2014 - Page 23 of 25

NECC Professor Gains Recognition as a Composer

February 18, 2014/in Archive/by review

Northern Essex Community College English instructor Lenny Cavallaro of Groveland continues to gain recognition as a composer.

Broadbent and Dunn, a British publisher, recently released Cavallaro’s Sonata in D Minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 4, and “Raindrops” Fantasia for Violin and Piano, Op. 5. Cavallaro has also long enjoyed the English horn, called cor anglais in England, an instrument with a limited repertoire. Forton Music, another British publisher, has accepted his Four Romances for Cor Anglais and Piano, which will become his Op. 6, and also his Suite for Oboe, Con Anglais and Bassoon, which will become Op. 7.

Cavallaro has also been active on the literary front. His recent interview with Grammy-nominated pianist Hélène Grimaud appeared in Stay Thirsty Media, an international arts online source for interviews, reviews, and features.

Cavallaro’s violin sonata has been uploaded on YouTube. His other works will be available late February.

NECC Prepares for Annual Peace Poetry Contest

February 13, 2014/in Archive/by review

What started as one veteran’s commitment to peace has evolved into an annual Peace Poetry Contest at Northern Essex Community College that attracts hundreds and hundreds of peace-focused poems from school children in the Merrimack Valley and beyond.

NECC Professor of English Dr. Paul G. Saint-Amand, is a Vietnam-era veteran who is committed to peace. The Gloucester resident never imagined, but surely hoped, the event would morph into the contest it has become, when he introduced to the college six years ago.

Students in grades kindergarten through 12, both from public and private schools, as well as adults affiliated with the schools, and NECC students, are invited to participate in Northern Essex’s Sixth Annual Peace Poetry Contest and Reading. Participants may create and submit original poems on the subject of peace.

The deadline for submission is Friday, March 15, 2014. Some 80 poems and accompanying artwork will be selected for publication in a small book of poetry to be published later in the spring. In addition, selected entrants will be invited to take part in a poetry reading from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 2, in the Hartleb Technology Center on Northern Essex’s Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St.

Last year’s contest, the fifth annual, attracted more than 1000 entries from more than 48 schools. The contest is coordinated by Saint-Amand who has been teaching at the college for seven years and has made it his personal mission to promote peace.

“As an educator, I want to fuel children’s imaginations toward peace,” he says. “A lot more has been written about war than about peace.”

NECC students are collaborating on the project and have designed posters and award certificates, participated in judging entries, and will host the public reading. Entries can be submitted to peacepoetry@necc.mass.edu or NECC Peace Poetry Contest, 100 Elliott St., Spurk 317H, Haverhill, MA 01830-2399.

For additional information contact Dr. Paul Saint-Amand at 978-556-3307, psaintamand@necc.mass.edu or visit the Peace Poetry webpage.

This contest is sponsored by the NECC Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, the English Department, and the Service Learning Committee.

Participants Needed for Manufacturing Program

February 13, 2014/in Archive/by review

Computer numeric controlled machines

Northern Essex Community College has extended the deadline to enroll in a free, 25-week, Advanced Manufacturing Training Program.

Participants can chose to enroll in the basic machine track offered in partnership with Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School or the basic electronic track offered in partnership with the Greater Lawrence Technical School. Tuition is grant funded.

The program begins April 22 and ends in late October. Classes will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. four to five days a week. This program, which was modeled on a similar but shorter NECC pilot program which resulted in jobs for those who completed the program, will prepare participants for jobs as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine operators, CNC machine technicians, electro-mechanical assemblers, electrical and electronic technicians, and test technicians.

“We developed this program with local employers, who helped design the curriculum to meet their specifications. Graduates of the program will have a real competitive edge when apply for jobs,” noted George Moriarty, executive director of the College’s Center for Corporate and Community Education.

Graduates of the pilot program have been hired by Arwood Machine, Inc. in Newburyport, which is a manufacturer of ultra-precision metal components used in aerospace, communications, and defense and AW Chesterton in Groveland, a global leader in the manufacture of polymer and mechanical seals.

“The hands-on training in that program helped a lot,” says Do Yoth Brach, of Lawrence, a graduate of the pilot program who is currently employed by Arwood Machine. “I did not expect to find work right away, but NECC made it happen.

For additional information or to apply, contact Renee Deyermond, Program Navigator, at rdeyermond@necc.mass.edu or 978-659-1223.

Master Piano Workshops Offered at NECC

February 11, 2014/in Archive/by review

The Music Program at Northern Essex Community College will offer two free masters workshops in the art of piano playing by NECC music faculty member Christina Dietrich, Sunday, March 2, and Sunday, April 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Technology Center on the Haverhill campus.

