NAU s Community & Technical College Affiliations (Part 1)

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1 March 2013 What s Inside? Campus News: pg 2-3 Spotlight: pg 4 - Maverick - A Tradition in Being Different. Message: pg 5 - Alumni News - Career Success Graduation: pg 6 - Celebrate with our 2013 graduates NAU s Community & Technical College Affiliations (Part 1) Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque West, NM Allen Service Center, TX Austin, TX Austin South, TX Bellevue, NE Bloomington, MN Brooklyn Center, MN Burnsville, MN Centennial, CO Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs South, CO Denver, CO Ellsworth AFB, SD Georgetown, TX Independence, MO Lee s Summit, MO Lewisville, TX Mesquite, TX Minnetonka, MN Online - Distance Learning Online - Graduate School Online - Houston, TX Online - Indianapolis, IN Online - Tigard, OR Overland Park, KS Rapid City, SD Richardson, TX Rochester, MN Roseville, MN Sioux Falls, SD Tulsa, OK Watertown, SD Weldon Spring, MO Wichita, KS Wichita West, KS Zona Rosa, MO Roueche Graduate Center (North Pointe, Building One) Austin, TX National American University has established another significant milestone in its progression in higher education. Recent affiliations with the country s community college system presents those students, faculty and staff with the opportunity to earn baccalaureate and higher degrees. NAU has taken several steps to meet the needs of this group, including the formation of the National Community College Advisory Board and hiring staff at select community colleges to help with the transition from community college to NAU. Dr. Linda Garcia is the new Vice President of Community College Relations coordinating the efforts of these affiliations. She received her Dr. Linda Garcia VP Community College Relations doctorate degree in educational administration, community college leadership from the University of Texas- Austin and served as the assistant dean of Lone Star College in Houston, Texas before coming to NAU. NAU s collaboration with community colleges provides additional educational opportunities for the associate degree graduates as well as faculty and staff looking to continue their own lifelong learning at either the undergraduate or graduate level. Continued on page 2

2 CAMPUS NEWS BELLEVUE, NE NAU s Community & Technical College Affiliations cont... Several community colleges in Kansas, Iowa, North Carolina, Texas, South Dakota and others have already worked with NAU. NAU has committed to working with community and technical colleges to create transfer agreements, which provide their students with degree options and an educational and supportive environment of the type to which they are accustomed. In addition, graduates, faculty, and staff who meet eligibility requirements may receive annual scholarships from NAU. The community college initiative is one of the activities housed at the Roueche Graduate Center. This is also the new location of NAU s Harold D. Buckingham Graduate School. The center is located at 6836 Austin Center Boulevard, Suite 270 in Austin, Texas. Anyone wishing to inquire about graduate programs or the community college initiatives can call (877) Page 2 With more than half of the students in Bellevue taking courses on campus, the staff has been working hard to create a fun and inviting atmosphere. Academic Dean Asante Moody recently held a Meet the Dean afternoon for students to come and get more acquainted with the academic policies and to meet the medical assisting program coordinator, Ron Maly, and new learner services advisor, Ashleigh Ravnikar. Culture club president Bonnie McGinn has helped to set up several fun events such as the Veterans Day Photo Board, Bellevue Staff Baby Picture Identification, and Mardi Gras pot luck. BROOKLYN CENTER, MN Dr. Aimee Edwin and Dr. Dean Jankford collaborated on an event to help the nursing and medical assisting students learn more about palpation and muscle and bone identification. In the massage therapy program, a hands-on approach (palpation) is important in the training and this skill was shared with the nursing and medical assisting students as a way to gain more understanding regarding muscle and bone identification and function. CENTENNIAL, CO Members of the staff recently volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House of Denver. They determined that this activity of making and serving dinner to about 50 people was a real privilege and honor. They were able to interact, play and talk to the children and all of the courageous people at this facility. DENVER, CO Pam Smith, a nursing student, is a popular tutor at the campus. Pam s life had not always been easy but has been changed by her success in the nursing program. She now works to help others change their lives. Pam has worked successfully with a student experiencing learning difficulties, and the student has enjoyed recent and great success. Another student whom Pam tutored has been hired to work as a tutor, along with Pam. A changed life helping to change other lives, which is what an NAU education is all about! Pam Smith Nusring Student - Tutor

