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President Hartleb Joins Achieving the Dream

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Jim Tschectelin, NECC’s Achieving the Dream coach, reported that President Hartleb has been accepted to be an Achieving the Dream coach after his retirement from the college this summer. “He will be working with two colleges,” said Tschectelin, “And his personality and experience will be wonderful.”

Northern Essex is now in the fourth year of a five-year grant from Achieving the Dream, a national effort to help more community college students succeed, with a special focus on students of color and low-income students. The college receives $100,000 a year to develop and measure strategies designed to help students successfully graduate from college.

Two New Appointments

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Trustees unanimously approved Melba Acevedo as temporary director for the center for instructional technology and Prem Prakash Patel as assistant bursar.

“Involve me and I’ll understand”

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Jackie Long Goding, dean of health professions, began her educational report to the board of trustees with an old Chinese proverb:

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

Long Goding was introducing the patient simulation laboratory in Lawrence which provides health care students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience before being exposed to real patients in a clinical environment.

Central to the patient simulation lab are sophisticated mannequins that can “talk, cry, do anything,” according to Long Goding, who claims they are so realistic that students often forget they are working with a mannequin.

Long Goding demonstrated how the simulation lab works by showing a DVD prepared by health program faculty, staff, and students. In the DVD, teams of students collaborate to provide care for a patient experiencing cardiac arrest.

“We hear anecdotal reports from the clinical agencies indicating that NECC students have more confidence in their clinical skills. We believe this is occurring because of the expanded use of clinical simulations in our programs,” said Long Goding.

College Prepares To Turn 50

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On September 15, 1961, Northern Essex Community College opened its doors for the first time, welcoming 181 students, most of whom were recent high school graduates. At that time, classes were taught at the former Greenleaf Elementary School in Bradford.

This September, Northern Essex will begin celebrating the college’s 50 years with a year-long calendar of events that will include a gala, cultural and community activities, and the inauguration of Lane Glenn as president of the college.

The theme of the 50th celebration is “Making a Difference for 50 Years” and the anniversary celebration will recognize the many contribu¬tions the college has made to the community over the years, illustrating how the college has and will continue to “make a difference” in the lives of those who live and work in the Merrimack Valley.

A committee of volunteers with representa¬tion from all areas of the college has been meeting to plan events and this summer a website and Facebook page will be launched in celebration of the 50th.

College faculty and staff are encouraged to in¬corporate the 50th anniversary into their plans for this coming year. Professor Susan Sanders has selected A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum—a production that opened on Broadway in 1962— for the fall musical, for example.

If you have ideas for the 50th or would like to get involved, please contact Ernie Greenslade, director of public relations, at 978 556-3862 or egreenslade@necc.mass.edu.

Election of Officers

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Trustees voted to re-elect Joseph Edwards as chair, Bill Moynihan as vice chair, and Nancy Greenwood as secretary.

CJ Interns Patrol Campuses

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CJ Intern Paul Lyons

CJ Intern Paul Lyons patrols the grounds

If it seems like security personnel is everywhere lately, you are right.

For the second consecutive semester the Northern Essex security office has been hosting unpaid interns for the college’s criminal justice internship class. This semester, five interns have donned security hats, clipped radios to their belts, and headed out to parole the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses for four- to six-hour shifts.

A criminal justice professor approached Bill Blouin, head of NECC security, last year about taking on the interns and using them as guards around the campus. Criminal justice majors must complete 120 hours of criminal justice related community service for their internship class.

“It has been a win-win situation for them and for us” says Blouin. “We use them as a second pair of eyes and they get the experience.”

While the interns are learning common sense initiatives such as dealing with different, sometimes awkward, situations and how to communicate with the public respectfully, the college community has the reassurance of knowing there are additional security guards watching the campus, says Blouin.

Are they deterring crime?

“I would certainly hope so,” says Blouin. “They do a nice job. I’m really proud of them.”

Lawrence resident Paul Lyons is one of those interns. After graduating from Northern Essex with an associate degree in psychology, the Greater Lawrence Voc-Tech grad returned to NECC to earn an associate degree in criminal justice. He is simultaneously attending Cambridge College and working toward a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A first degree black belt in Kenpo Karate, Lyons hopes to parlay his degrees and experience into a future in forensic psychology.

“This is interesting,” Lyons says of his internship. “I get to see how the security works around here and how well they know the students and the buildings. If anything, I have learned how to approach someone and discreetly tell them smoking is only allowed inside cars in the parking lot.”

Sheriff to Address NECC Graduates

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Sherriff Cousins

Massachusetts Essex County Sheriff Frank G. Cousins, Jr. will be the featured speaker at Northern Essex’s 49th annual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 21, at 11 a.m. on the Haverhill campus.

Cousins attended Northern Essex before transferring to Springfield College, where he received both a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services and a master’s in criminal justice.

He was appointed sheriff of Essex County in 1996 by then Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld. Two years later, in November of 1998, he was elected to his first six-year term as Sheriff of Essex County. This victory paved the way for the continuation of the progressive philosophy with which he had begun managing the Sheriff ’s Department.