The purpose of these free workshops will be to give piano players the chance to perform and learn in a cooperative group setting. Solo piano works and instrumental and vocal works with piano accompaniment of various levels of difficulty will be explored. Various aspects of piano performance and preparation will also be discussed.

Students at all levels of playing ability will benefit from attending these workshops.

Dietrich has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras. She has performed on the stages of Jordan Hall in Boston, Symphony Hall in Boston, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York. She earned a bachelor’s in music from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, her master’s in music from Boston University and pursued her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at that institution.

In addition to maintaining a concert career, Dietrich is currently on the piano faculty of Indian Hill Music, Northern Essex Community College, and is founder and administrative director of the Chopin Conservatory of Music on the North Shore.

For more information about these workshops contact Christina Dietrich at cdietrich@necc.mass.edu.

Northern Essex Community College offers an Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies: Music and a Music Technology Certificate.

Lawrence Man is Model for Student Success Center

February 11, 2014/in Archive/by review

Jean Carlos Gomez

Jean Carlos Gomez says Northern Essex’s Student Success Center (SSC), along with hard work, is the reason he is on his way to earning his associate degree in Criminal Justice.

The 20-year-old Lawrence resident has been visiting the SSC, located on the Lawrence Campus, ever since he enrolled at NECC fresh from Greater Lawrence Vocational High School. The SSC provides students with academic and career services, classroom expectations, and financial literacy and planning.

“The Student Success Center is a great place,” he says. “If it wasn’t for the Student Success Center, I wouldn’t be at Northern Essex right now. The staff keeps me motivated to get good grades.”

At the SSC, he learned to ask questions, seek tutoring, and develop strong study skills.

Born in the Bronx to Dominican immigrants, his family moved to the Merrimack Valley when he was nine. Even then, he wanted to study criminal justice. When he graduated from high school he realized he needed a college degree for a career in criminal justice.

That is when he turned to NECC. One of his first stops was the SSC where he quickly developed an easy rapport with the staff. Today, Jean Carlos visits the SSC every school day and spends at least two hours there doing homework and reviewing class assignments.

“I like to joke that the staff has adopted me,” he says.

His exposure to the SSC led to his involvement with the Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence (PACE) Program, which offers additional student support services. This in turn directed him toward the Student Leadership Program.

The now Dean’s List student encourages friends and classmates to use the SSC.

“The Student Success Center is the one place new students should go to,” he says. “They help you with everything.”

Diploma Mystery Solved

February 10, 2014/in Archive/by review

Eagle Security Guard Edward J. Gabriel picked up his diploma 42 years after graduating from Northern Essex Community College.

For 42 years, Eagle Security guard Edward Gabriel, who patrols Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus, wasn’t quite sure he had ever actually graduated from NECC.

That question was laid to rest last week when Grace Young, Dean of Academic Support Services, Articulation, and Transfer, presented him with his diploma.

Gabriel, 62, was fresh out of Central Catholic High School when he enrolled in the liberal arts program in 1971. His first classes were held in the current Haverhill City Hall, which at one time served as Haverhill High School.

“Back then, everyone knew everyone on campus,” he says.

He completed his studies, but not before meeting fellow student Debra Allen who would eventually become his wife. He joined the Army Reserves and she transferred to Fitchburg State College.

Throughout high school, college, and post-college, Gabriel worked as a clerk at Conlin’s Pharmacy in Methuen. He saved his money and in 1974 thought he might buy a modest cottage at Salisbury Beach. He bought a Salisbury donut shop instead. Four years later he moved Gabe’s Donut and Family Restaurant to Lawrence. It eventually grew to include two locations and employed 27 people including his parents.

“The business was very good to me and my family for 36 years,” Gabriel says, “but then it was time to sell.”

After nearly four decades of waking at 4 a.m., the Salem, NH, resident traded his apron for a security guard uniform. Trained by Eagle Security, he still uses his people skills to work with the staff, faculty, and students at the college.

Though Gabriel was a member of the first class to graduate from the Elliot Street campus, he had joined the Army Reserves and never participated in a ceremony. So, for years he wondered if he ever satisfied the requirements to earn a diploma. Recently, after a brief exchange detailing his concerns with Dean Young, she looked up his college transcript and presented him with his diploma.

“This was a great place for me to start,” he says. “It was a real stepping stone for me.”

Energy Upgrades will Result in Cost Savings

February 4, 2014/in Archive/by Kiley Broadhurst

Left to right: Lane Glenn, president, NECC; Bruce Edwards, manager of commercial sales, National Grid, Massachusetts North; Peter Dulchinos, NECC board of trustees; Mark Sylvia, commissioner, Department of Energy Resources; Bill Moynihan, chair, NECC board of trustees, and Carole Cornelison, commissioner, Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. They’re standing in front of one of the new energy efficient boilers that was installed as part of the project.

