Northwestern Michigan College Building Plans

TC Ticker - 29 Sept 2014

NMC Proposes $20 Million Student Learning Center

by Beth Milligan

A proposed $20 million student learning and simulation center could be added to the Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) campus if state lawmakers approve funding for the project.

NMC President Tim Nelson appeared before the Michigan Joint Capital Outlay Subcommittee last week to pitch the new center, which would feature 35,000 square feet of reconfigurable team-based learning space, technology-rich classrooms and simulation and interaction areas. West Hall – now home to NMC's campus bookstore, student activities and administrative and dining services – would be renovated and expanded to house the new facility.

The learning center is identified as the top priority in NMC's Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan, which the college must submit annually to the state. If approved by legislators, the state would fund 50 percent of construction costs, with NMC providing the $10 million match through private contributions and designated plant fund reserves.

“The project is tied to two of (NMC's) strategic initiatives, which are 'Helping Students Learn' and developing allied health initiatives,” Nelson wrote in the college's project request. “The (center) will expand our ability to use technology for a wide range of learning experiences, along with the expansion of our healthcare simulation training.”

Nelson tells The Ticker the center would have significant ramifications not only for NMC students, but other community partners as well. “We've talked with Munson (Medical Center)...about this being utilized for training,” he says. “I could see the intermediate school district using it for some of their programs. My expectation is we would serve as much of the northern part of the state as possible by providing access (to the center).”

In recent years, numerous professional areas including aviation, maritime, logistics and healthcare have adopted “three critical learning environments,” according to Nelson: individual simulation, multi-disciplinary simulation and team-based learning. While NMC has added simulation laboratories for individual learning, the college does not “have appropriate spaces or technology, particularly in the healthcare area, to accomplish the second two growing needs,” Nelson told lawmakers.

The center would also feature individual and small team learning labs, private study and coaching spaces, flexible eating/studying spaces, and incorporated Student Life activities and health services areas.

NMC's Board of Trustees – which will discuss the project at its meeting tonight (Monday) – will likely hear back from the state by the end of the year. The college has identified the center in previous capital outlay project requests, but was passed over for funding. Last year, the subcommittee approved two community college capital outlay projects; NMC's application was ranked six. This year, the subcommittee chair invited Nelson and other community college leaders to Lansing to present their proposals in person.

“The process is somewhat political,” says Nelson. “I don't really have a sense of whether or not funding will be available. If something happens, it will most likely be between the (Legislature's) lame duck session and the end of the fiscal year.”

If the board doesn't hear anything by the end of December, says Nelson, the “process will continue to cycle.” The combination of the importance of the center to the college's future and its costly price tag means NMC will likely continue to approach the state as a funding partner for the project.

The college is also working on a potential new campus development that would include student apartments, offices, and a new college bookstore.

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Former Timbers Girl Scout Camp Permanently Protected

June 26, 2014: The Ticker of Traverse City Magazine

The approximately 250-acre Timbers Recreation Area – formerly the Timbers Girl Scout Camp for 50 years – will be turned over to Long Lake Township and open to the public by the end of August. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) confirms that a fundraising goal of $891,300 was met with just days to spare to permanently protect the recreation area. These matching funds followed a $2.1 million grant award from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund in December 2012. The property includes nearly 9,000 feet of water frontage – 2,000 feet on Long Lake, the entire 20-acre Fern Lake within its boundary with 4,500 feet of shoreline, and approximately 2.400 on Page Lake. The property also features a network of two-tracks and trails with potential for future trails. Development of the property's management plan and activities will be conducted by the township with assistance from the conservancy. "The property was such a mystery," says Glen Chown, executive director of the GTRLC. "So many people around the lake had never set foot on it because it was a camp, and they respected the privacy of the Girl Scouts. It's so close to Traverse City and yet it's real wild country." Discussion about preserving the former Girl Scouts camp began in 2004, with negotiations to purchase the property from the Girl Scout Council in 2009. Interim buyers Don and Gerry Oleson purchased he property in 2012, holding it while the township awaited the decision on the grant award. Fundraising included an anonymous $150,000 match for all donations, a $25,000 match for donations made by, or in honor of, former Timbers campers and staff members, a $20,000 match for all donations made by Long Lake Association members, support from the Long Lake Foundation and the sale of the old troop house. Girl Scout alumnae also held a reunion and yard sale, with former scouts traveling from as far away as Alaska to support conservation of the property. Permalink

Nonprofit impact on economy

From Public Sectors Consultants via NorthSky Nonprofite Network, May 23, 2014

Features

Michigan nonprofits make big impact on state's economy

Public Sector Consultants | Tuesday, April 29, 2014

For nearly two decades, PSC has been tracking and detailing the effects of the nonprofit sector on the economy and life of Michigan. In May, PSC will release its latest update. 

Rob Collier, president and CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations

While all the details have to wait until then, the new report will track with previous versions that have shown nonprofits:

• Spend billions of dollars in Michigan each year.
• Are economic anchors in practically every Michigan community.
• Range in size from tiny fraternal lodges to huge hospital systems to three of the world’s largest private foundations.

