NECC External Partners Report 2018

To our valued partners

Our college has “community” right in its name, which should give you some idea of how important expanding and strengthening our community partnerships are to all of us at Northern Essex Community College.

We are interested in forging partnerships that will help deepen our academic, cultural, social, and economic impact within the region, and create new opportunities for our students.

In this external partners report, we will share some of the exciting progress that has been made this past year, working with you, our external partners.

You will find out how we are connecting with local employers to address their workforce needs; partnering with K-12 and bachelor degree granting colleges to make college more affordable and accessible for Merrimack Valley families; and graduating students who are good citizens.

After reading this report, please let me know if you have comments or ideas. We want to collaborate with you to help leverage our resources and achieve our common goals. Together, we can do great things!

Sincerely,
Lane A. Glenn
President
Northern Essex Community College

High School Students Jump-Start College

Students who earn college credits while in high school are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and earn a degree, according to a recent study.*

That’s why Northern Essex has made it a priority to partner with our local high schools, offering early college options for high school students who want to get a jump start on college.

Students like Isabella Callahan took the 40 credits she earned in high school to UMass Lowell where she’s studying engineering. As a result, the 2017 Haverhill High School graduate will likely graduate with a bachelor’s degree in less than three years, saving thousands of dollars in the process.

Courses are taught at the high schools and at Northern Essex’s campuses. Students can opt to take college courses throughout high school, like Isabella did, or take a course or two to enhance their high school transcript and their academic skills.

For more information on opportunities for high school students, contact Noemi Custodia-Lora, vice president of the Lawrence Campus and community relations, ncustodialora@necc.mass.edu.

*This study was conducted by the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

We appreciate our high school partners

• Amesbury High School
• Andover High School
• Brooks School
• Central Catholic High School
• Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational-Technical High School
• Haverhill High School
• Innovation Academy Charter School
• Lawrence High School
• Masconomet Regional High School
• Methuen High School
• Newburyport High School
• North Andover High School
• Pentucket Regional Senior High School
• Reading Memorial High School
• Salem (NH) High School
• Sanborn Regional High School
• Sparhawk School
• Timberlane Regional High School
• Triton Regional School
• Whittier Regional Vocational-Technical High School

Together, We’re Bringing Down the Cost of a College Degree

Grace Young, Northern Essex’s dean of academic and career advising, articulation, and transfer, is on a mission; she wants to make a college education affordable to Merrimack Valley families.

Dean Young spends her days helping students find pathways to bachelor’s degrees and collaborating with our higher ed partners on articulation agreements that allow NECC graduates to transfer seamlessly into bachelor’s degree programs.

The Commonwealth Commitment Program, launched last year, is an agreement between the Massachusetts public community colleges, colleges, and universities, to make a college degree more affordable for Massachusetts residents.

Students who start at a community college receive cost savings including a freeze on tuition and fees for all four years and a 10% rebate at the successful completion of each semester.

A student who starts at Northern Essex and transfers to UMass Lowell, for example, can now earn a bachelor’s degree for under $35,000, and even less with scholarships and financial aid.

Northern Essex has also initiated partnerships with private colleges and public colleges from outside Massachusetts.

Both Regis College, a private university in Weston, and Northern Vermont University, formerly Lyndon State College, are now offering bachelor degree completion programs on Northern Essex’s Lawrence Campus, programs that offer tuition discounts to Northern Essex graduates and easy accessibility for students who need to stay close to home.

As the cost of higher education skyrockets and students prepare to take on record student debt, the community college transfer mission grows more important, offering an affordable pathway to college for local families.

For more information on transfer opportunities at Northern Essex, contact Grace Young, gyoung@necc.mass.edu.

10 Top Transfer Schools for NECC Grads

• UMass Lowell
• SNHU
• Salem State University
• Merrimack College
• UMass Amherst
• Regis College
• Fitchburg State University
• UMass Boston
• Cambridge College
• Northern Vermont University

Our Workforce Connections Benefit Students and Employers

The great majority—94%--of Northern Essex alumni continue to live and work locally after graduation, which is just one of the reasons local employers are so interested in partnering with the college.

These employers serve on one of our 20 program advisory boards and our Occupational Advisory Board; hire our interns and graduates; and come to us with their workforce training needs. These connections benefit our students as well as employers, who count on Northern Essex for a well-trained workforce and solutions to their workforce challenges.

When Neurocare, a longtime clinical site, was facing a shortage of qualified sleep technologists, Northern Essex helped address the immediate need and created a sleep technology certificate program for Greater Boston residents.

And when an employer survey conducted by the Lawrence Partnership uncovered a widespread need for supervisory training, Northern Essex stepped in.

Within months, Northern Essex had applied for and received a $120,750 Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Direct Access Training Grant.

In the past year, more than 80 employees from 25 local companies --Charm Sciences, Watts Regulatory Company, the GEM Group, and Microsemi, for example-- participated in the 10-week training.

To learn more about Corporate and Community Education at Northern Essex, contact George Moriarty, executive director of corporate & community education gmoriarty@necc.mass.edu. If you are interested in hiring an NECC business, communications, graphic designer, or computer science intern, contact Ashley Moore, director of academic, career & civic engagement amoore@necc.mass.edu

Our Students are Engaged in the Community

Northern Essex students are reaping the benefits of service, as the college grows its volunteering and service learning opportunities.

This fall, the college launched its first civic action plan, a three-year plan which encourages and supports civic engagement on campus.

Students who want to become engaged with the community can enroll in service learning classes, which connect community projects with the course curriculum; volunteer at local organizations, or participate in civic engagement activities such as voter registration days.

This past year, the college partnered with 17 nonprofits (PDF) throughout the Merrimack Valley.

One of those organizations was Mitch’s Place, a homeless shelter in Haverhill, affiliated with Emmaus House. Professor Jennifer Jackson-Stevens’ respiratory care students offered COPD screenings, smoking cessation workshops, and information on lung health awareness, and Professor Cheryl Charest’s medical assisting students bought, cooked, and served a meal for residents, followed by a blood pressure clinic after dinner.

To learn how the college can partner with your nonprofit, contact Janel D’Agata-Lynch, the college’s civic engagement and service learning coordinator, jdagatalynch@necc.mass.edu or 978 738-7530.