{"id":23030,"date":"2023-01-26T15:08:04","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T20:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2023\/01\/26\/new-department-of-higher-education-commissioner-visits-necc\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:29:26","slug":"new-department-of-higher-education-commissioner-visits-necc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/26\/new-department-of-higher-education-commissioner-visits-necc\/","title":{"rendered":"New Department of Higher Education Commissioner Visits NECC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawrence, MA (January 24, 2023)\u2013 Leaders from the city of Lawrence and Northern Essex Community College gathered on Tuesday morning to welcome the Commonwealth\u2019s new Commissioner of Higher Education, Noe Ortega. The visit included a roundtable discussion at the El Hefni Allied Health and Technology Center. NECC President Lane Glenn presented a brief history of the development of the Lawrence Campus and shared how public and private partnerships made much of it possible.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/a>

NECC President Lane Glenn, DHE Commissioner Noe Ortega, SUCCESS Senior Project Director, Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges (MACC) Lutful Khan, Associate Commissioner of Research and Planning at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Mario Delci<\/p><\/div>\n

Following the presentation, Glenn and Ortega fielded various questions from the group on topics affecting higher education, including enrollment, equity, affordability, and the role of Northern Essex in the community of Lawrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that has always been important to me is affordability,\u201d said Ortega. \u201cI want to make sure that every student who\u2019s being prepared and recruited to go to college thinks about the choices they have. We live in a time where the cost limits that choice. Anything we can do as a state to advocate for affordability, we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interim Dean of Health Services Kathy Hudson then led Ortega and a small group on a tour of the classrooms and labs in the El Hefni building. Stops included the maternity simulation room, with blinking and breathing mother and child teaching mannequins, and the fully operational ambulance embedded in the building\u2019s first floor.<\/p>\n

Following the tour, Ortega met with students in NECC\u2019s SOAR Program<\/a>. The program provides wraparound support for vulnerable students, such as advising, career counseling, and community-building events. Students shared stories of how they struggled early in their college careers and how SOAR helped them find their footing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had this when I first started in 2009, I would have finished a long time ago,\u201d said Eudania Chucha Aquino, a Human Services<\/a> major who now works for the SOAR program. \u201cIt really pushed me and showed me how to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot to ask for help. In some cases, it takes a lot to accept that help,\u201d responded Ortega. \u201cBecause each of your stories begins with an intention that didn\u2019t work out, but you got help in a judge-free zone with people who have no interest in making you further carry the weight of your story. They\u2019re making sure that from this point on, you\u2019re moving forward and succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program is part of a statewide SUCCESS initiative, which is modeled after Northern Essex\u2019s\u00a0Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence (PACE)\u00a0 Program<\/a>, a federally-funded student support services program. President Glenn was instrumental in lobbying for the creation of the SUCCESS Fund (Supporting Urgent Community College Equity through Student Services). Thanks to support from state legislators, funding was included in this last year\u2019s state budget to provide similar services across the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges.<\/p>\n

A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Ortega comes to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania, where he served as the Secretary of Education since 2020. He spent the eight years prior at the University of Michigan, where he held several roles, including Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate at the National Center for Institutional Diversity and as the Managing Director for the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good.\u00a0He replaces Carlos Santiago, who stepped down from the role last year. Ortega was sworn in this past November.<\/p>\n\n\t\t