“As PSC’s work has shown again and again in recent years, Michigan’s nonprofit sector is a major contributor to the state’s economy and its quality of life,” says Rob Collier, president and CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations. “The investments our members make in communities large and small across the state bring real-life results to residents.”

Jeff Williams, the CEO of PSC who has been involved with every nonprofit sector review, adds, “It never ceases to impress me how important the nonprofit sector is to daily life in Michigan. We are proud to be the council’s partner in continuing to share this message with the general public and decision-makers.

“At PSC, we always are excited to find avenues to advance the quality of and discussion over public policy in Michigan, and beyond. Maximizing the contributions of nonprofits in our communities is just one facet of the broad issue of community investment.”

Economic Benefits of Michigan’s Nonprofit Sector 2012

New director, exhibits coming to Children's Museum

Traverse City Record-Eagle

May 5, 2014

New director, exhibits coming to Children's Museum

BY SARAH ELMS selms@record-eagle.com
Traverse City Record-Eagle

---- — TRAVERSE CITY — The Great Lakes Children’s Museum hired a new executive director to replace John Noonan, who resigned in January after leading the museum for 11 years.

Michael Long takes the reins at the museum on May 8.

Long recently left his executive director position at Jefferson County Administrators Association in Colorado, a professional membership association for leaders in Jefferson County Public Schools.

Long helped found the Northwoods Children’s Museum in Wisconsin where he served as its executive director for eight years before his move to Colorado.

Great Lakes Children’s Museum Board of Directors president Matt Missias said Long is the “absolute right fit for the position.” His museum experience and education background set him apart from the other 24 applicants.

“Not only could he run a museum, not only could he do the job that needed to be done, but he also had the perspective of how to reach our target demographic of children,” Missias said.

Board members interviewed 10 candidates and narrowed the pool to three top candidates before they made their decision. Missias said Long has a strong vision of how he wants to see the museum grow and supports the team atmosphere board members were looking for.

“I don’t know how else to put it. He gets it,” Missias said. “He understands how to run and grow an organization like ours.”

Long said children’s museums give kids the chance to understand their environment in a fun way, and he’s looking forward to figuring out what makes Traverse City tick.

“I’m interested in finding out what’s unique about Traverse City and what kids need to learn to understand the world around them,” he said.

His goal is to make sure that whatever exhibits or events the museum hosts continue to be relevant and engaging for adults and kids, he said. The museum is geared toward children ages 2 to 6, and Long wants to gradually expand that range to include children up to 10 years old.

Hiring a new executive director is one of many changes planned for the museum in the coming months. Three new water-themed exhibits are in the works.

“It’s time to start looking at ways to refresh the space and give kids and families new things to play with,” Missias said.

The first is called Building Bridges and will include a bridge that children can build themselves and walk across as well as a suspension bridge modeled after the Mackinac Bridge. The second new exhibit will focus on sail boats.

“We’re putting in a sail table with different model boats so kids can attach different size sails to the boats and see how they can be manipulated by the wind,” Missias said.

Guardians of the Great Lakes is the third and largest of the new exhibits. It will include information about the Coast Guard and Traverse City and will feature a model helicopter with authentic sounds and lights that children can play in. It also will include a wave tank to teach children about how waves affect the environment.

“What we’re looking at is how the geography of the region is protected and served by organizations like the Coast Guard,” Missias said.


Museum officials hope to have the first phase of Building Bridges installed in the next few weeks and the sail table set up during the summer. Guardians of the Great Lakes could be ready to go as early as September or as late as March 2015, depending on the designer chosen for the build.

Leelanau Conservancy Director Departing

From the TC Ticker, 5 May 2014

Leelanau Conservancy Director Departing May 5, 2014

Brian Price, the only executive director the Leelanau Conservancy has ever known, will step down by early next year. Price was first hired on a part-time basis in 1988. Price tells The Ticker the organization's board of directors has had a transition committee in place for a couple of years in preparation for his retirement. He says the board will conduct a search this summer and hopes to have a new executive director installed by the end of the year. "By the beginning of next year, if all goes well, I'll step away," he says. While Price says he always believed in the group's mission of conserving the land, water and scenic character of Leelanau County, he couldn't have imagined the scope of its impact. "I always thought that if we harnessed all the goodwill and the feelings people have for the beauty of this region that people would respond," he says. "But I never thought this organization would be so successful or grow to what it is today," citing his staff of 12. "We should be proudest that we had our hand in changing the underlying tone … that people don't have to be resigned to a loss of a community's character [ as it grows and changes]. And that's true across the region." The Ticker spoke with Price about the Conservancy's 25th anniversary last summer. Read what he had to say about those early days on the job, his most cherished projects, as well as the organization's biggest challenge in his 26-year tenure. Permalink

Changing the classic time, talent, and treasuer

By Glenn Taibl, Center for Stewardship, Luther Seminary, St Paul, MN USA

We were talking about Stewardship and Tom O’Brien suggested it was time to replace the classic three “T’s” of Time, Talent and Treasure with categories that would be more helpful in growing stewards. His suggestion was that we would be better served by three new “Stewardship T’s” of Thanksgiving, Trust and Transformation. I have revisited the conversation with Tom many times and I believe we are well served by interpreting Time, Talent and Treasure through the lens of Thanksgiving, Trust and Transformation.

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