Innovations in
Teaching, Learning & Leading
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Welcome back! We are so excited to start the new academic year and welcome new and returning colleagues. The Center for Professional Development and The Center for Instructional Technology are here as professional resources and support for all. Please take advantage of our events and development opportunities available this fall.
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Welcome to New Assistant Director of Professional Development |
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Welcome to our new Assistant Director of Professional Development, Lorena Constant. Lorena is dedicated to the growth of our faculty and staff, talent development as well as creating spaces for our community to feel valued, seen and supported. Lorena started with NECC in the fall of 2015 as an Academic Success and Career Coach, focusing on student retention and success and has participated in various leadership opportunities, including Community Inroads Cultural Inclusion Program for Nonprofit Boards, NELDI Chair Academy and NECC’s Leadership Academy. Her leadership project led her to create an employee resource group for Latina/o/x Faculty and Staff.
Lorena holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from UMass Amherst and a Master of Education in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Merrimack College. A proud “Lawrence kid”, immigrant from the Dominican Republic and first-generation student, Lorena is passionate about education, access and success and serving her community. She enjoys reading, writing, board games, family time and binge watching her favorite shows.
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Join your colleagues for coffee (or tea) and connection in the Center for Professional Development in Haverhill, C204 and Lawrence, L131! Dean Marcy Yeager and our new Assistant Director of Professional Development, Lorena Constant, look forward to connecting! Drop in for a few minutes to say hello!
Mon. September 19 10-11am, Lawrence L131 | Weds. September 21 10-11am, Haverhill C204
Mon. October 24 10-11am, Lawrence L131 | Weds. October 26 10-11am, Haverhill C204
Mon. November 14 10-11am, Lawrence L131 | Weds. November 16 10-11am, Haverhill C204
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Transparency in Teaching and Learning (TiLT) |
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Facilitated by Trish Schade and Elle Yarborough, join us for the Transparency in Learning and Teaching Project (TiLT) workshop series. The workshop has three sessions, each of which is carefully designed to help you help students understand the goals and rationale for each assignment, to create assignments that reduce inequities through transparency, and to develop meaningful course activities that assist students at difficult transition points.
TiLT 1.0--Tuesday afternoons, 2pm-4pm both virtually and in person in C204
Sept 27th, Oct 11th and Oct 25th
TiLT 2.0--Tuesday afternoons, 2pm-4pm virtually
Nov 8th, Nov 15th and Nov 29th
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Faculty Fellows are available to support our adjunct and full-time faculty! |
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Maurisa Charest
Adjunct Faculty Fellow
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Maurisa (Reese) has been living in Massachusetts since 2012. She continues a fulfilling career of almost 20 years in Higher Ed. She has an AA, BA and MA in Theatre. She has created theatre programs for local dance schools and community theatres. At NECC, she has had the pleasure to teach so many outstanding students, including those in Early College. Maurisa has completed: Teaching and Learning Academy 2018, Certified in Mental Health First Aid USA, Study Abroad Program teaching Public Speaking in Greece 2019, iTeach Training 2020, Leadership Academy 2021 and currently excited to continue her journey as an Adjunct Faculty Fellow. Aside from teaching, she acts, directs, and writes plays.
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Kristen Sparrow
Faculty Fellow
Kristen Sparrow is an Assistant Professor in the department of Computer Information Sciences. She taught as an adjunct at the college for 18 years before being hired as fulltime faculty member in 2018. Beginning 2019 she worked with the Accessible Media team at the college to provide professional development opportunities for faculty on the use of Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, and Kaltura Video software, as means to create accessible course materials. Kristen is an advocate for Universal Design for Learning and was a co-presenter of “The Approachable Syllabus: Lessons in Universal Design for Learning & Beyond “(Acevedo / Sparrow) at the 2021 NERCOMP conference. Kristen was a 2020 NISOD recipient and has received a COD (Course of Distinction) Award from Massachusetts Colleges Online for her hybrid/online course, Introduction to Computer Science. In her free time Kristen enjoys running, gardening, knitting, and spending time with her family.
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Upcoming Fall Activities: Drop in hours in C204, Round Table Discussions in October and November, Scavenger Hunts, Trivia Meetups, PowerPoint Roulette, Art Contests and more!
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New Faculty Orientation Facilitator |
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Patricia Portanova- Trish supports the Center of Professional Development by facilitating New Faculty Orientation. She serves as a resource to faculty, introducing them to college procedures and support services; program coordination; syllabus, assignment, and assessment design, outcome mapping, and other pedagogical strategies. Trish is a Professor of English at NECC where she teaches writing and communications. She has fifteen years of college-level teaching experience and continues to produce scholarship in the field of rhetoric and composition. She has served as Coordinator of the Liberal Arts: Writing Option, Coordinator of the Liberal Arts Program, Faculty Leader of the Liberal Arts Center, on The Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Executive Committees, as well as many other roles at the college. Trish also serves as facilitator of a bi-weekly Faculty Support Group. She is grateful for the opportunity to work with, and support, fellow faculty.