3 ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, SD WATERTOWN, SD Each quarter the staff at EAFB holds an awards ceremony to recognize students and instructors. Honorees were Armon Parker, student of the quarter, Eris Tanner, instructor of the quarter, and Richard Swoboda, President s Award. The culture club hosted a campus food drive and over 370 food items were collected. The food will be donated to Access Ministries for those in need in the Watertown area. Instructor of the Quarter Eris Tanner Student of the Quarter Armon Parker SOUTHEAST REGION President s Award Richard Swoboda GEORGETOWN, TX In January, NAU-Georgetown hosted a conference of the Texas Society of Medical Assistants. This group meets twice each year and over 30 members attended. Viviana Vera is the campus medical assisting program director and she is now serving as the Central Texas Chapter s education chair and the Society s certification officer. MESQUITE, TX NAU-Mesquite hosted the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce After-Hours Event. There were about 25 chamber members and organizations in attendance along with a marketing team from 5 hour energy giving away free samples. The event included tours of the campus, food, and door prizes. It was a great event that provided more community visibility for the campus. Gianina Clark, regional career services director, recently held a medical assisting workshop for students and graduates of the program to assist and prepare for their job search. The plan is to hold this workshop quarterly. SYSTEM Dr. Ronald Shape, CEO, has announced a continuous review process to assure quality and consistency in NAU s academic and operational functions. The Quality Assurance Review (QAR) team of 5-7 representatives will be evaluating a region and central administrative departments each quarter in order to affirm conformity with accreditation standards, university policies, federal and state laws and those practices that support NAU s mission, purposes and core values. Page 3

4 IN THE SPOTLIGHT MAVERICK: A TRADITION IN BEING DIFFERENT. A snapshot of NAU history and the introduction of the Maverick ( ): In the time frame of , National College (as NAU was known then) was growing its enrollment, and there were increases in the number of locations and in provisions for more chairs in programs and curriculum. There were six campuses plus the home campus in Rapid City. The campuses outside of Rapid City consisted primarily of nontraditional students. The student body at Rapid City was primarily traditional with recent high school graduates, but night classes were serving more non-traditional students who were married, employed and looking for an upward mobility. The number of student activities and organizations were far more complex than they had been only a few years earlier. The Rapid City campus was the only one with an athletics program, but it had been of little consequence. However, now there was a gymnasium on campus and there was always a theme of if we are going to do it, let s be good at it! That was certainly the case with the college rodeo program. Football was out of the question, but recruiting basketball and volleyball players was realistic. Historically, the college s teams were called Executives and then Royals. These terms were not representative of what was going to be expected athletically, or what actually existed. We were going to be small, but with big goals. National College was private and proprietary, offering four-year degrees, and it was the only college of its kind in the United States east of Ohio. It Maverick Statue at Rapid City Campus was different, and probably not well understood, and in western lingo it was not running with the herd.and so, it was a maverick! There was some pride then and now in this distinction. It was an alternate and an effective approach to higher education with a strong sense of career development programs and a strong commitment to student service. Curriculum was arranged to allow classes within the major to be offered up front rather than later in the program. Some students thought that maverick was meant to portray the college s rodeo program, but when the volleyball, soccer and basketball teams started beating nearby colleges and universities and winning championships just like the rodeo teams, the term began to catch on. The meaning of the term may have been obscure, but hopefully everyone at NAU, then and now, appreciates who we are, what we do, and the values of being a maverick. At the central administration location in Rapid City, the staff member of the quarter receives a small statue of a maverick, which is symbolic of NAU s concept and distinction in higher education. The term grew out of an effort in college athletics, but the value is not athletic. The maverick term was and still is representative of the institutional concept in education, and of a distinction in higher education in 11 states and 37 locations, with more to come! NAME THE MAVERICK CONTEST NAU recently held a Name the Maverick campaign. Based on input from students, faculty, staff, alumni nominations for names were submitted and a committee of NAU staff selected the top five names which were then voted on via NAU s website poll. The winning name was Major. Congratulations to Margaret Sena (Albuquerque student) and Sharon Lemme (Bloomington student) for submitting the winning name! Page 4

