Thelma Ortiz of Lawrence discovered a career path, with the help of NECC.

Thelma Ortiz of Lawrence graduated from the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) Academy at Greater Lawrence Technical School, thinking she wanted to major in engineering in college.

After one month at a public university, she says she realized “engineering wasn’t for me.”

Discouraged, she left college and went to work full time for a year.

“The process of choosing a major carries a lot of fears,” she says. “I didn’t think I would find something I really wanted. I had to overcome those fears.”

In the fall of 2019, Ortiz was ready for a restart. She enrolled at Northern Essex Community College, determined to explore her interests and find a major—and a career—that was the right fit for her.

Exploring Interests and Options

Ortiz took advantage of all of the resources Northern Essex has available to help students find their path.

Before enrolling in classes, Ortiz met with Eldiane Elmeus, program coordinator for the college’s Exploratory Program, who focused on goal setting, financial planning, and academic planning as part of the new student orientation process. Elmeus also connected her with personality and interest tests and virtual job shadow opportunities to help her hone in on her interests.

What Ortiz discovered, after months of self-assessment and frequent conversations with Elmeus, was that her interests were in the health field.

“Going from STEM to health, I felt pretty surprised,” she says.

Honing In

Deciding on health was only a part of the process. Northern Essex offers 22 associate degrees and certificate in health fields—from nursing to sleep technology—and the next step was choosing a specific program.

Working with the Center for Health Professions—one of five academic centers on campus—Ortiz attended health program information sessions and set up appointments with program coordinators to discuss their programs one-on-one, including academic requirements and career opportunities.

After talking with Jennifer Jackson Stevens, coordinator of the Respiratory Care Program, Ortiz’s direction was clear. “The big picture fell into place,” she says. “I finally understood where I see myself going in the next couple of years, and it felt pretty good.”

Her decision was influenced by her nephew’s struggles with asthma, a disease that respiratory therapists treat. “If I can help people with issues that my family deal with, I would feel highly privileged.”

Since she started, she has taken many of the prerequisites for the program, including Physiological Chemistry, and she plans to take Anatomy & Physiology and one elective, The Short Story, before starting the Respiratory Care Program in the fall of 2021.

Changing Majors is the Norm

According to Jennifer Mezquita, assistant vice president of student affairs, college students change majors an average of three times before getting a degree.

“At Northern Essex, we want to provide students, like Thelma, with the support they need as they are navigating the college journey,” she says.

That exploration starts with a prospective student’s initial contact with an admission recruiter and, once enrolled, it continues with their relationship with an academic advisor with support from services such as the Career Center; the First Year Seminar (FYS) course, a three-credit course which has a career module built into it; and resources offered in the academic centers.

All students also have services available to them including tutoring, academic coaches, academic advisors, counseling, learning accommodations, and more.

“We strive to make all of our services unavoidable,” says Mezquita with a smile.

Focus on the Goal

Ortiz, who is the first in her family to attend college, is deeply appreciate of all the resources Northern Essex provides, and excited about the future.

“I want to walk across that stage wearing my cap and gown and have my family see that I was willing to work hard for something I really wanted,” she says.

To learn more, visit the website www.necc.mass.edu or contact admissions@necc.mass.edu or 978 556-3700.

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers approximately 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.  Each year, 6,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,000 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.  For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu or call 978-556-3700.

At the December meeting of the NECC Board of Trustees, President Lane Glenn shared Governor Baker’s recent visit to the NECC Lupoli Family Culinary Arts Center.

Attracting a Diverse Faculty and Staff is an NECC Priority

Northern Essex has a student population that is 43% Hispanic, but only 13.7% of faculty and staff are Hispanic, according to a report presented to trustees by Kelly Saretsky, dean of institutional research, planning, and effectiveness, at the Dec. 2 meeting.

President Lane Glenn and his leadership team would like to address this, by recruiting and hiring more Hispanic employees.

While the college is trending in the right direction—there’s been a close to 3% increase in the percentage of Hispanic employees over the past three years—it needs to happen more quickly, according to Glenn. “Our employee population doesn’t even approximate the communities we serve,” he said.

