Erin Colstad, special programs coordinator in the patient simulation center, gives a tour of El-Hefni’s simulation lab to Reps. Mindy Domb, Jeffrey Roy, Anne Gobi, and Diana Dizoglio

Northern Essex Community College hosted the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Higher Education as well as local legislators and dignitaries on Friday, November 15, 2019, at the Ibrahim El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St. on the Lawrence Campus.

Members of the committee have been visiting the campuses of all Massachusetts community colleges and universities. Earlier in the day, they had toured UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College.

“I’m grateful for the incredible marathon you have tasked yourself with,” NECC President Lane Glenn said in welcoming them to campus.

The visit gave the college the opportunity to highlight the college’s history, academic programs, buildings, and partnerships, Glenn said.

Derek Mitchell, director of the Lawrence Partnership, said business partnerships have made “competitors, collaborators.” Local employers are hungry for talent and NECC and the Partnership are helping to provide the talent.

NECC Professor Sheila Muller gave a tour of the newly renovated Dimitry Building on the Lawrence Campus.

NECC Professor Sheila Muller gave a tour of the newly renovated Dimitry Building on the Lawrence Campus.

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera said that Northern Essex’s Early College Program which has provided early access to so many Lawrence High School students is “mind blowing”.

The college as a whole, Rivera said, “…has changed the face of Lawrence and helped change the perception of the city.”

Marcy Yeager, executive director of PK-12 partnerships and international studies at Northern Essex Community College, discussed the Early College program which puts high school students on the college campus to earn college credits as early as their sophomore year and the Promise Program, which helps them continue toward an associate degree for free, after their high school graduation.

She introduced Kelvin Sabando, a Lawrence High School Early College turned Promise Program student who is on track to graduate with an associate degree in art & design next May.

The delegation finished their tour with visits to the El-Hefni simulation labs and the embedded ambulance as well as a trip to the newly renovated Dimitry Building.