5 MESSAGE Alumni News and Career Success ATTN: ALL GRADUATES Please continue to submit updates relating to career success and personal matters by using the alumni link on NAU s website This will allow the university to share information about you with other graduates. Thomas J. Rothenberger (1992, Accounting, BS Sioux Falls) is an account manager for Keisers Inc. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Robert Eric Carroll (2004, Applied Management, BS Online) lives in Quincy, Massachusetts and is the general manager for Swissport International Ltd. in Boston, Massachusetts. Natalie Bergquist (2005, Business Administration Online and 2007, MBA Grad School) is one of 17 citizens from 12 Tribes (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) that has been selected to join the Bush Foundation Cohort of Native Nation Rebuilders. The group united in Prior Lake, Minnesota recently to organize and consider issues which will help advance Native American self-determination and inspire Native citizens to contribute to their own national rebuilding efforts. Coleen Cox (2008, Business Administration, BS Albuquerque) is presently the human resources technical services representative at the University of New Mexico. Ina Friend (2009, Applied Management, BS Overland Park) is a senior curriculum designer for Century Link in North Las, Vegas, Nevada. James Ronald Perrin (1982, Information Technology, AAS 2011, Applied Management, BS Online and 2012, Master of Business Administration Grad School) is now living in Marysville, Washington and is completing his fourth degree with NAU, a Master of Management. Nicole Marie Stone (2012, Medical Staff Services Management, AAS Online) lives in Leominster, Massachusetts and is a medical staff coordinator for the Dana Farber Cancer institute in Boston. Mike Peterson (2012, Organizational Leadership, BS Austin) is the program manager for Harte-Hanks in Austin, Texas. Bernardo LaFontaine (2012, Organizational Leadership, BS Albuquerque) is working for AAR Aircraft Services in Airframe and Power-Plants in Norman, Oklahoma. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIPS Soon the campuses will be awarding academic excellence scholarships in the amount of several hundred dollars. Scholarships are awarded to current and select student applicants from all locations. The majority of these scholarships are awarded over a period of three quarters, as Academic Excellence Scholarships. At each campus the senior applicant-recipient is designated as the Alumni-Academic Excellence Scholarship recipient. Awards are announced in April/May. We encourage NAU Alumni to make contributions to the non-profit foundation in order that the scholarship awards can be increased in numbers and value. This will enhance educational continuation and graduation by NAU s outstanding students. Contributions can be sent to: NAU Foundation PO Box 3732 Rapid City, SD Page 5 Guy Tillett Director of Alumni Services alumni@national.edu ALUMNI OFFICE 5301 S. Hwy 16 Rapid City, SD 57701

6 National American University ALUMNI OFFICE 5301 S. Highway 16 Rapid City, SD PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID RAPID CITY, SD PERMIT NO 618 CELEBRATE WITH OUR 2013 GRADUATES Graduation Ceremonies On Sale Now! Soft cover...$30 $20 Rapid City/EAFB 05/18/13 10:00 am Civic Center Kansas City 05/23/13 7:00 pm Community of Christ Austin 05/31/13 7:30 pm AT&T Conference Center Minneapolis 06/07/13 6:00 pm Benson Great Hall Albuquerque 06/08/13 11:00 am Kiva Auditorium Denver/Colorado Springs 06/14/13 7:00 pm Palmer Ridge High School Auditorium Wichita 06/15/13 10:30 am Wichita State Univ. Hughes Metroplex Watertown/Sioux Falls 06/15/13 10:00 am O Gorman High School (Sioux Falls) Get your copy of the 70 year history of NAU today. To order, contact: Guy Tillett Director of Alumni Services alumni@national.edu