Citing stats from the Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), Glenn reported that, as a community, Lawrence is 80% Hispanic; Methuen, 29%; and Haverhill 20%.

This isn’t a new priority for the college, but, with the focus on equity, it has become more important than ever. In Essex County, there’s a 30% gap between Whites and Hispanics in educational attainment, according to the ECCF.

“This is our focus,” said Glenn. We want to help more local people access a college education and the economic benefits it offers. To do that, It’s important that our employees reflect the community and the broader populations we serve.”

The college will be reporting to trustees regularly on strategies and progress related to this goal.

Sabbatical Report from Professor Elle Yarborough

Elle Yarborough, who has been teaching English at Northern Essex for 10 years and is currently the department chair, estimates that it takes about 20 minutes to read and provide feedback on each student essay assignment, which is 8 hours in total for a class of 24 students.

During her spring 2020 sabbatical, she  focused on how that time can be used most meaningfully.

“What we know about grading and feedback is that it needs to be given regularly and that it needs to be timely,” she told trustees. “I wanted to look at how we can affectively give feedback to students and build community in the classroom.”

Her research on the topic included a literature review, interviews and observations of six faculty from four institutions, and hands-on research in classes at Northern Essex.

The end result is a collection of “small but mighty suggestions” that she’s shared with her Northern Essex colleagues. She is also scheduled to present on this topic at the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference.

“If I can save 1,000 minutes per semester on grading, I will have more time to create better assignments,” she said. “I think what I’ve found has been useful to my colleagues.”

Audit Report is “Best You Can Have”

Representatives from O’Connor and Drew P.C. shared the college’s financial statements and management’s discussion and analyst for FY20, which ended June 30, 2020, with trustees, calling the report “the best you can have.”

“We are in sound financial position,” said President Lane Glenn. “Better than we expected.”

President Glenn credited one-time savings, careful enrollment planning, and reduced expenses as a result of being remote with contributing to the positive results. The college also received $3.2M in CARES Act funding, half of which went directly to students and the other half to the college to cover costs associated with the change in operations due to COVID 19, such as transitioning courses to online delivery and installing air filtration systems on campus.

Report of Administration

Strategic Plan: Integrated Student Experience

The Integrated Student Experience is a new approach to providing student services that emphasizes belonging, structure, and integration.

As part of ISE, each student has a very clear pathway that leads to graduation, transfer, and career.

Northern Essex students have been hard hit by the pandemic, facing job losses, increased family responsibilities, and the stress of transitioning to online learning. The ISE is helping them to stay on track, despite those challenges.

Communication with students has been ramped up, primarily using EAB Navigate, an app available to all students, and regular student surveys to determine where our students are struggling and how we can help them.

Haverhill Campus

On Nov. 5, Governor Charlie Baker was in Haverhill to visit The Heights, which is home to the NECC Lupoli Family Culinary Arts Center.

Denis Boucher, program manager of culinary and hospitality, gave the governor a tour of the facility, which will be home to credit programs, including our certificate in culinary arts and our associate degree in hospitality management, and noncredit culinary courses offered through Corporate & Community Education.

Catherine Greene got her start at UMass Lowell but transferred in to NECC, where she earned an accounting degree.

If you started college but found it wasn’t a good fit for any reason, Monzerrath (Monze) Stark-Magaña, Northern Essex Community College director of recruitment and admission, wants to talk with you.

“Many students get started somewhere else, but stop out for financial, academic, or other reasons,” says Stark.

Catherine Greene of Plaistow, NH is just one example. After graduating from Timberlane High School in 2012, she attended UMass Lowell, but she left after a couple of semesters to join the workforce, where she worked in accounts receivable and discovered a love of numbers.

In 2014, she decided to restart her college education, transferring her UMass Lowell credits to Northern Essex. While working full time, she earned an associate degree in accounting with high honors from Northern Essex in December of 2019. She plans to earn her bachelor’s in finance and accounting, while continuing to work full time in her field.