New Faculty Orientations will take place every Monday 2pm-4pm in C204. Please contact Trish Portanova at pportanova@necc.mass.edu for more information.
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New Employee Orientation (NEO) and Mini NEOs |
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New Employee Orientation will take place on Thursday September 22, 2022 9am-1pm in C204.
One-on-one or small group mini orientations will take place Thursday 10/20, Thursday 11/17 and Thursday 12/15 12:30pm-1:30pm in C204.
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Leadership Academy Connections |
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"Leadership Academy builds community within NECC and also with the larger community." -Pamela Hallock
Two of our 2019 Leadership Academy Graduates are using their talents for fun, connection and worthy causes! On September 17, Pamela Hallock and Sharon Schoolcraft will be performing with their band at the Plumfest Music Festival in Newburyport, MA. Plumfest supports the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Merrimack Valley and the Merrimack River Watershed Council.
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Hot Topics with President Lane Glenn |
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Save the dates for our next Hot Topics –details to follow! It is a great opportunity to have a conversation with colleagues and connect.
Wednesday October 19 - C204
12:30pm-1:30pm
Wednesday November 30 in - L244
12:30pm-1:30pm
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Pause - Reflect - Connect |
9/12, 10/3, 10/31, 11/14, 12/5 in L131
9/15, 10/6, 10/27, 11/10, 12/8 in C204
12:30pm-1pm
Writing is a powerful tool to add to your self-care practice. It’s also a great way to build community. Join us for this writing group where we will get creative and connect! We will provide the writing prompt but welcome anyone to lead the prompt of the day. No experience necessary!
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A New Model for NEFDC Conferences – Keeping with the Times
The Fall conference is planned to be in person again, and the theme of the conference will be extended through the year with three virtual workshops in the spring. We hope this will enable more members to attend, while allowing us to explore the conference theme in more depth.
2022 – 2023 Conference and Workshop Dates
Fall Conference 2022:
Friday, October 21, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM | College of the Holy Cross
Spring Brown Bag Workshops 2023:
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM on January 13, March 3, and May 23 | Virtual
Theme for the Year: Authentic Learning
Authentic learning is a pedagogical approach that allows students to explore, discuss, and meaningfully construct concepts and relationships in contexts that involve real-world problems and projects that are relevant to the learner (Donovan, Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999). The true power of authentic learning is the ability to actively involve students and touch their intrinsic motivation (Mehlinger, 1995).
Authentic learning opportunities often take place in the form of what the AAC&U terms “high impact practices. These practices are based on evidence of significant educational benefits for students who participate in them – including and especially those from demographic groups historically underserved by higher education. They take many different forms, depending on learner characteristics and on institutional priorities and contexts. Some examples would be: Experiential learning, Project based learning / Problem based learning, ePortfolios, Service Learning / Civic Engagement / Community engaged learning, and Student Research.
Fall Conference Keynote Speaker
Dr. José Antonio Bowen, author of Teaching Change: How to Develop Independent Thinkers Using Relationships, Resilience, and Reflection and Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology out of Your College Classroom will Improve Student Learning. He is also the 2018 recipient of the Ernest L Boyer Award (for significant contributions to American higher education) from the New American Colleges and Universities (NAC&U); and is a Senior Fellow at AAC&U.
Lorena Constant will register you for the conference via this form. REGISTER
Please do not register directly with NEFDC.
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NECC employees have access to the vast professional development offerings from NERCOMP! They offer many virtual sessions that are free of cost to NECC employees and few are half the registration fee.
NERCOMP is a non-profit consortium serving higher education library and IT professionals since 1956. An Association Partner of EDUCAUSE, composed of nearly 300 colleges and universities, NERCOMP is run by a Board of Trustees elected from among member institutions.
NERCOMP cultivates communities of practice around information and technology, promotes strategic partnerships, and advances innovation & leadership in educational institutions across the Northeastern United States.
September offerings include:
- Transform Teaching and Learning with Microsoft Teams for Education – Webinar
- Building Augmented Reality Apps - Webinar - presented by Apple
- Introduction to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) - Webinar - presented by Copper Beech Institute
- Getting Started with Cloud Data Strategy on AWS – Workshop
Questions about NERCOMP? Please contact Melba Acevedo, Director, Instructional Technology & Online Education, at macevedo@necc.mass.edu.
