Bulletin for September 22, 2021

 

NSCC students, faculty, and staff must be
fully vaccinated by January 2022

All employees and any students studying or coming to campus must be fully vaccinated by January 2022 President William Heineman announced on September 20.

The decision was made unanimously by the Presidents of all the state’s 15 community colleges.

“During the last eighteen months, the Massachusetts Community Colleges have prioritized the health and safety of our communities while also recognizing that many of our students have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While a significant number of students, faculty, and staff are already vaccinated or are in the process of becoming vaccinated, the fifteen colleges are seeking to increase the health and safety of the learning and working environment in light of the ongoing public health concerns and current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” it was noted in a joint statement.

Students who seek to register for courses that do not include any in-person component, and who do not plan to come on campus for any reason for the Spring 2022 semester, will not be required to provide documentation of vaccination.

The announcement comes amid a rise in the number of new cases of COVID-19 across the Commonwealth, the increased access and availability of vaccines, the Food & Drug Administration’s full and pending approval of available vaccines, and CDC guidance that the COVID-19 vaccine has been proven to be extremely safe and highly effective at preventing infection, severe disease, hospitalization, and death, the requirement is aimed at ensuring the safest learning and working environment possible for the more than 135,000 students served by the community colleges each year.

“The Massachusetts Community Colleges are committed to ensuring vaccination status is not a barrier to students and will continue offering a range of virtual learning opportunities and services,” Heineman said.

 

 

 

 

46th Forum On Tolerance
Virtual Event from October 18th-22nd, 2021

What does Asian American mean? Identities, Struggles, & Contributions

The need for this forum was spurred by the devastating 149 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in American cities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are also aware that such sentiments that exclude, stereotype, and target Asian-Americans have existed well before the recent pandemic.   What we hope to achieve with this forum is to share a variety of unique human stories that explore the many Identities, Struggles, & Contributions of Asian-Americans. We hope that all participants will also share their unique answers to the question, “What does Asian-American mean?”

Speakers include: Dr. Paul Watanabe, keynote; Dr. Ben Railton; Dr. Li Li; author Aimee Liu

To see the entire schedule of events, session topics and to register for sessions, click here. 

 

 

 

My First Months at NSCC and a Recommitment

--Nikki Pelonia, Chief Diversity & Equity Officer

 

 

 

 

 

President’s Cabinet Overview, September 15, 2021

First Week of Classes Check In: All reported that so far the first week of classes was running smoothly. The mask mandate is being followed for the most part, open study spaces are being utilized by small groups of students seemingly before and after classes, and there have been no new student Covid cases reported.

Enrollment Results: Fall freeze numbers were reviewed. Unduplicated headcount is at 4,573 (-210 students), down 4.4% from Fall 2020.  Full time students declined by 12%, toto 1,460 (-199 students); part time students are about even at 3,113 (-11 students, -0.4%).  Males and females are about the same, 1,592 and 2,929 respectively (34.8% and 64% of total enrollment).  52 students (1.1%) did not identify. Minority students remained stable at 2,220 (+2, 0.1% increase) from last year and represent 48.5% of total enrollment.  Hispanic/Latinx students, 1,315, are up 2.6% from last fall (+33 students).  They account for 59% of minority students and 28.7% of total enrollment. Credits are 39,821.1 (-2,330.3 credits), down 5.5% from last year.  Black students (411) declined 5.3% from last fall (-23 students).  White students are down 7.1% (-170 students). Credits totaled 39,821.1, down 5.5% from Fall 2020 (-2,330.3 credits).  FTE is at 2,654.74.  Discussion ensued as to the increase in Latinx students, with several noting that it appears the investment the college has made in ESL and adding bilingual staff is paying off.

Strategic Planning: President Heineman announced that he is forming a committee to craft a process for the development of the strategic plan. About 15 people will be invited to join the group, which will be chaired by AVP Laurie LaChapelle. He said he would like this work completed by the end of the year, with the spring spent on doing the real planning work. He envisions a draft being created over next summer to go to the state Board of Higher Education in the fall for final approval.   

SUCCESS Fund:  Bill noted that the Presidents are eager to show how the state legislature’s investment in this is paying off come the start of the budget season early next spring.

DEI Update: Inaugural Chief Diversity Officer Nikki Pelonia updated Cabinet on his initial work and approach, and outlined priorities for the immediate future. Along with continued DEI initiatives, additional AY 2021 – 2022 work will include: Racial Equity Justice Institute's (REJI) Equitable Action Planning; an Inaugural Faculty Fellow for Equity & Inclusion; Anti-racism Lifelong Learning Seminars; Race/Ethnicity Affinity Sharing & Listening Circles, and a Gender Pronoun Policy Inclusion Campaign. Major priorities and recommended systemic work includes: a recommitment to Professional Development and Lifelong Learning; Bias Resources and Response; Campus Climate Study; BIPOC employee Retention & Hiring; Affinity Groups / Employee Resource Groups; Institutionalizing Cultural Heritage and Identity Awareness Celebrations (college-wide); continued Police Reform Bill work, and Native Lands Acknowledgement work.

