PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Northern Maine Community College has announced the arrival of five new faculty and staff members.
Angela Davis, Joan Haines, and Emily Knowles joined the faculty this fall semester.
“These newest members of our faculty bring an exceptional level of experience and professional integrity to their positions,” President Timothy Crowley said. “We’re excited to be growing our team and for the level of expertise each of them bring to NMCC.”
Edward Wright is the new business and industry coordinator, and Griffin Goins is the associate director of development and college relations.
Angela Davis, a nursing instructor, is a 2012 NMCC graduate who has been an adjunct faculty member for the past year.
Originally from Houlton, Davis studied at NMCC’s Houlton campus, which is where she will be teaching.
“I’m familiar with the challenges and advantages of being at a distance site,” Davis said. “I really like the County; I’ve never left it. There are lots of down to earth people here, and nursing fits well with that.”
Davis earned her bachelor’s degree through UMFK’s online program after earning her general nursing associate’s degree at NMCC. She is currently working on her master’s degree in nursing through Brookline College.
Joan Haines is originally from Caribou, earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing through UMFK, and her master’s in nursing at the University of Maine in Orono.
“I think teaching is just something you do as a nurse; you educate your patients; you educate new nurses coming on,” Haines said of her transition from nursing to teaching.
Haines began as an adjunct professor last spring before applying to the full-time position. She has experience working at Cary Medical Center, with the Visiting Nurses of Aroostook, at Katahdin Valley Health, and as a primary care provider in Ashland.
English instructor Emily Knowles earned her bachelor’s degree in education from the College of St. Joseph in Vermont and master’s in creative writing from the Stonecoast Writing Program at the University of Southern Maine.
“My main goal is to help my students understand and feel they are supported. I want to help them develop their writing skills, so they can express themselves in a way that is true to their nature.”
Knowles writes young adult supernatural thrillers and short memoir pieces, and relocated to the County from Bangor after recently getting married.
As business and industry coordinator Wright will work as a liaison between the college and local industry. “It’s my job to determine the needs of industry,” Wright explained, “and find ways for NMCC to adapt to meet those needs.”
Wright earned his finance degree from Louisiana Tech and landed his first job in Maine in 1992. Once in Maine, Wright met a “County girl,” he said. “A potato farmer’s daughter.”
“The County reminds me of Louisiana,” Wright said, citing the tight-knit community. By 2000 Wright was married and living in the County on his wife’s family farm, which hosts over 800 acres of potato crop.
In the Development Office, Griffin Goins will be working with Dean of Development Dr. Dottie Martin to further the college’s marketing initiatives.
Goins comes to NMCC from California where he worked for four years as a marketing manager for Paramount Pictures. Prior to his work at Paramount, Goins gained experience as a local news reporter, photojournalist and as an editorial staff member for magazine publishers. Goins earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism/communications from the University of Oregon.
“My family and I are excited to join this community, both at NMCC and the County,” said Goins. “People have been tremendously welcoming. Coming from Los Angeles, we’re most excited about the seasons and the sense of community.”
