Tag Archives: Student life

Campus Life, Lawrence

Winterfest

 

With the accumulation of snow at the Lawrence campus over this semester, a lot of events had to be cancelled along with the school days, Winterfest being one of them.

Winterfest went on without a hitch on the Haverhill campus, but on the day that it was suppose to take place on the Lawrence campus, NECC and New England were walloped with one of many snow storms this year. The Student Engagement Center, along with the Student Senate, wanted the event to still take place, so they worked together to get the day rescheduled.

Ari Chicklis, program assistant, said, “I wanted the event to happen, I like the student engagement. I like how it brings people together therefore it needed to happen.”

At the event, just like in Haverhill, they had a nacho bar and a hot chocolate bar.
There were lots of games to play where students could win prizes and just have a good time and get to know other students. They also had name art, where artists would paint their names using paint and shapes as opposed to directly just painting a letter.

Rebecca Tienhaara, a high school student who is dually enrolled here at NECC, said, “Its awesome there is a bunch of food and games. Plus I get to talk to a few new friends.”

Tienharra said, “I love Winterfest. It is an awesome and free spirited event.”
One of the popular events at the Lawrence Winterfest was the Wii system set up to play winter games.

Joe Torres, a nursing student who also works in the gym at the Sports and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus really enjoys helping out.
Torres said, “I really enjoy promoting fitness and exercise. I believe in trying to help everyone stay healthy.”

News

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Accommodations at NECC

 

Editor’s note: corrections have been applied to original print story.

Accessibility is important in education to guarantee all students have equal opportunities to learn. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services at NECC strives to do just that — ensure that all students are comfortable and have what they need to succeed.

Deb McKinney is the manager for deaf and hard of hearing services at NECC.

“[We provide] communications access for deaf and hard of hearing students and staff [and faculty],” she signed.

The department works to provide interpreters for “classes, meetings, activities, student center, faculty one on one with students, for tutoring, supplemental instruction — basically all services.”

The department also works with Learning Accommodations, Enrollment Services and CPAC to make sure there’s smooth transitions and helps set up note takers for deaf students and extended testing times if they need it.

“It’s hard to take notes and watch the interpreter at the same time,” signed McKinney.

One type of communication accommodation the program provides, along with interpreters, is CART or Communication Access Realtime Translation. CART allows for all dialogue at events to be typed so that deaf and hard of hearing attendees can know what is being said at the event.

“[We] provided CART for the first time at graduation services [last] year,” signed McKinney.

“Most things are very positive,” signed McKinney. “I’m in my seventh year — there’s more faculty awareness, accessibility.”

NECC also has a class to teach English to deaf and hard of hearing students.

A separate department, Learning Accommodations, also works to provide other types of communication accommodation, including JAWS, or Job Access with Speech, which is a program that allows students with vision loss or blind students to “listen to descriptions about the environment and use it to visually hear what’s going on.”

An area of improvement for NECC would be providing more closed captioning — there’s not enough throughout the campus.

Closed captioning allows for deaf and hard of hearing students to read the audio in a video, and it needs to be made more widely available in classes, class activities, and even more showing small video at events like convocation.

“Communication access as a whole is pretty good,” signed McKinney. “It’s nice here — it’s a community college … there’s support, but it takes a while to educate people. For a small community, there’s a lot of people.”

Deb McKinney is on several committees at NECC working for accommodations and access including the ADA Access Committee, Access media committee, Diversity and Cultural Committee, Academic Goal Team 3 and the Student Advisory Committee.

Dena Riccio-Enis is in charge of interpreting and communication access services. She makes sure interpreters are available and she assigns and schedules them.

Riccio-Enis compiles information on how to work with interpreters for faculty, staff and students, “information on how to work with interpreters, especially in a college environment.”

“Along with that packet, I email faculty and let them know they’re going to have a learning accommodation student,” said Riccio-Enis.

There are 10 to 15 freelance interpreters contracted per semester at NECC, depending on the semester.

Another program that focus on deaf services at NECC include Gallaudet University Regional Center (GURC) which states on their website that “Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English.”

GURC also strives to educate parents of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Riccio-Enis and McKinney also ensure that deaf and hard of hearing students can get communications access for community events and clubs on campus.

