“The Thin Woman”, the latest exhibit from The Linda Hummel-Shea ArtSpace at Northern Essex Community College, draws attention to eating disorders, illustrating, through black and white photos and poems, the personal struggles of one woman.

The exhibit is offered online only through December 15.

The poems were written by Michelle Howard of Amesbury and inspired by her sister “Melissa” who has struggled with an eating disorder for 30-plus years.

After writing the poems, Howard reached out to her cousin Charlene Yelle, a Newburyport photographer, and asked her to create a companion photograph for each of the eight poems.

Gallery Director Marc Mannheimer and Howard began talking about the “The Thin Woman” project two years ago, well before the pandemic was an issue. Since the college is drastically limiting visits to campus, a decision was made over the last few months to transition to an online format.

Howard said the project has already led to healing discussions within her own family and she is hoping that the exhibit will reach a broader audience.

“I’ve always felt helpless,” she said. “I wanted to gain insight, help her express to other people what she is going through.”

Here is the link to the exhibit https://mcclump3.wixsite.com/website-1

Located in the Bentley Library Building on NECC’s Haverhill Campus, the Linda Hummel-Shea ArtSpace Gallery features exhibits by NECC students, faculty, and artists from around the region and the world.

Northern Essex’s Department of Art & Design offers many courses in fine art and design leading to an Associate Degree in General Studies: Art & Design.

For additional information, contact Marc Mannheimer, gallery coordinator at mmannheimer@necc.mass.edu

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.

 

Jacqueline Dick, coordinator of our Public Health program, has a master’s degree and years of experience teaching public health. And, she spent the summer training contact tracers. Still, the virus managed to penetrate her close family circle. She shares what happened, along with some words of caution for others as we approach the holiday season.

This summer I spent two months training contact tracers. I was feeling confident about my knowledge of the virus and my ability to advise others about how it spreads. I was also familiar with the dangers of complacency or corona fatigue and the importance of continuing to be vigilant. So how did I find my family in the midst of a bout of the virus? That’s a story that I want to share in the hopes that it will help others.

We lost my mother-in-law on Memorial Day and finally scheduled a small outdoor graveside funeral in September, attended by the immediate family, all socially-distanced and wearing masks. Afterwards, we gathered as a family following every safety guideline for an outdoor meal. All went well and no one got sick.

Two weeks later, feeling confident that they could host a COVID-safe event, four nephews and nieces who had attended the funeral—all professionals who generally demonstrate good common sense and judgement— held a small weekend gathering with friends to celebrate a 30th birthday. By Tuesday, one of the nieces had a terrible headache. On Friday, she was diagnosed with COVID.

That weekend my husband, two brothers, and two nephews were scheduled to clean out the attic of my mother-in-law’s home. My husband spent four hot hours in an attic passing boxes back and forth to a nephew, who we learned later was infected as a result of attending the 30th birthday party.

The end result? As of last month, my husband, one brother, two nephews, one wife, and one girlfriend have all tested positive. It’s important to know that the virus can take up to 14 days to emerge. Just after my husband had completed his isolation and I had completed my first 14 days of quarantine, our nephew who lives with us tested positive on day 12 of his quarantine. Essentially this resulted in another bout of quarantine for me even after a negative test on day seven.

So where was the breakdown? Basically, it came from a gathering of young healthy people who did not think it could happen to them. It was exacerbated by the group not paying attention to signs and signals and not informing the rest of the family of their activities together. I am not pointing fingers because we have heard across the country that we all have Covid fatigue and many of us have Covid complacency. It may also have been tempting to think that it won’t happen to us- we were safe at the funeral so everything should be fine. This was clearly a “perfect storm”!

Why am I writing this piece and sharing with the NECC community? I am hoping it will help you make informed decisions.  Despite my background in public health, the virus still wiggled its ugly way into my family. As we head towards colder days and indoor life, please be aware how easily this virus can sneak into your home. On a more positive note, know that, if you wear a mask and follow social distancing and cleaning guidelines, you can stop the spread with appropriate isolation and quarantine.

Education Report: Center for Health Professions Transitions to Online

The Center for Health Professions, which opened in July of 2019 in the El Hefni Health & Technology Center in Lawrence, is part of the college’s Integrated Student Experience, a reorganization of the way students access Northern Essex services, designed to build communities around like majors.

Kathy Welch Hudson, who is the faculty lead, along with her other roles as department chair, health care technology and ambulatory services and coordinator of the medical assistant program, explained to trustees that the center gives students in the college’s 22 health certificate and degree programs a physical space where they can feel more connected to both faculty and other students from their major.

“It’s a gathering place where students can hang their hat and feel comfortable,” she said. “Students came in to get help with advising, do homework, charge their phones, attend career events, hang out between classes, or grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

In the months it was open before the pandemic, the center had 2,955 student visits.