On January 29, Patrick Administration officials joined Northern Essex Community College (NECC) President Lane Glenn to celebrate the completion of the Commonwealth’s first large project certified under the Commonwealth’s Accelerated Energy Program (AEP) that will result in significant energy, emissions and cost savings.

The $6.2 million energy project, completed on both the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses, is expected to yield a 28 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 33 percent reduction in energy costs, lowering energy bills by hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

This project was funded by a state bond that Northern Essex will pay back with the help of energy cost savings. The project received additional support from Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, the college, and National Grid.

“Being environmentally aware is a priority for Northern Essex, which is why we’re so pleased with the results of this project,” said Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex.

Included in the campus wide energy initiative is a conversion from electric to gas heat; interior and exterior lighting replacements and controls; programmable thermostats; domestic hot water system improvements; water conservation measures; energy management system upgrades; hot water boiler replacement; and door weatherization. The project received a significant Mass Save® incentive of more than $800,000, primarily from National Grid.

In addition to President Glenn, speakers at the event included Carole Cornelison, commissioner of DCAMM; Mark Sylvia, commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources (DOER); and Bruce Edwards, manager of commercial sales, National Gird, Massachusetts North.

“Under Governor Patrick’s leadership we have made tremendous progress on all of our energy goals,” said Commissioner Sylvia. “From national leadership in energy efficiency to consecutive annual double digit clean energy job growth, our strategy is working. We are leading by example and making our state sites more efficient than ever, reducing emissions and cutting costs.”

“The Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) is proud to partner with the Department of Energy Resources to help lead the Patrick Administration’s commitment to improve the efficiency of our state facilities,” said DCAMM Commissioner Carole Cornelison. “In meeting our obligation to improve our state buildings, we will continue to provide innovative energy modifications to our facilities that will significantly reduce the Commonwealth’s energy consumption and carbon footprint.”

The NECC campus project is the first large scale project to be completed and certified under the AEP, with energy, emission, and/or significant cost reductions of at least 25 percent. The AEP is jointly led by DOER and DCAMM, was launched in December 2012 and aims to undertake energy efficiency projects at 700 state sites in 700 days.

“Each year the legislature works very hard to commit funding to support these important energy programs that are aimed at reducing energy costs and emissions, and ensuring that the Commonwealth continues to be a national leader in energy efficiency,” said Representative Brian S. Dempsey. “I am thrilled that NECC will be the first major AEP project to be completed in the State.”

Other sustainability initiatives at Northern Essex include single stream recycling on both campuses, solar lighting for shuttle shelters on the Haverhill Campus, holiday shutdowns to save energy costs, and purchasing energy from solar farms through the PPA’s or power purchase agreements.

After a brief program, Dick Goulet, NECC’s director of facilities, led a tour of the upgrades, pointing out new energy efficient exterior and interior lighting, and new high efficiency boilers, sflex pump drives, and circulation pumps.

Spring 2014 Convocation Launches New Semester

February 4, 2014/in Archive/by review

Several new employees were welcomed to the college during the January convocation.

Student retention and faculty and staff diversity were the themes of the spring convocation held Tuesday, January 22, 2014 in the David Hartleb Technology Center. Hundreds of faculty and staff gathered for this twice-yearly tradition.

President Lane Glenn welcomed the participants before outlining changes they can expect to see in the curriculum. Beginning in the fall all new associate degree seeking students must meet the requirements of a new Core Academic Skills Initiative before graduating. Under this new initiative, every student will have to complete at least one course designed to be intensive in written communication, oral communication, global awareness, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, or science and technology.

The college’s faculty, in consultation with employers and four-year universities, has determined that these skills are vital for students to be successful in their further education, in their professions, and in their role as citizens.

This change, he said, has been at least five years in the making.

“This is a tremendous step forward for Northern Essex’s commitment to general education,” he said.

While at first blush this would suggest a new layer of complexity to academic advising, he says, the Degree Works software will eventually make it easier to figure academic requirements.

In other retention news President Glenn noted that according to Achieving the Dream data, community colleges lose their students early in the semester – usually within the first few weeks. NECC is addressing this using a variety of measures. Northern Essex has employed the Early Alert Program which allows faculty to flag students in danger of dropping classes and the College Success Program, which is a three-credit course that teaches student success skills. NECC is also improving its career preparation of students. NECClink, an online career service, gives employers a way of reaching out to future employees and interns. Conversely, it gives students a way to learn of employment opportunities and internships.

Acknowledging that convocation came on the heels of Martin Luther King Day, President Glenn quoted the civil rights leader and said that in terms of diversity Northern Essex isn’t “where we want to be”. Calling it “Diversity at NECC: The Next Generation,” he said it was time for the college to pause and exam its faculty and staff recruitment, hiring, and retention.

