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NECC Receives Designation as Military Friendly School

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A look inside the NECC Veterans Center on the Haverhill Campus.

Northern Essex Community College’s success in educating veterans was recently recognized when the college received designation as a  Military Friendly®  School by Viqtory, a national organization that connects veterans with civilian education, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Institutions were selected for this designation based on public data sources and a comprehensive 15-page survey completed by the college. Over 1,200 schools participated in the 2021-2022 survey with 747 earning the designation. Some of the factors considered are student retention, graduation rates, job placement, and loan repayment for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.

“This designation is important because it looks at not only the programs and services that we have in place to support our military connected students, but also the success and sustainability of them,” said Kalyn Ryll, NECC’s veteran and military services coordinator.

The 2021-2022 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.

“Schools that achieve designation show true commitment and dedication in their efforts. Our standards assist schools by providing a benchmark that promotes positive educational outcomes, resources, and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunity for the military community,” said National Director of Military Partnerships, Military Friendly®, Kayla Lopez.

Northern Essex has an average of 100 veterans enrolled each semester, according to Ryll, who assists student veterans with using benefits to help pay for school and making connections and referrals to community services.

The college also hosts a representative from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs VITAL (Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership) Program, who comes on campus twice a month to help student veterans navigate their transition from soldier to student.

“We focus on the success of each individual student veteran,” said Ryll. “Providing them with the guidance and services to reach their educational goals, whether they’re interested in moving right into a career or transferring to a four-year college or university.”

The top areas of study for veterans at Northern Essex include Biology, Business, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Health, and Social Work, and Northern Essex awards credit for military training and experience.

To learn more, contact Ryll at kryll@necc.mass.edu or 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.

 

 

Music Grad Selected to Sing at DHE “29 Who Shine” Event

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NECC Music Major Alicia Catalano

There is one thing Northern Essex music major Alicia Catalano always knew she wanted to do. “All I ever wanted to be was a singer, music is my passion,” she says. She started a band with her brother when they were just teens, and they played in and around their hometown of Newburyport. They even opened up for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears.

When it came time to decide what to do after graduating from Whittier Tech in culinary in 2018, where she served as class president, Catalano found herself at a crossroads. She wanted to explore college, but didn’t want to totally uproot her life. “I was super confused; music was the only thing I wanted to do. And I thought, you don’t have to go to school to be a musician,” she remembers. Catalano says NECC provided the perfect solution. “I still feel like I’m in limbo, I’m not really sure what I want to do in life. But going to NECC has given me that time and opportunity to explore in an affordable way.”

Catalano, who performs under the name Alicia Malana, has certainly made the most out of her time at NECC. She just released her first single called “Forgive” and she has been selected to perform for the Department of Higher Education’s “29 Who Shine Awards” in May, an event hosted by Governor Charlie Baker and honoring a top graduate from each community college, state college and university in Massachusetts.

This spring, Alicia Catalano will graduate with her associate’s degree in music, and in the fall she will earn another associate’s degree in business. NECC’s General Music degree gives students the skills for a variety of careers in performing, teaching, sound engineering and much more. Credits also transfer to a number of bachelor’s degree programs at four-year schools.

When she’s not performing, creating music, or studying, she is busy designing a line of bags called “By Alicia” which she markets online. Catalano says her degrees will help her continue to pursue her passions, while figuring out her next step. “I will say to my mom I feel like I’m behind, because it took me three years instead of two or two and a half to get my associate’s degrees. And she’ll say,  ‘You’re not behind, you’re figuring it out at a different pace.’”

This story was written by Melissa Bouse.

Board of Trustees Update: February, 2021

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Jennifer Borislow, chair of the NECC Board of Trustees, welcomed Glennys Sanchez to her first board meeting. Sanchez, an ’05 business transfer grad, was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker to replace Mark Forman, a longtime member of the board, whose term recently expired.

Education Report: An Update on STEM at NECC

Carolyn Knoepfler, dean of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Programs, gave trustees “a taste of what it’s like to run an academic division in the midst of a pandemic.”

When she met with the board last February, she shared plans for new events, including a robotics competition. Then COVID hit.

“We try to be as creative as we can in STEM and our focus was now on providing our students with the same quality of academic experience that we were able to offer pre-pandemic,” she said.

Here’s what Knoepfler reported the STEM area has accomplished in the last year:

·         Boot camps to help prepare students to succeed in math, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and physics/engineering courses were transitioned to online delivery.