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The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) and the Center for Professional Development (CPD) are offering a series of workshops during the fall semester.
These workshops will focus on strategies and teaching practices for improving student engagement and retention in your online and traditional classes.
All full-time and DCE faculty members will receive stipends for time spent on workshops. This includes attending the workshop, providing feedback by filling out a feedback form, and may include - reviewing pre-workshop materials, and scheduling a coaching session with CIT (if necessary) to implement the principles and practices discussed during the workshops.
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Check out LinkedIn Learning |
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Use LinkedIn Learning to access 17,000+ videos in a clean and simple interface that can be viewed on a laptop or phone—personalized, data-driven recommendations for relevant and applicable learning where you and your students can earn badges to display in a LinkedIn profile.
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Northeast Regional Collaborative |
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Faculty Workshop Offerings Through Northeast Regional Collaborative
NECC faculty are invited to take part in a series of virtual workshops offered through the Northeast Regional Collaborative - which includes Northern Essex, North Shore, and Middlesex community colleges, and Salem State University.
The workshops are on a variety of topics related to integrating technology into the teaching learning environment, online and hybrid design and teaching best practices, as well as the features of Blackboard Learn.
If you are interested, please check out the offerings:
North Shore Community College: Workshop Series
Salem State University: Workshop series
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Save the date for Assessment Day! Be sure to mark your calendar for October 28th from 8:30am – 4pm. Assessment Day will be in person on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses. A full agenda and invitation will follow.
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Student Life Opportunities |
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Become an advisor!
Student Life is seeking advisors for multiple student clubs this fall. Clubs are a great way for students to find people who share their passion and fill their life with purpose. Advising a student group is a great way to grow professionally and connect with students outside your role at the college. If you are a faculty or staff member at NECC who has an interest in becoming an advisor of a student involvement group (club, organization, interest group) please fill out this form. We currently are looking for an advisor for Community Outreach Group, Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Cheerleading, and Knitting Club.
Sign Up for a Student Life Class Visit
If you are interested in a member of the Student Life team visiting your class to talk to your students about how to get involved outside the classroom and make the most of their NECC experience please fill out this form. For more info email Stephanie Haskell at shaskell@necc.mass.edu.
Monday, 10/31 Campus Wide Trick Or Treat & Halloween Festivities
3:00pm – 6:00pm | Haverhill Campus & the Lawrence Campus
The Office of Student Life and SOAR team are partnering up for this campus wide Halloween event. NECC students, staff, faculty, and their families are encouraged to join us for Halloween Trick-or-Treating on campus. Trick or Treat at the offices on the Haverhill and Lawrence Campus 3:00 PM through 6:00 PM on Monday, October 31, 2022. Pick up a Trick or Treat bag at the designated table on either campus and a map that will help you navigate the offices that are passing out Halloween goodies. Look for the orange flyers around campus for participating offices and check out their decorations! We are seeking offices to serve as a host for Trick Or Treating, sign up HERE.
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Additional CPD Offerings this Fall |
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Co-Work Days
Alone in the office? Bring your laptop and come work with us in C204!
10/28 and 11/18 - 9am-4:30pm
12/1 Women’s Conference Streaming 9am-4:30pm
Critical Conversations with Jessica Rocker 10/13 12:30pm-1:30pm in L244
10/12 12:30pm-1:30pm and 11/9 11am-12pm in C204
What’s Next? Professional Mapping 11/2 12pm-1pm in C204
An interactive session where we will do some mapping of what our professional future and re-engagement after COVID looks like.
2023 Vision Boards 12/14 12pm-1pm in C204
Time to envision your future! Create a collage or a vision board for the upcoming year.
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Farewell from Sharon McManus |
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Dear NECC Colleagues,
When I started at NECC in August of 2014, I felt like I had returned “home”. Born and raised in Lawrence, my connection to our community ran deep.
What amazed me each day was the deep commitment each of you has to making a difference in students’ lives. Having the opportunity to serve this mission together has been a gift.
As I retire, I look forward to traveling with family and friends and enjoying the golf courses and beaches of Cape Cod.
I welcome connecting on LinkedIn so we may stay in touch. Keep using your strengths every day!
Appreciatively,
Sharon McManus
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Employee Assistance Program |
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Full-time, benefited employees can call 1-844-263-1982 any time (24/7) or visit liveandworkwell.com, which provides mental health, self-care, care providers and other references. Use access code mass4you. For TTY Support for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, please contact: 711-1-844-263-1983.
Part-time, non-benefited employees can call AllOneHealth at 1-800-451-1834 any time (24/7).
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We welcome requests for sign language interpreting and other access requests.
Please contact the event host for more information or
if you run into difficulties accessing any of these resources.
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