Commencement exercises at Northern Maine Community College Saturday, May 17 will cap off what NMCC President Timothy Crowley is calling “the most significant year in terms of activity and new developments for the campus, as well as for the students and communities served by the College” in the two decades he has worked at the institution.
Photo courtesy of Northern Maine Community CollegeNorthern Maine Community College student Scott Morgan of New Sweden works in the electrical construction and maintenance lab at NMCC in one of his last classes before graduation. Morgan will receive his degree after six years and two tours in Iraq. Morgan started taking classes in 2002 and was able to finish his freshman year. However, he was deployed with the Maine Army National Guard 152nd Field Artillery Unit before he was able to graduate. After his first tour, he took a few classes and worked in the electricial field before returning to Iraq. Morgan lives with his wife, Amanda and their two sons, Brandon, 8, and Bryce, 6.
Crowley will confer 189 associate degrees, diplomas and certificates to the 175 members of the Class of 2008 during the graduation ceremony, which will begin at 10 a.m. in the NMCC Gymnasium.
Crowley cites milestones that began just prior to the start of classes last fall when Presque Isle attorney Floyd Harding announced he would make a $1 million contribution to the College. The gift, the largest received by a community college in the state, provided a significant boost to the first-ever major gifts campaign undertaken over the past year by the College and NMCC Foundation.
The campaign successfully concluded at the end of February, topping the $2 million goal set by more than $500,000. Among the legacies of the fund-raising drive is a significant increase in the amount of scholarship dollars available to students, a newly-established technology endowment, and numerous infrastructure and instructional enhancement projects that are now under way.
The past year also saw the passage of a statewide bond issue that included $758,000 to improve energy efficiency in campus buildings, the opening of a new Academic Success Center on campus, the expansion of College services and programs in the St. John Valley with the opening of the new off-campus center in Madawaska, and the offering of the associate degree nursing program to the Valley.
The faculty and staff at the College were also engaged in an accreditation review in the 2007-08 academic year.
Crowley will reflect on these and other achievements in his remarks to the graduates. His comments will be followed by those of two members of the Class of 2008, Kristina Kenneson of Presque Isle and Scott Morgan of New Sweden, who collectively will serve in the capacity of a traditional commencement speaker.
Kenneson will graduate from both the accounting information systems and business administration programs. She was named the College’s 2008 Student of the Year during a luncheon ceremony held in Augusta in April. Kenneson was selected as this year’s student speaker by her classmates.
Morgan will earn an associate of applied science degree in electrical construction and maintenance. He first enrolled for classes at the College six years ago, and in that time, has twice had his post-secondary education interrupted by separate tours of duty in Iraq. Crowley asked Morgan to share his unique story with his fellow classmates.