“We automatically get interpreters for all college assemblies, presidents meetings, convocation, graduation, awards night and professional development days,” signed McKinney.

If a club is hosting a meeting or event, they are required to post a communication accommodation notice on the bottom of their fliers. If a deaf or hard of hearing students contacts the host of the event, it is the host’s responsibility to ensure there is an interpreter present at the meeting.

The link to request interpreting sevices can be found at bit.ly/1vsVEUU by clicking the logo displayed.

(necc.mass.edu/academics/support-services/learning-accommodations/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-services/interpreting-services/ )

The communication accommodations department also does awareness training and presentations, and workshops on deaf culture and communication access.

For more information, contact Deb McKinney at dmckinney@necc.mass.edu, or Dena Riccio-Enis at driccioenis@necc.mass.edu

Uncategorized

The Benefits of Community College

 

By Matthew Couture

Deciding where to go for a college education can often be a very long and tough process. Yet at the same time, the decision may be very simple if everyone thinks it through.

There are many benefits to going to a community college, and the first obvious one is the tuition of classes. Community college tuition and fees are lower than those of 4-year colleges and universities.

NECC Student Shaun Connors expressed his opinion on this when he said, “I personally decided to attend Northern Essex because of the tuition cost. I just couldn’t imagine paying upwards of $20,000 per year for four straight years to get an education just to graduate and be burdened with the debt from student loans.”

Community colleges allow students to feel more comfortable with how much money they are dishing out for school, and they love the idea of being able to cut their debt in half after earning their bachelor’s degree or having no debt and an associate’s.

On top of just the tuition of community colleges, there are many other benefits to attending a community college rather than a 4-year college or university.

NECC Professor Amy Callahan pointed out a benefit that most students likely don’t realize when deciding their higher education. Callahan said, “An even greater benefit I believe is the quality of the teaching at a community college, because here the emphasis is on teaching. Whereas if you go to a 4-year college or university, the emphasis there is more on their research and not as much on the teaching itself.”

Community college faculty focuses on teaching and providing personal attention to students. Unlike most university faculty, they are not required to spend time away from the classroom to conduct research.

In addition, students attending a community college are able to gain a real world perspective or experience from faculty members who usually have practical work experience in the subjects they teach.

In addition, when someone thinks of community college, another thought is convenience. Many community colleges, including NECC, have multiple campuses.

That was a huge plus for NECC student Eddie Hoar as he expressed his comforts that NECC is close to his own house and that it allows him to have a flexible schedule.

Connors said, “going to NECC allows me to give myself the schedule I want and need.”

All of these advantages are the main reasons why students go to community colleges like NECC. These 2-year schools give students options that almost everyone can handle and use to help them gain the knowledge necessary to be successful in life.

Campus Life, Opinion

Campus Cafe

 

By Jimmy Richards

Last year, NECC decided to remodel their cafe located in the Student Center, but many students are unaware of what it even has to offer. A majority of students said they didn’t even know where the cafe was located.

Kelsey Brown, a student attending for her first time at NECC said, “Well, I knew there was a cafe in the c building, but I had no idea about the remodeled cafe because no one ever told me about it.”

Many students are saying the same thing because they don’t know what’s going on around campus.

Jared Richard, a new student attending NECC said, “I knew about the cafe, but it’s just too far away for me to get there in between classes. I mean it’s nice, but who wants to hike there. All my classes are ten minutes apart, and it just leaves no time for me to get there.”

Richard also added, “Many students are busy learning in the C and B buildings which means access to the cafe is limited.”

Another student had suggested a different idea that may in fact help out the campus cafe.

Eric Perez, a two-year student attending NECC said, “Honestly, I feel like they should put better food in there. But as the people who work there, they are very nice, very polite and will help with everything. I just feel like there should be healthy things in there, and they should take the time to lower down the price because they are making a profit out of that.”

Perez also gave another valid point about the remodeled cafe.

Perez said, “I feel like there should be more guidance towards the cash register because everything is cramped together.”

Perez also said that the campus cafe is “hidden.”

Campus Life

A Semester to Remember

 

By Alex Dehullu

For the past month, Massachusetts has been getting snowstorm after snowstorm, bringing more snow than anyone in the area is accustomed to. It seems hard to believe that the snow is finally slowing down and things are beginning to return to normal.

