North Hennepin Community College

North Hennepin Community College
Established	1966
Type	Public Community College
Chancellor	Steven Rosenstone (MnSCU)
President	John O'Brien
Students	10,554 Academic Year 2010
Location	7411 85th Avenue North Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, USA
Campus	120 acres (49 ha)
Website	http://www.nhcc.edu

North Hennepin Community College (NHCC) is a two-year college located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, primarily serving the communities of the northwestern portion of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Established in 1966 as North Hennepin State Junior College with 414 students [1], the college today annually enrolls more than 10,000 students [2]. North Hennepin is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system and is one of the largest community colleges in the state of Minnesota.

Mission and Values

North Hennepin Community College is "committed to educating a diverse community of learners to maximize their intellectual, creative and leadership potential" and states its three prominent values as "integrity, innovation, [and] excellence" [3].

About North Hennepin

One of the largest and most diverse community colleges in Minnesota, North Hennepin Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MnSCU). In 2006, the college became a member of the HLC Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) [4].

The college offers opportunities for students who excel academically (an honors program), and it offers a number of resources to help students in remedial areas like Math, English, writing, study habits, career exploration, and goal setting.

As a community college, NHCC seeks to be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of traditional and adult students alike, including flexible evening and weekend scheduling, accelerated courses, and online options, offering convenience to fit busy lifestyles. Students can even complete some B.A./B.S. from university partners on the NHCC campus.

The colleges offers opportunities in theater productions, art exhibits, music concerts and cultural events. More than 20 students clubs and organizations - as well as an engaging service learning program - provide additional growth and learning opportunities outside the classroom.

History

In 1966, under the name North Hennepin State Junior College, the college held its first classes at Osseo Junior High School in Osseo, Minnesota with Dale Lorenz acting as the first president [5]. In 1969, the college moved to its current location on 85th Avenue in Brooklyn Park and changed to its current name in 1973.

Facilities

The main campus site is 84 acres (34 ha) and consists of nine brick buildings, a central courtyard, accessible parking lots, and an area designated for nature preservation. In Buffalo, Minnesota, there is a satellite campus which offers a range of courses on location at Buffalo High School.

North Hennepin Community College has an average class size of 25 students [6], with many programs designed for flexible scheduling.

Programs

The college mainly offers Associate degrees, certifications and pre-professional programs, but several Bachelors and Masters degrees are offered by various four-year institutions for completion on the North Hennepin campus [7]. These partnered institutions include Bethel University, Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM), Concordia University, St. Paul, Metropolitan State University, St. Cloud State University and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

North Hennepin currently is the only college in the Midwest offering an A.A. degree with an emphasis in History and offers the MN Transfer Curriculum which can be used to meet general education requirements at other universities. [8]

Course offerings include traditional, online, and e-learning formats which occur in the fall, spring, and summer. Short-term, non-credit courses are also offered continuously throughout the year.

Student Publications

Under Construction Art Magazine

Under Construction is North Hennepin Community College’s arts and literary magazine founded in 1969. The magazine has won six first-place awards, two second-place awards and one third-place award in the Community College National Literary Magazine competition and also nine first-place awards in the Society for Professional Journalists Competition which includes four year colleges throughout the Midwest.[9]

The literary and design staff consists of volunteer student editors.

Realities

Realities is an annual multicultural publication of non-fiction memoirs of student experiences crossing cultural boundaries.[10]

Notable faculty

• Ann Wynia, former President of North Hennepin Community College. DFL U.S. Senate candidate (1994) and former member of Minnesota State House of Representatives.
• Eugenia T. Paulus, professor of chemistry and recipient of 2008 U.S. Professor of the Year award from CASE^[1]

Notable alumni

• Jesse Ventura, former Governor of Minnesota (attended the college in 1974).[11].
• Warren Limmer, current member of the Minnesota State Senate.
• Barb Goodwin, current member of the Minnesota State Senate.
• Tom Hackbarth, current member of Minnesota House of Representatives.

References

1. ^ Schmidt, Peter (November 28, 2008). "4 Faculty Members Win U.S. Professor of the Year Awards". The Chronicle of Higher Education: p. A9. 

External links

• North Hennepin Community College
• Minnesota State Colleges and Universities