After more than a year of inquiry and exploration, sharing and listening, compiling, composing, shaping, and editing, the NECC’s NEASC Self-Study draft is available for your final review and comment:

NECC NEASC LINK: necc-neasc-self-study-2010

The NEASC Self-Study Core Team welcomes your feedback on this draft. If you have questions or suggestions for improvement, please email them directly to Maggie Lucey at mlucey@necc.mass.edu by Friday, April 23.

All questions and feedback will be reviewed by the Self-Study Core Team and President Hartleb before the final version of the Self-Study is shared with the public and submitted to NEASC later this year.

Please note that because of recent updates to the college’s web site, some of the links to electronic resources in the draft may not be working. If you are unable to find a particular resource and would like assistance, please contact Maggie Lucey at x.3322 or mlucey@necc.mass.edu.

Many thanks to all of the faculty and staff who have been involved in this process since our kick-off in January 2009, particularly to the chairs of the standards committees, and the co-chairs of the Self-Study process, Judith Kamber and Jim Murphy.

What’s Next?

March 26 - April 23:       Final Draft reviewed by college community
Week of April 26 - 30:     Feedback reviewed by NEASC Self-Study Core Team
May - June:                Final Self-Study document, including data forms, prepared
May:                       Visit to college by Self-Study Site Visit Chair
June - July:               Resource Room and Electronic Resources prepared
August:                    Self-Study posted to college web site and public invited to comment
August 26:                 Self-Study sent to NEASC and Site Visit Team
September 7:               Fall Convocation - A Self-Study Celebration
October 31 - November 3:   Site Visit

A Message from President Hartleb:

We owe a big debt of gratitude to all members of the writing committees for the first rate job they did on these first drafts.   They clearly did a great deal of research and then gave careful consideration about how Northern Essex meets the Standards.  We are a relatively complex institution and it takes considerable effort to learn about us, describe and analyze us, and offer thoughts about our future.

I encourage all members of our college community to read this and offer your suggestions for improvement. You are likely to be impressed with this body of work and with all that we are doing at Northern Essex.

A Message from Judith Kamber and Jim Murphy, Co-Chairs of NECC’s NEASC Self-Study

These drafts are the product of months of researching and compiling data, conducting numerous interviews and fact finding missions, and site visits. The information gathered was then prepared in a format as required by NEASC. The drafts seek to reflect an institutional perspective and not a personal one. Each draft is a written reflection of the understanding arrived at by the various committees and their individual members. These colleagues deserve our appreciation and gratitude.

The blog provides the larger community another opportunity to participate in creating the NEASC report. You may comment on any and/or all of the chapter drafts. If you choose to leave a comment(s), please try to frame them as a question or suggestion and to do so from an institutional perspective. Comments will appear on the blog within 24-hours of the posting.

The blog will be accessible until December 1st, at which time, the drafts and the comments will be reviewed by the Core Committee and others for further revision and editing before the final report is completed.

Thank you for your efforts.

Standard 1 Mission and Purposes

Standard 2 Planning and Evaluation

Standard 3 Organization and Governance

Standard 4 The Academic Program

Standard 5 Faculty

Standard 6 Students

Standard 7 Library and Other Information Resources

Standard 8 Physical and Technological Resources

Standard 9 Financial Resources

Standard 10 Public Disclosure

Standard 11 Integrity

Standard One

Mission Statement

Description

The college’s Mission Statement has remained the same since 1992, when it was changed to align it with that of the Board of Higher Education of Massachusetts. The current statement says that the mission of Northern Essex Community College is to serve the people of the Greater Merrimack Valley as a caring and comprehensive center of educational excellence that offers high quality, affordable adult and post secondary through the Associate Degree level, as well as a broad range of occupational programs and community services which enhance the social, cultural and economic life of the region.

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Standard Two:  Planning and Evaluation

PLANNING

Description

In order to understand the planning process at the college more fully, the primary managers at the college were surveyed and interviewed. The results of those surveys and interviews are found in Exhibits 2-01 to 2-30.

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Standard Three: Organization and Governance

Description

The Board of Trustees

Northern Essex Community College is one of fifteen public community colleges in the Commonwealth, operating under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (BHE). Locally, the college is governed by the Board of Trustees (BOT), which receives its authority from the BHE, and whose members are appointed by the Governor, with the exception of one student elected annually by the student body, and one member elected by the Alumni Association. Except for the student representative, all appointments are subject to five-year terms, renewable for one additional term.  The power of the Board of Trustees is to delegate authority to the president to administer and lead the college as described in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 15A, section 22. The additional responsibilities and duties of the Board are described in the Trustees Orientation Manual distributed to each member at the annual Board of Trustees’ training retreat. Each new trustee then meets individually with the president to review the trustee’s role and responsibilities and to resolve any questions. The BOT meets monthly, occasionally alternating the venue from the Haverhill campus to that of the Lawrence campus on Franklin Street or the Louise Haffner Fournier Education Center on Amesbury Street.

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Standard Four The Academic Program

Description

Northern Essex Community College continues to offer a variety of associate degrees in science and arts, as well as a wide array of certificates, in keeping with its mission “to serve people of the Merrimack Valley as a caring and comprehensive center of educational excellence.”  The College offers fifty two programs leading to an Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree. In addition, NECC offers twenty-nine certificate programs.  Associate degree programs carry a minimum of 60 credits and follow a required or recommended sequence of courses. Certificate requirements vary by program and follow a recommended course sequence requiring from 12 to 50 credits. Courses are offered year-round. All courses meet the same standards and requirements regardless of mode of delivery.  Course offerings and descriptions are found online in the Academic Catalog.

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Standard Five Faculty

Description

In FY 2009, NECC employed 108 full-time faculty (66 female and 42 male), teaching on two campuses within its five academic divisions; five part-time day faculty; and 363 adjunct or DCE faculty (212 female and 151 male) teaching in the day, in the evening, and on the weekend. The DCE faculty numbers include day faculty who may be teaching evening or day courses under the DCE contract.  43 of the full-time faculty members have reached the rank of full professor; 14 are associate professors; 32 are assistant professors; and 19 are instructors.  The number of full-time faculty at the college has increased by 9 over the last three years-essentially an increase of 9%, since the number of full-time faculty in FY 06 was 99.  In FY 2007 there were 103 full-time faculty, and in FY 08 there were 99.  This overall increase reflects the goal of the academic area to increase the percentage of day courses taught by full-time faculty to 65%.   Currently 58%? of our day courses are taught by full time faculty, an increase of 5% over the last two years.

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DESCRIPTION

Committee Standard Six - Students

DESCRIPTION

Admissions and Assessment (6.1-6.3)

Northern Essex Community College has an open admissions policy and accepts students on a first-come, first-served basis for most programs. Some majors are criteria-based and have special admission requirements and/or limited enrollment. Admission requirements for these programs are explained in each program’s criteria packet which is given to all students who display an interest in one or more of these programs.

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Library and Information Resources

Standard Seven

Description

At Northern Essex Community College, library and information resources is a crucial component of the college’s mission of optimal academic performance and student success.

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