For each of the blizzards NECC was left with no option but to cancel classes for one or two days. Students were excited to receive the text alert from NECC, giving them more and more days off.

Now that the snow is clearing and classes are returning to their normal schedules, students along with professors need to find a way to make up for lost time.
Every class has a required amount of lecture hours and the several class hours missed from the snow is causing a lot of confusion and stress for both students and teachers.

One NECC student, Patrick Murphy, said, “I know for a fact one of my friends professors has already added ten to fifteen minutes to all future classes in order to make up for all those missed classes, and that makes me wonder what I should expect from my professors.”

Some NECC professors have already decided how they are planning on making up the lost lecture hours, but there are some that have either not decided or not informed their students on what they plan to do.

Brian Adamopoulos, a full time NECC student, said, “I noticed very quickly how my professors began to speed up their lesson plans after the snow and the extra work is stressing me out. The snow really disrupted this semester and I’m really hoping it doesn’t harm my grades.”

To some, it may seem unfair for teachers to go through information at a faster pace in order to catch up to where they were supposed to be, but at this point professors are not left with many options.

Other professors decided to continue teaching at the same pace and push back future tests and quizzes.

Mario Encarnacion, a student at NECC, discussed in an interview earlier this week how his microeconomics professor was one of the professors who decided it was best to continue the semester at the pace as before the blizzards. His professor has pushed the first test back over a week to ensure the students had time to prepare.
Encarnacion said, “It was really a relief to find out that the test had been moved back. I’m still not sure what my professor is planning on doing to make up those missed classes, though.”

Even though these blizzards have finally taken a break, it’s clear that the professors along with the students have a lot of work ahead of them before the end of this spring semester.

Opinion

Day vs. Night Classes

 

By Kyle Benson

NECC does not only offer classes during the daytime — they also offer classes later at night for people whose schedules do not fit school during the day.

“I like night classes because I have to work in the day now, but I do miss my buds from when I was going to classes during the day,” said Matt Faia.

Faia, a former day school student, finds that students in his classes with full time jobs agree with him.

Classmate Greg Komornick said, “It really is helpful for me in my life right now. Things get hectic during the day, so I have to come at night.”

Night classes offer some of the same classes as during the day.

“I see a lot of the same classes going on here at night that were going on during the day a few semesters ago,” Faia said. “It has the same feel minus the social aspect.”

Students can sign up for night classes the same as they do for the day. In most cases, there are less days students have to come to school but with longer classes.

“The longer classes are worth it,” said Faia. “I’m definitely on the right track to getting my degree.”​

Campus Life

S.C.I.E.N.C.E Club

 

By Justin Merced

The S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club, pronounced “science,” will soon be open to students interested in science related activities such as in ecology and conservation, microscopy, necropsy, taxidermy and many different outdoor activities.

The S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club had its first unofficial meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 17 and plans to begin holding official meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 12:30 in room E365 on the Haverhill campus. All students are eligible to join.

There are hundreds of students enrolled as science majors at NECC, but there hasn’t been a special interest group in the sciences at NECC for several years. Mary Everett, founder and president of the S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club and a biology and writing major at NECC, took note of this issue and decided to create a club for those interested in doing practical, but fun research.

“The Science Club will be based on student interest,” said Everett, also relating that it is intended to be a place where like-minded students can get together. “The club’s goal is to get people excited about science,” said Everett. “[And] give people the ability to do things they would otherwise not be able to do.”

The things Everett was referring to are the goals and activities she has planned for the S.C.I.E.N.C.E Club, which include salamander catching, water quality testing, taxidermy (on already deceased animals), necropsies on animals to gauge the impact of humans on the ecosystem, hiking and camping.

“There isn’t any one activity I’m most excited about,” said Everett.

Daniel Roache, S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club vice president and biology major, however, has a more centralized view on what he plans to get out of club activities.

“I’m looking forward to doing taxidermy and dissections, but I’m more looking forward to having scientific discussions,” said Roache. Roache also said the S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club will give him a chance to “stay up-to-date” with his knowledge and understanding of the sciences while taking elective courses at NECC, which may be considered a serious issue among science transfer students.

