Four Northern Essex Community College faculty and staff members were recently named recipients of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Awards, a national honor which recognizes outstanding faculty and staff in the country’s community colleges.

This year’s recipients include Judith Chmielecki of North Andover, instructor of English as a Second Language (ESL), Dr. Carolyn Cohen, of Atkinson, NH, professor and chair of the Behavioral Science Department, Jane Gagliardi of Gloucester, program coordinator of the Human Services Program, and Susan Pelletier of Andover, administrative assistant in the Arts, Business, Communication, and Technology Department.

Since 1978, NISOD has been dedicated to the professional development of faculty, administrators, and staff; and to the continued improvement of teaching and learning, with the ultimate goal of student success.

Chmielecki has worked at Northern Essex for more than 13 years. She is highly regarded by the English as a Second Language (ESL) faculty who say she demonstrates a passion for teaching. Chmielecki is active in college projects, regularly sharing ideas with colleagues to support ESL curriculum development.

She is also a tireless advocate for student success. Students regularly turn to her for guidance in both academic and personal issues, such as balancing work schedules and class time, daycare and school-related responsibilities. Recently, she assumed responsibility for coordinating the ESL Learning Social Club. Outside of class, she is a major supporter of the Women of NECC.

She graduated from Salem State Salem State College with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She also completed graduate work at Lesley College and Fitchburg State College.

Dr. Cohen is recognized as an educator who has high standards in the classroom and is committed to helping each student achieve success. Her involvement in the NECC community is exemplary.

She chairs the Behavioral Sciences Department and has served on several committees including Academic Affairs; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Steering Committee; the Institutional Review Board; and Help for Outcomes Assessment Committee (HOAC). She is an Achieving the Dream Core Team member and she finds time to serve as a faculty buddy for part-time instructors.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UMass-Boston and a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Minnesota.

Gagliardi has worked at Northern Essex since 2002 in the Human Services Program of which she is currently the coordinator. In addition to providing excellence in teaching, she works with accrediting agencies to maintain the high standards she and her colleagues demand for themselves and their students.

She is a committed mentor to her students and prepares them to work successfully in the Human Services field.

Gagliardi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Vassar College and a Master of Social Work from Boston College. She is licensed in Massachusetts as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and also a Human Services Board Certified Practitioner (HS-BCP).

Pelletier has worked for NECC since 1991.

She is a team player who never says no to a project and regularly works after hours. She is known for her meticulous manner. She is creative and often asked to serve on committees because she is so respected for her knowledge and ability to balance a budget to the penny.

Pelletier has attended NECC, Fitchburg and Salem State Universities.

For additional information contact Judith Kamber, NECC dean of professional development, at jkamber@necc.mass.edu or 978-556-3955.

The 35th Annual NISOD Conference will be held May 26 through May 29 in Austin, TX.

More than 700 community colleges around the world are NISOD-members.

New Trustee Appointed to Board
Haverhill resident Mary Ellen Daly O’Brien was welcomed as the newest member to the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees. A registered nurse, who is currently case manager at Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill, Daly O’Brien says she is delighted to be have been appointed to the board by Gov. Deval Patrick.

A member of the Haverhill City Council, she said she feels lucky to be able to serve her community in yet another way.

Workforce Development is Focus of Educational Report
Bill Heinemann, vice president of academic affairs, said the educational report would take a departure from reporting on NECC’s credit classes and instead highlight NECC non-credit activities especially workforce development and community relations under the recently appointed director George Moriarty.

Moriarty said more and more, as the economy demands, community colleges are taking on a workforce development (WFD) role. Northern Essex regularly works with local employers to identify their particular workforce needs. For example A. W. Chesterton in Groveland approached NECC for assistance in supplying sales training while another company is looking for direction in developing technical writing skills for their employees.

In response to industry needs WFD collaborated with Middlesex Community College, North Shore Community College, three vocational technical high schools, the one-stop career centers, and Workforce Investment Boards from four regions to develop an advanced manufacturing program. This cross-regional partnership wrote a half-million dollar proposal that has been submitted to the Commonwealth Corporation for funding under the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund.

In addition, certain noncredit programs, said Moriarty, are also enjoying a surge in interest such as the noncredit Auto CAD program which attracts nearly 1300 participants a year.

Other programs continue to grow. Moriarty says personal enrichment courses draw another 1,100 students a semester. WFD also oversees the Life Long Learning Program and the College of Older Learners, two robust educational programs for older students.

Beginning this summer WFD will take over the STEM College for Kids program, a summer camp for children that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math programming.

“We make sure these courses are integrated with the rest of the college,” Moriarty said, “We work closely with academic affairs to build a pathway from the noncredit to credit.”

WFD primary goal is to increase revenue while delivering high quality services, he said.

Report on FY14 Changes Could Mean Cuts for NECC
NECC President Lane Glenn reported on the FY 14 state budget explaining that the state’s Department of Higher Education has introduced a new formula for allocating funds which factors in the cost of operation, enrollment (including noncredit), and performance. This formula, he said, was to give community colleges that have been underfunded a chance to “catch-up”. If approved as is, it could have a negative impact on NECC’s budget. The final determination, he said, “will play out over the next few weeks.” He will continue to keep the Board apprised of the outcome.

Strategic Plan Progresses Further
As Goal Three, academic support services, of the strategic plan is implemented using a new software program titled Degree Works, students now have access to a multi-year course plan. The college, in turn, hopes to extract information from this program and use it to help select and schedule future courses.
In an effort to continue to promote a “culture of learning” at NECC, the college is piloting a new individualized professional development plan with the President’s cabinet.

New IT Certificate Approved
The trustees approved a new program for a computer security certificate. This one-year program is intended for individuals with previous Information Technology (IT) college-level experience or equivalent IT work experience who wish to upgrade their computer skills in security technologies. Security is one of the fastest growing and in demand areas in the IT area.

Employees Receive Appointments
Rebecca Rose was appointed assistant professor of developmental math and Analuz Garcia was appointed coordinator of student activities and engagement. Jeannine Patturelli was appointed academic counselor in the Career, Planning and Advising Center (CPAC)and Cesar Gonzalez Tellez web developer for the Marketing and Communications department.

Habib Maagoul was appointed program coordinator of mathematics.

NECC Librarian to go on Sabbatical
Gail Stuart, assistant librarian in the Bentley Library on the Haverhill campus, was given a half-year sabbatical for the fall of 2013. She will explore interrelated activities that will improve her and NECC students’ information literacy skills. In addition to completing course work at the University of Rhode Island, she will serve as the information literacy skill coach for the faculty, and she will explore the potential of a student help desk to answer questions about information technology.