic success

Feb 17, 2016 | Intercom, Student News

February 17, 2016

Black Lives Matter. So do women’s lives, LGBT lives, and allies’ lives. And all of those causes might matter, it turns out, to whether the students advocating for them graduate, or even earn a better GPA.

NMC’s Student Life office presently has more groups focused on social issues — including a Black Student Union, a feminist-oriented Students United for Gender Rights (SUGR), and PRIDE, an LGBT group — than Student Life dean Lisa Thomas can remember.

That’s important because research shows engaged students are more likely to succeed in college. (A 2010 Purdue study even showed that student group members earned higher GPAs than non-members. Group officers had higher GPAs still.) 

Moreover, Thomas says that when the groups are related to a student’s area of academic interest, it magnifies the connection between engagement and success.

“Seventy-five to 80 percent of the time, the student group they’re in makes sense because of an academic interest they have in their area,” she said. “This kind of engagement leads to student success.”

SUGR founder Kia Schwert exemplifies that. A dean’s list student, she entered NMC intending to study social work. After her sociology instructor gave her a book, “Feminism is for Everyone,” by bell hooks, she decided to start a feminist group.

That instructor, Rachel Johansen-Wilczewski, now advises SUGR. She said the members’ dedication, even meeting over the winter holiday break, impresses her.

“They mean business,” she said.

In addition to on-campus events, SUGR is now focused planning an alternative spring break trip focused on awareness of human trafficking and assistance to victims. Schwert herself is looking ahead to transferring to a school with a women’s studies program.

BSU founder Maya James, who’s believed to be the first dual-enrolled student to start a group, is another example of the activist-success feedback loop. She aspires to law school. Later this month, her group will go to Lansing to attend the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus Capitol Day.

“The activism we’ve been doing has been shaping our community,” said James, 17, who holds weekly discussion meetings, monthly black writer book club discussions and curated a display of books in the Osterlin Library for this month’s Black History Month.

James also initiated the January campus performance of Sampson McCormick, a gay black comedian, reaching out to Schwert and Caleb Yorty of PRIDE for help.

“There’s been a lot of student leadership stepping forward,” said Yorty, 20, who’s also a dean’s list student and involved with a grief support group in addition to the social justices causes. He studies psychology.

“I’ve never watched three student groups work so effectively together,” Thomas said of the comedy event. “While they have different missions, they have overlapping values. It was really encouraging.”

West Hall highly ranked among governor’s capital outlay recommendations

Feb 11, 2016 | Intercom, Student News

TRAVERSE CITY — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget recommendation for the fiscal year beginning in October includes NMC’s West Hall renovation and innovation project as one of only three recommended community college capital outlay projects.

If approved, the recommendation made to the Michigan Legislature this week would bring $7.2 million in state funds toward the $14.4 million total cost to renovate and expand 50-year-old West Hall. The goal is a new space housing robust, technology-rich and flexible learning labs to be used across the curriculum for simulation, team-based and project learning.

The ranking is a significant improvement for NMC. Last year the West Hall Innovation Center ranked fourteenth among capital outlay projects. The next step is for the House and Senate Joint Capital Outlay Appropriations Subcommittee to meet and determine if they will accept the governor’s proposal or make additions or subtractions to the capital outlay list.

Snyder has proposed that a capital outlay bill move concurrent with consideration of the overall fiscal 2017 budget bills, which would put completion of the capital outlay bill in June. However, any legislative effort to add projects could push consideration of a capital outlay bill into the post-election lame duck period this fall.

“We’re pleased to have risen significantly on the governor’s priority list,” said President Timothy J. Nelson, noting the support of regional legislators Representative Larry Inman (R-Traverse City), Senator Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) and Senator Darwin Booher (R-Evart). “We now need to continue to make the case for the importance of this project to our learners and our region’s economy.”

The project would almost double the size of West Hall, from 20,000 to 38,000 square feet. It would provide for 13 adaptive learning spaces that can be configured to accommodate traditional learning, hacker space and entrepreneurial activities. Read more about the project.

Gov. Snyder’s budget also proposes a 2.9 percent increase in total community college funding statewide, and a 2.3 percent increase for NMC. This breaks down to $9.2 million for operations and $209,500 in performance funding.

Release date: February 11, 2016

For more information:

Gabriel Schneider
517-449-6453
gabe@northernstrategies360.com