Since March, the center has continued to serve students online, registering and advising 504 students from April 1 to Sept 7 of this year.

The center is run by Welch Hudson and faculty lead, Dawn Wheaton, program coordinator, medical billing and medical coding, and includes a full time advisor, Cristina Nuncio, and a part-time advisor, Linda Comeau.

Currently located in a classroom on the first floor of the El Hefni Health & Technology Center, it will be moving to a larger space off the lobby of the building, where the Career Planning and Advising Center (CPAC) is currently located. CPAC will be moving to the Dimitry Building on Franklin St.

Education Report: All College Assembly Plays Key Role in Addressing Pandemic

The pandemic drove much of the work that was done by the All College Assembly over the later part of the year, according to Professor Sheila Muller, chair of the executive board of the ACA, who provided trustees with her annual report. The ACA includes all Northern Essex faculty and staff, except the president, and plays an advisory role, reviewing operating policies before they are adopted and after implementation.

Here are some highlights:

The Executive Committee worked to identify areas of the charter that may need amending and to develop a sustainable framework for documenting committee activities and reporting that will allow for more accountability and transparency.

The Academic Affairs Committee approved two new certificate programs, 8 new courses, 28 course revisions, 17 program remissions, and 19 course in-activations.

In addition to a budget review and inquiry, the Finance Committee was involved with the hiring of key positions including a human resources director, a comptroller, and a deputy police chief; transitioning to a new child care provider on campus; and the campuses Return to Campus Plan in response to the pandemic.

The Information Technology Committee helped assess the resources that would be needed for transitioning successfully to a semester that was 90% online as well as online training to make sure faculty, staff, and students had the technology needed to be successful.

Before the pandemic struck, the Student Affairs Committee was focused on making sure that student services are being delivered equitably between the Haverhill and Lawrence Campuses, looking at issues such as the shuttle, the bookstore, and food service.

Enrollment Trends Over the Last Three Years

In response to a request from Trustee Pati Fernandez at the October meeting of the board of trustees, Kelly Saretsky, dean of institutional research, planning, and effectiveness, reported on how our students’ choice of majors has shifted over the past three years.

The percentage of students enrolled in associate in science programs has increased from 45.1% in the fall of 2017 to 50% this fall, while the percentage of students enrolled in associate in arts programs has decreased from 46.7% in 2017 to 42%, according to the data Saretsky shared.

Here are some other trends:

General Studies: Health Specialization enrollments have increased from 20.3% to 21.3%

Biology majors have increased from 2.9% to 3.8%

Business Transfer majors are on the rise, increasing from 7.4% to 8.2%

Liberal Arts majors are declining from 10% to 5.2%

Engineering Science (4.6% to 3.9%) and Computer Information Science: Information Technology (3.1% to 2.8%) are experiencing slight declines

The most worrisome shift is the decline in liberal arts programs, said Bill Heineman, vice president of academic and student affairs. “This isn’t just at Northern Essex. We are working hard to make students aware of the many viable career options available to liberal arts grads.”

Improving Health Care Education

President Lane Glenn shared Creating More “Pockets of Good”: Fostering Innovation in Post-Pandemic Healthcare Education”, a report funded by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education through its Higher Education Innovation Fund, under the sponsorship of Northern Essex.

Focusing on community colleges and frontline allied health occupations, the report will help community colleges, employers, and policymakers address changes in the way allied health professionals are trained in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This report will help us secure the funding and the partnerships that will lead to improved health care education,” said Glenn.

The report was written by Volta Learning Group, a higher education consulting firm.

Trustees Add Two Committees

Trustees are adding two new committees: Advancement and Alumni, chaired by Trustee Shalimar Quiles ’08, and the Equity Imperative, chaired by Trustee Marianne Paley Nadel. These committees will be working with Vice President Allison Dolan Wilson and Vice President Noemi Custodia Lora respectively to support Northern Essex in both of these two areas.

Already existing trustee committees include Audit & Finance, Nominating, and Presidential Evaluation.

Report of the Administration

Budget Status

President Glenn reported that Governor Baker has put forward a level-funded higher ed budget for FY21, which Glenn said “is better news than we could have expected.”

While there are still several more steps in the process before a budget for FY21, which began July 1, 2020, is approved, Glenn told trustees “Early indications are positive. We are in a better position than we would have thought and we are grateful for that.”

NECC Adopts Handshake, Premiere Career Networking Software

In July, Northern Essex became the first community college in Massachusetts to adopt Handshake, a career network that is comprised of 500,000 employers, including all of the Fortune 500 companies.

Northern Essex recently became the fiscal sponsor of a $44,693 grant from the Boston Foundation and SkillWorks to lead the effort to implement Handshake at all Massachusetts community colleges.

Campus Projects

The college is seeking funding to resurface the Spurk Building parking lots, which is a $2.5 million project.

The college is also hoping to upgrade its athletic facilities and is looking for a community partner.