NMCC’s graduation to reflect on success

    PRESQUE ISLE – 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.     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.
    “This has been an amazing and extraordinary year for ‘The County’s College,’” said Crowley. “The outstanding collaborative work that has been accomplished by faculty, staff, students, and friends of the College over the past academic year is making a tremendous difference both on campus and in the community and will for years to come.”
    Crowley cites numerous 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.
    Aside from the major gifts campaign, 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. Following an extensive self-study conducted by campus personnel, a visiting team representing the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) traveled to NMCC in early March. Their findings, initially reported to the campus community in a presentation at the end of their visit, were positive and complimentary to the campus community and will be presented to NEASC later this 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 be graduating 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.
    “These two students represent not only their fellow graduates, but embody the very essence of our success and the reason we, as a campus community, work tirelessly to ensure access to top quality higher education for area residents. It is most fitting, especially this year, that we highlight the success of our students at commencement,” said Crowley.