At the June 1 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Bill Heineman, vice president of academic and student affairs, shared plans for the renovation of the Spurk Building on the Haverhill Campus.

The Spurk Building is “vital” to the college, according to Heineman, who said that 65* of students take classes in one of the building’s 33 classrooms.  The building also houses the tutoring center and 54 faculty offices.

The 50-year old building will come off-line in June as part of a year-long, $15 million project to improve the safety features, upgrade the air quality, renovate restrooms, and overhaul Lecture Hall A and the Hawrylciw Theater.

According to Heineman, almost 17,000 square feet of “swing space” has been created to accommodate relocated offices and classrooms, including eight classrooms in the lower floor of Opportunity Works, which is located adjacent to the campus; seven new classrooms in the B and E buildings; and two additional classrooms in the Library and Student Center.

The Spurk Building has close to 89,000 square feet, which means that 72,000 square feet is still “unaccounted for”, said Heineman.    Already existing space on NECC’s Haverhill and Lawrence campuses will house everything else that will not move to the new swing space.

ESL and most Criminal Justice currently offered on the Haverhill Campus will be moved to Lawrence, he said, and human services and deaf studies courses will move to NECC Riverwalk, also in Lawrence.

“We will enhance our shuttle service in the fall to help students, faculty, and staff get where they need to go, and we will have more people around to answer questions.”

The Spurk Renovation project is scheduled for completion in June of 2017.  To get updates, find out where offices and departments have been relocated, or learn more about the renovation project, visit the Spurk Renovation website.

Trustees Approve FY17 Budget

Trustees voted unanimously to approve an FY2017 operating budget of $45,900,574.

The budget was based on an anticipated 5 percent decline in enrollment, a figure consistent with other community colleges in the state, and the corresponding decrease in revenue, which is approximately $1.25 million.

In order to address this shortfall, trustees unanimously approved a fee increase of $9 per credit hour on non-Health credit courses, which will now be $168 a credit, as well as a $50 applied music fee for students taking courses that require private music lessons (now $300 per course) and a $9 per credit hour increase in Allied Health courses (now $248 a credit).

“We’ve done a lot to close the budget gap,” said President Lane Glenn.   “But what we’ve done doesn’t sufficiently cover the gap as well as collective bargaining costs, public safety and facilities updates, and other expenses.”

Haverhill Campus Update

President Lane Glenn shared three Haverhill Campus updates:

·         The second class recently graduated from the Essex County Sheriff’s Department Academy, which is located on NECC’s Haverhill Campus.

·         UMass Lowell will be moving  from the Hartleb Technology Center sometime during 2016-17 to new space located at Harbor Place in downtown Haverhill

·         A new $475,000 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Working Cities Challenge will help residents of the Mount Washington area of Haverhill get better jobs and develop a better quality of life.  Northern Essex is a part of this project

Lawrence Campus Update

·         President Lane Glenn and Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera hosted Daniel Bennett, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety & Security, in Lawrence, sharing plans for a proposed regional public safety center in the city.  The visit included a tour of the current police center.

Trustees Approve NECC 2020 Strategic Plan

After a unanimous vote of approval from the Board of Trustees, NECC’s new strategic plan NECC 2020 is almost ready to unveil.  The college is now just waiting for formal approval from the Board of Higher Education, which should come soon.

The strategic plan was crafted after over a year of work by faculty, staff, and students, led by co-chairs Wendy Shaffer, dean of development, and Mark Reinhold, professor of natural sciences.  Using appreciative inquiry, the college identified four strategic goals: integrated student experience; student career opportunities; professional growth; and external partnerships.

“Once the plan receives final approval, the real work will begin,” said Glenn.

NECC will Offer New Clinical Research Certificate

Northern Essex is partnering with local employers to create a program to train clinical research professionals, which is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2017.

A year ago, the college was contacted by NECC alumnae Terry Stubbs of ActiveMed Practices & Research, Inc. and Cynthia Owens of Affiliated Monitors, Inc. who were having a difficult time finding employees with a clinical research background.

After a series of meetings with area employers, the college decided to develop a certificate program to address this need.

The program will target employees who are currently in the research field but don’t have academic credentials as well as health care professionals from other areas who are looking for a change in employment or to expand their field of practice.

New VP of Administration & Finance on Board in July

Trustees voted unanimously to approve the appointment of Michael McCarthy, CEO of the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, as vice president of administration and finance.