“We all mature, grow, and progress at different rates, and that’s okay. I’ve learned to never give up on my dreams and goals because no one else can accomplish them for me,” she says.

Steps for Transferring into Northern Essex

Students interested in transferring in are encouraged to apply and submit their official college transcripts to registrarpublic@necc.mass.edu. Once we receive the admission application and college transcripts our admission counselors will reach out and help students transition to NECC.

Enrolling students are required to take an assessment test that covers reading, writing, and math, but many students with prior college experience may have the test waived, based on courses they have already taken.  For example, a student who has successfully completed a college-level math class will not have to take the math assessment.

NECC will Accept Up to 36 Credits

Students can transfer a maximum of 36 credits into one of Northern Essex’s associate degree programs and up to 12 credits into a certificate program.

Most programs at Northern Essex are 60 credits, although some programs, such as computer science or engineering, require additional credits—up to 68.

Transfer After Earning an Associate Degree

Once a student has earned an associate degree, they can transfer from Northern Essex to their choice of colleges, public or private.

“Our grads go to 130 different colleges and universities after Northern Essex,” says Stark.

The MassTransfer Pathway provides a seamless transfer for students who are interested in transferring to any of the public college and universities in Massachusetts, including UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, or Salem State.

The college also has transfers agreements with private colleges, such as Merrimack, Endicott, Regis, and Cambridge colleges.

By starting at Northern Essex and transferring to a four-year college, a student can save 40 percent or more on the cost of a bachelor’s degree, says Stark.

Spring Semester Starts January 20

It’s not too late to enroll for the spring semester, which starts January 20.  For additional information, call 978 556-3700, email admissions@necc.mass.edu, visit the website or connect with an admission counselor.

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers approximately 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.  Each year, 6,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,000 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.  For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu or call 978-556-3700.

Scott Lancaster, NECC’s interim dean of health professions

Scott Lancaster, Northern Essex Community College’s interim dean of health professions, took top honors at an international conference, hosted by the leading organization for emergency medical services research, on Nov. 20.

Lancaster was selected from hundreds of applicants to give two of the ten presentations at the 2020 International Scientific Symposium, which was delivered virtually by the Prehospital Care Research Forum at UCLA.

Lancaster won the Best Educational Research Award for the first presentation, which focused on the effect of a paramedic’s personality when administering medications to trauma patients. His research found that 8 percent of trauma patients received a pain medication, and that the personality of the paramedic did not impact whether—or how much— medication was administered. Selected as the winner after a blind review process by the forum’s board, he received a $500 check and funding to present his research at a conference outside the United States in 2021.

His second presentation examined the factors in a paramedic program that contribute to a higher passing rate on the paramedic licensure exam. He developed 29 different factors—such as classroom time, clinical time, and prerequisites—and sent a national survey to paramedic programs across the country. The survey had a 50% response rate, and, as a result, he was able to determine the factors that would be most likely to lead to success. His findings show that the use of flipped classrooms and increased clinical hours improve success on this licensure examination. This presentation was named Best Educational Oral Presentation, based on a vote of the 300-plus conference attendees.

The Prehospital Care Research Forum wants to encourage more research in the paramedic field. “The ultimate goal is to improve patient care,” said Lancaster. “A lot of the focus is on how we educate future paramedics.”

Currently most paramedic research is conducted by physicians, according to Lancaster, who believes it’s important to provide paramedics with master’s and doctorate degrees with the tools to do their own research.

A resident of Goffstown, NH, Lancaster joined Northern Essex in 2014 as department chair of the Paramedic Technology, EMS, and Health Care Management programs. He was promoted to assistant dean of health professions in 2019 and interim dean of health professions last June. He continues to work as a paramedic for the Amherst, NH Fire Department.

Lancaster has a bachelor’s and master’s in health care management and last year he was awarded a PhD from Simmons University.

Northern Essex offers an associate degree and certificate in Paramedic Technology and an EMT-Basic course. To learn more about the 22 health programs offered at Northern Essex, visit the website.

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers approximately 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.  Each year, 6,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,000 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.  For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu or call 978-556-3700.