The Executive Committee of Northwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees will hold a joint meeting with the NMC Foundation Board Executive Committee at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 in the Gray Conference Room (202) on the University Center campus, 2200 Dendrinos Dr. The official meeting notice is available here.
For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.
The Audit and Policy committees of Northwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees will each meet Wednesday, Oct. 18 in the Gray Conference Room (202) on the University Center campus, 2200 Dendrinos Dr. The Audit Committee meeting is at 11 a.m. and the Policy Committee meeting is at noon. The official meeting notices are available here.
For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.
The Michigan State Police will be conducting training with the NMC Police Academy on Monday, October 23. This training will take place at the north end of the Maple parking lot and that area will be closed to the public. If you notice an increased State Police presence during that time, please note that it is for training purposes.
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.
Unlock Your Globe-Trotting Dreams: Master the Art of Travel Hacking
Thursday, Oct. 19; 6–9 p.m.
Employee price: $22 (public price: $49)
Travel hacking is the art of using points, miles, or special promos to help you achieve your globe-trotting dreams on a budget. Think of it like coupon clipping and rebates, but instead of tripping over yourself to snatch up those $5 savings on paper towels, you could be scoring luxurious villas and first class flights for a fraction of the price! What are you waiting for?
Register here
Cookie Decorating with Kids (for Adult + Child Age 8+)
Saturday, Oct. 28; 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Employee price: $54 includes adult + child (originally $119)
Want a sweet and spooky activity to share with your kids this Halloween? Learn how to decorate beautiful, professional-looking cookies using royal icing. You and your child will have fun creating these holiday-themed edible delights.
Register here
Lunch & Learn: Great Gardens of Great Lakes
Monday, Oct. 30; 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Employee price: $27 (public price: $49)
Have you visited The Botanic Garden at Historic Barnes Park? This is your opportunity! Build a botanical bucketlist as your walk through some of the most inspiring and innovative gardens in the Great Lakes Region. From large gardens like Chicago Botanic Garden and Frederik Meijer to some of smaller size, you will be wowed by the diversity of designs and breadth of collections of plants from across our region. Class meets at The Botanic Garden at Historic Barnes Park.
Register here
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.
Traverse City embraces large-scale murals
Ticker, Oct. 15
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Are you ready to tackle critical freshwater issues and advance climate adaptation? AquaAction and NMC have partnered to bring the AquaHacking Great Lakes Challenge to Michigan for the first time. The AquaHacking Challenge invites talented young innovators from across Canada and the USA to bring their skills and passion to tackle freshwater issues impacting the Great Lakes.
Finalists will be eligible for a chance to win $20,000 seed funding. Registration is open. The deadline to register is October 31.
Learn more and register at aquaaction.org.
PRMC is proud to announce that NMC won 7 Medallion awards from the National Council for Public Relations and Marketing. This includes two gold medallions for recruitment campaigns and materials, silver medallions for Nexus, recruitment campaign materials and special event materials as well as bronze medallion awards for photography and microsite design. Thank you to all of the departments across the college we collaborated with for this exciting work! We’re excited for what we can do together next!
Who’s been a Hawk Owl Helper or Hero for you? Let us know at publicrelations@nmc.edu!
Faculty Excellence Award nominations are due by Friday, December 15.
Award criteria includes teaching excellence, rapport with students, innovation in the classroom and a sense of dedication.
Nominate your favorite instructor!
In this engaging interactive presentation, Kennith Scott, HeartMath Certified NeuroChangeSolutions Consultant, will guide you to an understanding of how your brain can be memorized into a vision of the future. Advances in technology allow us to observe the brain in action and one of the biggest outcomes of this technology is a greater understanding of how the brain works, but this understanding is not a discovery, successful individuals have been using this capability of the brain without the scientific understanding for hundreds or thousands of years. The evidence of the brain’s power to create is all around us and in this presentation, you will start to build a model you can use to leverage the greatest technology the world has ever known, your human brain!
Pizza and beverages will be provided by the Experiential Learning Institute. The Lunch & Learn will take place on Thursday, October 26 from 1–2 p.m. in room 226 of the Parsons-Stulen Building at NMC’s Aero Park Campus.