Under the direction of Linda Meccouri, NECC’s dean of professional development, each table of attendees was invited to participate in a group exercise where they explored possible recruitment and hiring practices as well as deterrents to bringing more Latino faculty and staff to NECC. With the assistance of table facilitators, the ideas and suggestions were shared with all in attendance.This brainstorming data will be compiled by Professional Development and made available to the college community.

President Glenn also welcomed a number of new faculty and staff including Jayme Haddad, academic advisor; Cheryl Charest, assistant professor of medical assisting; Scott Weber, professor of health information technology; Kathleen Pucci, assistant professor of nursing; Angela Bowers, assistant professor and program coordinator of medical imaging; Jiri George Kucera, assistant professor of mathematics; Il “Johnny” Yoon, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics and engineering. Patricia Portanova, assistant professor of English; Michelle Carter, instructor of art; and Sarah Comiskey, administrative assistant in institutional advancement.

College of Older Learners to Have Winter Event

February 4, 2014/in Archive/by Kiley Broadhurst

Northern Essex Community College’s College of Older Learners (CoOL) will have a Winter Intersession Event on Tuesday, February 11, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in room 103B in the David Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

Free and open to the public, this event will feature NECC Professor Barbara Stachniewicz in a presentation called “Why I Love Victorian Novels”. Dr. Stachniewicz is a professor of English at NECC and will be leading a CoOL seminar on George Eliot’s Middlemarch during CoOL’s Spring Seminar Series.

For additional information visit the CoOL website at www.necc.mass.edu/cool
Or, contact CoOL through the email address coolnecc@gmail.com or call 978-556-3110

MA Secretary of Education Likes What He Sees in Lawrence

February 4, 2014/in Archive/by review

Bill Moynihan, chair of the NECC Board of Trustees, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, MA Secretary of Education Matthew Malone, NECC President Lane Glenn, State Representative Marcos Devers, State Representative Frank Moran, and Lawrence City Councilor Oneida Aquino.

On Tuesday, January 7, Governor Patrick’s Secretary of Education Matthew Malone visited Lawrence to learn about Northern Essex Community College’s plans for expansion in the city.

He met with Northern Essex President Lane Glenn and state and local officials, including Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, Lawrence City Councilors Oneida Aquino and Estela Reyes and state representatives Marcos Devers and Frank Moran.

Glenn opened the meeting by sharing a slide presentation highlighting the college’s history in the city, including its recent expansion.

The college first began offering classes in Lawrence over 40 years ago, and in 1991—thanks to a gift from the Prudential Insurance Company—the college opened its first campus in Lawrence, the Dimitry Building at 45 Franklin St. Since that time, the college’s presence in Lawrence has grown to include the Louise Haffner Fournier Education Center, 78 Amesbury St; NECC Riverwalk, 360 Merrimack St.; and the iHealth Building, 52 Franklin St. Some of the college’s premiere programs including its 20-plus health certificates and associate degrees and its criminal justice and paralegal programs are headquartered in Lawrence.

This month, the college opened the newly renovated 420 Common Street, which will house a branch of Eastern Bank, a café, and a bookstore on the first floor, and classrooms on the second and third floors, including space for a four-year college partner. “We envision the first floor as space that will be used by the community, not just our faculty, staff, and students,” said Glenn.

In January, the college also opened its new jewel in the city: the Dr. Ibrahim El Hefni Health & Technology Center, a newly constructed 44,000 square-foot facility. The Health & Technology Center features a Health Education Simulation Center, where health care students will receive hands-on experience in simulated environments such as a hospital intensive care unit, a trauma room, an acute care hospital room, an apartment, an ambulance, and a doctor’s office. The building will also include classrooms and computer labs and a Career Planning and Advising Center where students will receive academic and career counseling. The building is open for classes Jan. 22 but the Career Planning and Advising Center will open later in the semester. “The college is focused on preparing local residents for jobs,” said Glenn. “We also want to play a role in revitalizing the downtown.”

Calling NECC’s plans for Lawrence “strategic and visionary,” Secretary Malone commended the college’s focus on preparing local residents for jobs in high-demand fields such as health care, manufacturing, and life sciences. “There’s been a big need in these areas.”

He also shared his concerns which include preparing veterans and other adult for new careers, addressing the need for Adult Basic Education (ABE) courses, and sharing health career pathways with high school students.

Malone praised the college for working with private and government partners to plan and fund expansion in the city. “We know we get results when we invest in education. The public/private partnerships are so important.”

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, a member of Northern Essex’s Board of Trustees, enthusiastically supports the college’s expansion in the city. “The college’s investment energizes other property owners. It’s definitely a spark for us.”

The meeting was held at 420 Common Street in a third floor conference room with two walls of windows overlooking the city. Following the presentation, Secretary Malone, President Glenn, and Mayor Rivera visited the lobby of the El Hefni Health & Technology Building.