Roache will not be returning to NECC in the fall, but said he plans to “expand the club to ensure its survival.” Everett, who will also not be returning to NECC in the fall, also plans for a great expansion.

Everett intends to become a full-time student at the UMass Lowell beginning in the fall of 2015 but hopes to create a “bridge” program or network between UMass Lowell’s science program and NECC in order to fashion more effective experiences for future S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club members. Everett also said she intends to eventually involve the S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club in eco-based nonprofits in the New England area.
Sarah Courchesne, who is one of two S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club advisers, a professor of chemistry and biology at NECC, and also Mary Everett’s older sister has similar goals in regards to student and club success.

Courchesne intends to strengthen the club by providing lasting support for students, although she’d like it to mostly remain “student driven.” In regards to student success, Courchesne, who is also a doctor of veterinary medicine, said she’d like to use her connections from within the scientific research field to “get students into the science world,” meaning she’d like to assist them in reaching their career goals if interested in a profession in the sciences.

Courchesne also has a strong focus on outdoor activities, and said she is “excited to see where this leads.”

In addition, when asked about what each letter in the name “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” stands for, Everett simply stated one would simply have to join to find out.

For more information, you can contact S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Club president Mary Everett at Mary_Everett@student.uml.edu, advisor Sarah Courchesne at Scourchesne@necc.mass.edu, or advisor Mark Clements at Mclements@necc.mass.edu.

News

Student Loan Debt

 

By Emma Bogan

The issue of student loan debt has been at the forefront of the national conversation. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has spoken extensively about tackling student loan debt.

Last Friday, Feb. 20, Warren addressed students at UMass Dartmouth, speaking about her own humble beginnings and the need for more forgiveness within the student loan system. President Obama recently proposed a plan that would make community college free for two years to qualifying students.

Haverhill resident and graduate of UMass Lowell, Robert David, said that when he graduated in 2012, his student loan debt was “somewhere in the neighborhood of $27,000.”

As of 2015, he still owes around $24,000.

“And this is after being employed since nearly day one of graduation,” said David.
For those who cannot find a job immediately, paying off student loan debt will be much more difficult.

Community colleges like NECC have always been a more frugal option for students seeking higher education.

President Obama’s proposed plan to make two years of community college free would make community colleges even more accessible to a wider population of people. This proposal, says David, “has potential, though I suppose that would depend on the quality of education you can get in your area. I know Northern Essex is a great school, but if you don’t have strong community colleges in your area it may not be as helpful.”

NECC alumni Michael Nutter received his bachelor’s degree without accruing any debt, though he said that he had a great deal of help in this achievement. Through a combination of help from his parents, a discount due to his parents’ jobs within the Mass higher education system and his own payments into a savings account that “had been set up ages ago,” he was able to pay his way through NECC and, through NECC’s partnership with the school, UMass Lowell, without any kind of federal financial aid. However, Nutter intends to go to law school within the next four to six months and is aware that he is likely to accumulate a great deal of debt obtaining his law degree.

“I think the biggest thing to really note … is that student loans are clearly taking a toll on economic development,” said David.

David’s monthly payments are $300 to $400, which he points out is money that is doing nothing to boost the overall economy. Any contributions he could have made to the economy with that monthly payment are instead spent repaying his loans.

“And that’s from a state school,” David said. “Paying back a loan from a more expensive school would be an even larger hindrance.”

News

Alzheimer’s Angels

 

NECC student Robert Scarelli and his sister Casey are on a mission to fight Alzheimer’s. He founded a facebook page and twitter dedicated to “Alzheimer’s Angels,” a fundraiser similar to the ALS ice bucket challenge.

“We came up with the idea that differentiates us from the ice bucket challenge where it’s like more of a summer thing,” said Scarelli.

The Alzheimer’s Angels facebook page, located at facebook.com/alzheimersangels, says, “simply get outside take a picture or video of you making a snow angel and nominate five friends. If you do it we ask you donate $10 and if not $100! Have fun.”

“Participants in Alzheimer’s Angels make snow or sand angels when tagged,” said Scarelli. “We started doing the angels in the snow, but we think we can do it all year round because they can do it in the beach, in the sand and stuff. We’ve gotten people from California that we know who are doing the beach.”