·         Sixteen new online courses were developed.

·         The college contracted with a company called Labster to transition science labs to online delivery during the fall and spring semesters.

·         COVID protocols were implemented for the many courses that still needed to meet face-to-face.

·         The college’s celebration of STEM Week in October went virtual.

The STEM area is supported by a $250,000 grant from the Department of Higher Education’s STEM Starter Academy. In addition to helping fund the initiatives highlighted above, this funding supported scholarships for STEM majors; tutoring for STEM courses; and, new this year, the hiring of three STEM advisors and a STEM liaison.

Knoepfler also shared a new pilot program that will help grow the already strong partnership between the engineering programs at Northern Essex and UMass Lowell. The program will include faculty exchanges, visits to UMass Lowell, and mentoring opportunities, and is designed to “ease the transfer the process”, according to Knoepfler. “If the pilot is successful, we will expand to other programs.”

UMass Lowell is the top transfer college for Northern Essex Engineering graduates.

Report of Administration

NECHE Accreditation

Northern Essex has been preparing for its 10-year reaccreditation by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

The college has completed its comprehensive self-study and a NECHE team will conduct a virtual visit April 11-14.

Co-chairs of the NECHE 2020 self-study are Kim Burns, dean of academic innovations and professional development; Scott Lancaster, interim dean, health professions, and Mike Hearn, director of libraries.

Haverhill Campus

For the past three years, Northern Essex has been leasing space at the Opportunity Works facility, located across the street from the Haverhill Campus on Kenoza Street.

That lease has officially ended. “It was a win-win,” said Lane Glenn, NECC president. “We no longer needed the space but they did.”

College offices that were located there, primarily Corporate & Community Education, will be relocated on the Haverhill Campus.

Also, the Haverhill Campus may become a vaccine site, once the supply is more plentiful, according to Glenn, who said Mike McCarthy, vice president of administration, is working with the city of Haverhill on this.

Lawrence Campus

Lawrence High School has received funding from the Smith Family Foundation to help create a fifth year of high school for students, who will graduate with an associate degree. Northern Essex is partnering with the high school on this initiative. The college already offers the Lawrence Promise Program for Early College students who want to continue at Northern Essex after high school and earn an associate degree. “There’s great demand,” said Glenn. “This new initiative will relieve pressure on the Promise Program.”

 

 

 

Lawrence Education Leader and Activist Joins NECC Board of Trustees

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Glennys Sanchez, ’05 Business Transfer grad, is the newest member of the college’s Board of Trustees.

Glennys Sanchez of Lawrence, a Northern Essex graduate, community activist, and leader in K-16 education and research, has been appointed to the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees by Governor Charlie Baker, effective immediately.

Sanchez is currently a senior associate with the Great Schools Partnership, a nonprofit school support organization working to redesign public education. In that role, she coaches schools and school districts throughout New England on equity-centered and anti-racist approaches to reimagining public education.

She also has experience as director of research and knowledge management for 1647-Connecting Families and Schools, a Boston-based organization focused on student success and engaging families in learning, and as a job coach and advisor for Northern Essex Community College’s Student Success Center in Lawrence.

“Glennys has devoted her career to improving the educational experience of groups that have been marginalized in the past. Her career and personal experience are going to be invaluable to us as we address inequities in higher education, a priority at the local and state level,” said Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex.

Sanchez is also active in the Lawrence community, currently serving as a trustee of the Lawrence Public Library, vice president of the Lawrence History Center; and clerk of the Board of the Bread and Roses Heritage Committee, of which she is a former president and vice president.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Sanchez arrived in Lawrence at the age of 16 and calls it her “adopted home”.

After arriving, she enrolled in NECC’s Transition to College Program, graduating from the college with high honors and an Associate Degree in Business Transfer in 2005, when she was just 18 years old. Sanchez went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from UMass Boston and a Master of Education in Community Engagement from Merrimack College.

“I am honored and grateful to serve the college and the community-at-large in this new capacity,” said Sanchez. “NECC was key in my personal and professional development first as a student and later in my early years in the education field- I am grateful to be back home.”

The college’s Board of Trustees includes nine members who are appointed by the governor of the state to a maximum of two five-year terms as well as an alumni-elected member, who also serves a maximum of 10 years, and a student trustee who serves for two semesters.

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers more than 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.  Each year, more than 5,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,600 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.

Haverhill Campus

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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