The NMC Ambassadors are hosting the annual Trunk or Treat on Thursday, October 26 from 6–7:30 p.m.
The Student Life Office and Student Ambassador team are hosting Trunk or Treat on Thursday, October 26 from 6–7:30 p.m. in the Cherry Lot across from the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center. NMC students and their families as well as community members are invited to trick or treat that evening.
Students may also participate in the event by signing up to be one of the vehicles that lines up to hand out the candy that evening. Participants handing out candy should pick a theme, dress the car (and/or themselves) in the theme. You will also need to provide your own candy. Vehicles are asked to be in place 5 p.m. that evening.
Sign up to dress up your trunk and hand out candy
Please contact the Student Life Office at (231) 995-1118 if you have questions.
What better way to improve one’s Spanish than connecting with others who also speak the language?
Join fellow Spanish speakers on Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. at the Hawk Owl Café!
Speakers of all levels are welcome (from beginner to native speaker). Look for the Spanish table sign near the Hawk owl Café!
The weekly Spanish table is sponsored by NMC’s Multicultural Club! Hable español con nosotros!
Thank you to all the staff and faculty who helped make the October Conference a success! We could not have done it without you!
Student Life is giving away 50 tickets to Thriller Night at Jacob’s Farm on Saturday, October 28 at 7 p.m.
Winners will be selected randomly and announced on October 20.
Enter to win by completing the student events survey!
The Building & Site committee of Northwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees will meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 17 in the President’s Conference Room of the Tanis Building on NMC’s main campus, 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City. The official meeting notice is available here.
For more information, please contact the President’s office at (231) 995-1010.
Thanks to all of the employees working to host the Transfer Fair and College Night, both to be held Wednesday in the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center. These two major events help current students map a path to their goals, and help recruit new students.
Who’s been a Hawk Owl Helper or Hero for you? Let us know at publicrelations@nmc.edu!
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.
Celebration: Indigenous People’s Day events Monday
Record-Eagle, Oct. 8
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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.
Supercharge Your Workplace: 10 Tips for Writing With ChatGPT
Thursday, Oct. 19; 12–1:30 p.m. (livestream)
Employee price: $12 (public price: $25)
Could you use more time in your work day? More productivity in your workplace? Guided by NMC technical writing instructor Janet Lively, learn to harness the power of artificial intelligence to draft persuasive emails, craft a compelling marketing message, create a comprehensive business report, and more.
Register here
Sushi Rolls
Saturday, Oct. 21; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Employee price: $42 (public price: $99)
Chef Misaeng, a native of Japan, guides this hands-on class including tips on ingredient selection, preparation, and serving ideas. Leave with new skills, samples you prepared in class and your own sushi mat to make sushi at home.
Register here
The Ice Age: A Journey into Earth’s Frozen Past
Wednesday, Nov. 8; 6–9 p.m.
Employee price: $22 (public price: $49)
The Ice Age was a transformative period in Earth’s history, shaping landscapes, ecosystems, and even the evolution of species. From the colossal ice sheets that covered vast regions to the unique adaptations of the creatures that roamed the icy landscapes, delve into the fascinating world of the Ice Age!
Register here
What is October Conference? October Conference is NMC’s professional development day. The college will be closed on Tuesday, October 10, so we can all learn together. Attendance is required for all regular faculty and staff. Adjunct faculty are encouraged to join us!
This year’s theme is Growing a Culture of Innovation at NMC. Our program and project group work will give us the opportunity to connect with colleagues from across campus with the aim of supporting innovation and advancing strategic work at NMC. View the schedule for the day here and remember to sign up for your project if you haven’t already. Click to view the list of projects and register for your group.
The conference begins at 8 a.m. with coffee and donuts in the Dennos Museum followed by a program in the Milliken Auditorium. Our keynote speaker, Dr. Andy Gold, Vice President of Strategic Engagement for the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), will share tools and resources to assist us with moving projects forward using design thinking principles. Project groups will work together for the rest of the day.
If you have questions, please contact Lori Hodek at lhodek@nmc.edu (231) 995-1143 or Janet Lively at jlively@nmc.edu (231) 995-1231.