“Me and my sister came up with this idea for Alzheimer’s because our grandmother currently has Alzheimer’s,” said Scarelli. We started seeing signs when she was 58 years old. And at the age of 60, when she was diagnosed, and now she’s 64, she needs around-the-clock care, so we started up this facebook page, which has got 336 likes over three weeks … and we started it up as awareness for Alzheimer’s to try to raise money for a cure.”

Links to donate can be found on the facebook page, as well as the twitter @angelsforalz

Lawrence

NECC Nursing Program

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Students are gathered around a simulation of a mannequin giving birth.
Students watch a simulated birth in El Hefni | NECC Observer

The Lawrence campus at NECC has rapidly transformed in the last year for the nursing program, along with the Lawrence campus in general. From renovations around campus, to better places to eat in the urban surroundings and an overall feeling of positive change, Lawrence is a great place to be for NECC students.

For nursing students, the program at NECC offers both a general curriculum and nursing courses. It is set up for 2 years, however, it is a very intense curriculum so it is recommended by some nursing program educators to take longer than that to complete the program. There are a multitude of options for nursing students, and to become a nurse. NECC has a licensed practical nurse (LPN) course, which takes forty weeks. The program trains nurses to be at work at the bedside, in long-term care or community settings such as visiting nursing.

Jill Becker, who has been a nurse for over 40 years and educator for the nursing program for 13 years, has seen countless students come through the nursing program with success.

“One of the things I tell my students all the time is that my prize in the end is watching them graduate. I’ll have students who come up to me and ask how I’m doing and still remember being in my class and things like that, and that is always great. I especially care about those students who may have had a little bit more difficult, and that I worked hard with to see them graduate, but to me it’s just being able to communicate with students in this way, and I like the fact that we have a small program and small classes. There’s 30 students in our nursing 1 and 2 cohort, there’s 36 in the nursing 3 and 4 cohort and we have 18 students in the LPN to RN evening program. You get to know them really well,” said Becker.

The associate’s degree program for nursing at NECC is designed to be done in 2 years. It is a very intense program with the goal being to train an entry level nurse. Jobs for an entry level nurse also include long term care, but can also be in community settings. If a student has the dream of working in a hospital, most hospitals in today’s job climate are looking for nurses with a bachelor’s degree, so NECC can help students pursue that by transferring.
“A nurse who has an associate’s degree can continue on and transfer to a four year college and finish the credits to get a bachelor’s degree. Our students are coming in and taking those shorter steps, and we encourage everybody to go forward,” said Becker.

Although LPNs do not have the same level of responsibility as a registered nurse, NECC is a great stepping stone for nurses to start off at to become a registered nurse (RN) which has higher paying jobs.
“For some students, doing the practical nurse route is a good way to get started because within a year once you’ve finished the nursing part of it, you can be out working.”

The Lawrence campus is the primary location for the nursing program. The unfortunate stigma that is often associated with Lawrence has been rapidly changing along with innovative technology around both the city and the college.
“We are starting to see Lawrence pick up, there’s more people around, I like it and I’m happy being here. They’re about to get a new police department, the options are endless,” said Becker.
The college presence not only have been improving, but it has in some ways influenced the surrounding areas in a more positive way.

“I think the things that make Lawrence an exciting place, is that it’s much more of an urban environment. You do have to move around a bit to different buildings and there is a bit of a walk but I think that’s nice. What I think is really exciting is that Lawrence is undergoing a great change and I like being at Northern Essex to be a part of the change.”

Many of the classes are found in the El Hefni, which was completely redone a year ago, and the Dimitry building, which has also gone under renovations.

“The neat thing about this building is that they created a very modern type of health education program. We have really neat classrooms. We have labs with multiple bays and a simulation suite that is supposed to simulate a hospital,” said Becker.

The simulation wing of the El Hefni is incredible. They have mannequins that can blink their eyes, talk and have functions for students to practice medical procedures on. Professors are even able to watch students take care of a patient on camera and speak to them with a microphone through the mannequin to instruct.
There is a simulated apartment, trauma unit, ambulance and doctor’s office which last year students got the opportunity to help with flu shots and a simulated birthing area with a pregnant mannequin. It is an innovative technique to train young nurses and learn their trade in a real-life setting.

Students interested in the nursing program should contact their advisors, or pay a visit to the Lawrence campus.