Goal setting has been a priority for Cousins, a Newburyport resident. Since his appointment, he has made significant changes in the department including opening three offices of community corrections, two civil process offices, and the county’s first ever women’s pre-release facility. Administratively, he restructured the management of the depart¬ment and instituted a line-item budget as a cost control measure. He is responsible for managing the operations of nine facilities, a staff of 543 employees, a daily inmate population of 2,000 and an annual operating budget in excess of $45 million.

Cousins was invited to address the 2011 graduates by President David Hartleb.

“We’ve found that our graduates can relate to someone who has walked the corridors and sat in the classrooms at Northern Essex,” said Hartleb. “At a time when many are deciding what direction to take with their life, it is a reminder that anything is possible and that it is okay to dream and set high goals.”

Cousins’ selection also is a good fit considering that criminal justice is one of the college’s most highly enrolled programs, having experienced almost 43 percent growth in the past five years. The college offers an associate degree in criminal justice and a certificate in law enforcement, leading to careers as a mu¬nicipal police officer, state trooper, correction officer, or insurance investigator. The college partners with the Essex County Sheriff ’s Office to place students in internships and jobs.

“I am honored to have been asked to be the Commencement Speaker for this year’s graduation,” said Cousins. I began my college career at Northern Essex and value the great learning opportunities I received which allowed me to be successful in furthering my education and career.”

Northern Essex Community College’s Commencement will be held in the quadrangle on the college’s Haverhill Campus.

Northern Essex Celebrates Sleep Awareness Week

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Forty million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders such as sleep ap¬nea, insomnia, and restless leg syndrome, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

On Wednesday, March 23, NECC’s Sleep Technology students helped educate the public about these sleep problems and the importance of healthy sleep habits with displays and presentations in the lobby of the Spurk Building on the Haverhill Campus.

The event featured a live set up of a sleep study, free sleep screenings, and presentations on Drowsy Driving by two representatives from AAA.

Northern Essex offers a 10-month Sleep Technology Certificate program which combines classroom study, laboratory prac¬tice, and clinical experiences. Registered sleep technologists are in high demand across the country, earning starting salaries between $40,000 and $50,000 a year, according to John Murray, program and clinical coordinator.

Lost Not Found

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A calculator, insulin kit, five pairs of women’s glasses, various articles of clothing, text books, MVRTA bus passes, credit cards, a man’s wallet, an IPod, several sets of car keys, and a 40-pound backpack… items seen on the cafeteria tables?

No.

This is just a sample of the inventory of items turned into the security office each semester. Some of the pieces are retrieved by their owner, but many items languish on the shelves unclaimed for months.

At the end of each semester Bill Blouin, head of NECC security, and staff, sell the books back to the book store and make a donation to Lazarus House with the money earned. Clothes and other items are dropped off at the Salvation Army.

So if you have looked everywhere for something you have misplaced, don’t forget to call the security office in the C building at 978-556-3689.

Kudos to Faculty, Staff, Students & Alumni

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Covanta Energy has created a scholarship for a Haverhill resident studying science at Northern Essex Community College. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded each year to a student who is enrolled in one of three college programs: associate degree in physical science (earth science, physics, and chemistry) biology, laboratory science, or engineering science.

Five Lawrence youths ages 16 to 20, including Tanya Borrero, 19, a freshman at Northern Essex and Daniel Lopez-Martinez, 19, a sophomore, participated in Lawrence community conducted assessments of the city’s parks and playgrounds between May and October 2010. They collected data on who is using the parks, when, what kinds of activities they engage in, and the features and conditions of the parks.

Cynthia Cj Crivaro, professor of behavioral sciences, was nominated by President David Hartleb for the Haverhill YWCA’s 22nd Annual Tribute to Women. Cj has been teaching at Northern Essex since 1978, just after completing her master’s degree from Northeastern University. A pioneer in learning styles, she was quick to begin offering courses online as well as introduce a community service component into her classes in the hopes of instilling a sense of civic responsibility and obligation to her students that she herself embraces.

NECC professor Melissa Juchniewicz recently finished the revision of her doctoral dissertation and had it published. It is titled Visible Voices: Literacy and the Invisible Homeless. NECC figures largely into the study, although all people, places, and names are changed. Here is a link for additional information – www2.xlibris.com/bookstore

Our very own noncredit coupon instructor Jamie Chase of Amesbury is about to have her own book The Lazy Couponer: How to Save $25,000 Per Year in Just 45 Minutes Per Week with No Stockpiling, No Item Tracking, and No Sales Chasing published by Running Press. She has taught Couponing & Freebies 101 and Master Couponing classes at NECC. In the book, she reveals her thrifty secrets and shows readers how to save money – and time – shopping.

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100 Elliott Street
Haverhill, MA 01830
978-556-3000

Lawrence Campus

45 Franklin Street
Lawrence, MA 01840
978-556-3000

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Melissa Bouse (She/Her)
Executive Director of Marketing & Public Relations
978-556-3869
mbouse@necc.mass.edu

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