FY22 Budget, HEERF Update: Vice President Jan Forsstrom presented a draft balanced FY 2022 budget that will be shared with the Board of Trustees when they meet tomorrow night. The budget includes federal HEERF money that will allow for Covid-related expenses and offset any budget shortfalls.

Professional Development/Travel: We will continue to encourage professional development virtually. If necessary, in-state travel may occur.  Out-of-state travel should be a rare exception (we will adhere to any state/CDC guidelines for quarantine as needed) and will follow the established procedure for travel. 

Holiday Schedule: Similar to last year, the college will be open virtually, with employees onsite as needed by the department, the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Those wishing to take time off will need to request and get approval from their manager to use accrued leave time (personal, comp or vacation time).

Update on Chief Academic Officer (CAO) Search: The search firm of R.H. Perry has been hired to assist with this search. They will hold input sessions with various constituencies to solicit input on duties, responsibilities, goals and portfolio for the new position.  This will kick off our search process and help create a profile for the position. The search will continue on through the fall and early spring semester with the hope that a candidate will be selected and able to start by Summer 2022. 

 

 

Navigate Weekly Workshops

The Summer has proven a busy time for a lot of you! We have been watching those scores rise and those discussion posts getting juicy! The team went live with five different modules open, starting with FERPA, going through Orientation of Navigate, Academic Planning, Notes & Appointment Summaries, and ending with the Student Experience of Navigate. As of late, we have just released a new optional module that talks about student Appointments and Appointment Campaigns. Take a jab at some of the modules and join us for our weekly workshop to discuss any questions or feedback that you may have!

As we enter the start of the Fall term, you may also want to refresh or brush up on your Navigate skills. The Navigate team is here to go over any material you want to discuss!
 

Wednesday, September 22

2:00PM - 2:45PM                   Notes & Appointment Summaries // Running Reports

3:00PM - 3:45PM                   Open Session Time 

 

Wednesday, September 29

2:00PM - 2:45PM                   Academic Planning: Features, Functions, Tips & Tricks!

3:00PM - 3:45PM                   Open Session Time

Thank you for your interest in Navigate!

--John, Jake, and Scott

 

 

20 Minute Online Professional Development

The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the fall semester to bring you professional development in twenty-minute snippets.

For the week of September 20th - How Can Discussion Responses Give Narrative Shape to an Online Class?

Directions for Accessing the Link to the Presentation and Supplemental Materials

Select the URL link below to access the presentation and to print the supplemental materials. (You may also copy and paste the URL into your browser’s address bar.) Supplemental materials are available to view and print now.

https://sites.google.com/a/northshore.edu/mmm/  

New presentations go live at 10:00am each Monday morning and are only accessible through Sunday.

The series is being brought to you by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation – we would appreciate your input!

--Andrea Milligan, amilligan@northshore.edu

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START YOUR WEEK!!

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the
Equality & Equity Project

 As part of our commitment to Anti-Racism, Diversity & Inclusion, the Equality & Equity Project will provide historical and present-day information about the contributions, challenges, culture, and daily lives of the many vital groups that make up our NSCC community, and the larger world.

We invite you to visit often, reflect on what you see and read, discuss it with others and, hopefully, expand your knowledge base, appreciation, and understanding of groups beyond your own.

 

 

 

Please share with your students.

Mobile Food Markets (Danvers Campus Only)

Free farmers market-style distribution of food, fresh fruits and vegetables. Open to the entire college community.  Due to the current COVID-19 health crisis, NSCC's mobile markets will look a little different this semester.  The mobile market will only be offered on the Danvers Campus and will only be open to NSCC students, faculty and staff.  Registration will be required for each monthly market.  It will be curbside pick up and you will receive a time to pick up in your confirmation email.  

Please click the date below to complete the registration form.

Fall 2021 Semester Dates                               Spring 2022 Semester Dates

September 9, 2021**                                        February 10, 2022
October 14, 2021                                              March 10, 2022
November 18, 2021                                          April 14, 2022
                                      December 9, 2021                                           May 12, 2022           

*Please note registration will be required for each monthly market.  Be sure to sign up for the ones you would like to attend.

**Market Sign Up closed.  Please reach out to Amanda Dooling at adooling@northshore.edu for assistance.
If you need food assistance please complete the Here to Help Application.

If you are a Lynn student requiring food assistance, please complete the NSCC Here to Help Application.