A sailor, a pilot, and a chef walk into West Hall…and decide to submit to the NMC Mag!
Have a talent for tomfoolery? Trying to conquer your crushing sense of existential dread? Stretch your funny bone with a submission to NMC’s award-winning creative arts magazine!
Knock our Crocs™ off with your rib-tickling fine art, design, illustration, photography, video, comics, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essay, recipes and more!
Accepted mediums include:
Visit nmc.edu/nmcmagazine to submit your entry. The deadline to enter is Friday, November 3, 2023.
The NMC Library is presenting a StoryWalk® in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
You Hold Me Up / Gimanaadenim by Monique Gray Smith will be available to view along the sidewalk north of the campus apartments from Monday, Oct. 9 through Friday, Oct. 20. If you are strolling the campus with little ones, be sure to take in this beautiful dual-language (Anishinaabemowin and English) book about love, support, and building relationships.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
NMC’s wellness program, Hawk Owl Health, includes a number of features to help employees lead a healthy lifestyle. Visit the wellness page to learn more.
The need to access mental health support and wellness has increased and we recognize that supporting employees in this area is critical.
NMC is excited to share that we have worked with Ulliance and upgraded the number of visits for counseling and coaching per topic to meet the needs of our employees.
With this upgrade, you will receive:
Ulliance Central Number: 1-800-448-8326
Open Enrollment for 2024 is Nov. 6–17. Please plan to attend one of the two Zoom meetings that are scheduled for Nov. 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. All employees should have received a calendar invite for these open enrollment meetings. If you did not, please contact Hollie DeWalt.
A recorded session will be available on the benefits webpage for those who are unable to attend.
Reconnect students David Hipolito, Computer Information Technology, and Hannah Ramsby, Culinary
This week, Michiganders ages 21–24 who don’t already have a college degree got a limited time opportunity to increase their lifetime earning power at potentially no cost to them.
For just over a year, Michigan Reconnect, which began offering free in-district tuition to adults 25 and older without a degree in 2021, is being extended to 21- to 24-year-olds. The only other eligibility requirements are a minimum of one year’s residency in Michigan, and a high school diploma or equivalent. The application deadline is Nov. 15, 2024 and students must start classes by the fall 2024 semester.
NMC estimates between 400–450 current students will be eligible, and the expansion could also draw in new students.
“NMC is so excited that the opportunity Michigan Reconnect presents is now available to younger adults,” said NMC President Nick Nissley. “We know from decades of data that education beyond high school is the surest way people can improve their future incomes. Michigan Reconnect now makes that education much more affordable for many more people.”
A 2021 study by Traverse Connect, the region’s economic development agency, showed that the largest chunk of northwest Michigan’s jobs, 43 percent, require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. 2021 Georgetown University research shows that over an earning lifetime, associate degree graduates earn an average of $400,000 more than high school or GED graduates.
At NMC, Grand Traverse County residents are considered in-district. Those who live elsewhere still receive significant discounts, paying only the difference between the in district and out of district rates. Other aid can also offset some of those costs.
This fall, NMC saw a 20 percent jump in Reconnector enrollment by the original 25+ population. Some 278 students are receiving the Reconnect scholarship, with an average award of $1,561. Nearly 80 percent of those students have tuition and fees covered in full between Reconnect and Pell grants.
Students have used Reconnect to enroll in virtually all of NMC’s 60 programs.
David Hipolito, 25, is enrolled in Computer Information Technology. Many of the courses he takes in the CIT program are online and he appreciates that format because it allows him to balance school and a full-time job. Hipolito also endorses NMC’s instructors, substantial student support services, and campus vibe. “NMC is a small community; you feel like you’re at home,” he said.
Hannah Ramsby, 28, is enrolled in Culinary Arts. Reconnect is a huge relief because it means she doesn’t have to take out loans. She encourages others to take advantage of it: “I often struggle asking for help. The money is there to help. I love that it is helping those who may think that they’re too old to go to school or don’t deserve it.”
The Reconnect expansion to 21–24 is funded by a $70 million appropriation from the Michigan Legislature.
In 2019, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer established Michigan’s 60 by 30 goal of having 60 percent of adults have a college degree or skills certificate by 2030. It’s now 50.5 percent.