Northampton Community College

Northampton Community College
Motto	Where are YOU going?
Established	1967
Type	Community College
Endowment	$19,838,000
President	Dr. Arthur L. Scott
Admin. staff	1,300
Students	36,000
Location	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Newspaper	NCC Commuter
Colors	School: White and Blue           Sports: Orange and Black
Athletics	Member NJCAA Intercollegiate, Club and Intramural Sports
Mascot	Sam Spartan
Website	www.northampton.edu

Northampton Community College is a community college in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, USA, just outside the city of Bethlehem. The college, founded in 1967, also has a second campus in Pocono Township in neighboring Monroe County. Additionally, there are satellite locations in the south side of Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Bartonsville, Mount Pocono, and Hawley^[1].

Northampton grants associate degrees, certificates and diplomas in over 100 fields including arts and humanities, business and technology, education and allied health. It is one of the largest employers in the Lehigh Valley and a major educator of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, emergency medical technicians, emergency medical responders, fire fighters, HAZMAT technicians, Incident Commanders, OSHA certifications, radiologic technologists, dental hygienists, veterinary technologists, funeral service directors, chefs and early childhood educators for the region^[2].

The college is also one of the largest providers of workforce training, adult literacy programs, and non-credit classes in a four-county region^[3] and the only community college in Pennsylvania to offer on-campus housing.

Although the college now serves more than 36,000 students a year in credit and non-credit programs, it has maintained a low student/faculty ratio (24/1). An online learning program makes it possible for students to earn degrees at Northampton from anywhere in the world. International students also study on campus, and the college offers students and faculty the opportunity to study abroad.

One in four graduates of public high schools in Northampton County and one in six graduates of public high schools in Monroe County choose to begin their higher education at NCC^[4], or "NACC" (pronounced 'Nack'), as some students call it in reference to the college's original name, Northampton Area Community College. The student body is diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, income and academic interest.

Approximately 35% of students continue their education immediately after graduation. The rest enter the workforce. The college's placement rate consistently tops 90%^[5].

Tuition and fees for residents of Northampton County are $109 per credit hour in 2010-11^[6]. The college awards more than $22 million in financial aid each year and disburses more private scholarship aid than any other community college in Pennsylvania^[7][8].

Northampton Community College's participation in the national Achieving the Dream initiative reflects the College's commitment not only to improve access to higher education for first-generation college students, but also to improve college completion rates^[9]. In the summer of 2010, NCC was named one of seven Achieving the Dream "leader colleges" nationwide ^[10][11][12].

History

The main campus in Bethlehem Township, PA

The seeds for what became Northampton Community College were planted in the 1960s by business leaders and educators from Northampton County who saw the need for a college that could provide a well-trained workforce for local employers and give area residents an opportunity to get an affordable college education without leaving the area. Early advocates for the community college included Dr. Glenn Christensen, provost and vice-president of Lehigh University; Charles Fuller, president of Fuller Paper Company and a member of the Easton Area School Board; and State Senator Jeanette Reibman^[13].

The college took root on 165 acres (0.67 km²) of farmland in Bethlehem Township in eight modular classrooms that affectionately came to be known as "the barracks." Credit classes began on October 2, 1967. Four hundred and fifty students were expected. Eight hundred and forty six showed up^[14]. By the following year enrollment had grown to 1,442. In 1969-70 the College earned accreditation from the Middle States Association^[15] and broke ground for five permanent buildings.

In its 40+ year history, Northampton has had only three presidents. Dr. Richard C. Richardson was only 33 years old when he was tapped to become the College's first president. He guided the College's growth for the first ten years. He was succeeded by Dr. Robert Kopecek in 1977. The College's academic programs, enrollment and facilities grew dramatically during Dr. Kopecek's 26-year tenure^[16]. When Dr. Kopecek retired in 2003, the trustees chose Dr. Arthur Scott, an administrator who had been on the staff for over 25 years, as the College's next leader^[17]. Although different in leadership styles, all three of Northampton's presidents have shared an entrepreneurial spirit and a fervent commitment to open access to education^[18].

Fowler Family Southside Center

Named for the family of a well-known local philanthropist, Marlene ("Linny") Fowler, the building that now houses Northampton's educational center on the south side of Bethlehem was once the plant offices for The Bethlehem Steel Corporation, one of the nation's largest steel producers. The College purchased the building and began renovating it in 2005, four years after the company went bankrupt. Since then more than 17,000 people have taken classes and attended meetings, seminars, conferences, performances, exhibits, public hearings and other events in the facility.

Special Facilities

In addition to traditional and high tech classrooms, science and computer labs, art and dance studios, media resource centers, athletic facilities, meeting space and offices, Northampton Community College is also home to applied research facilities like the Emerging Technologies Application Center (ETAC), the National Center for Microelectronics, the Coating & Ink Research Institute, a "Fab Lab," an Apple Authorized Training Center, a demo kitchen, a television studio, nationally accredited child care centers, a children's reading room, and a restaurant that showcases the talents of the College's culinary arts students called "Hampton Winds."

New Campus in Monroe County

The current Monroe County campus in Tannersville, PA

An architectural rendering of the proposed Monroe County campus in Tannersville, PA

In 1988 at the request of local citizens, Northampton Community College began offering classes in neighboring Monroe County. The first classes were taught in space provided by the Monroe County Vocational-Technical School. In 1992 the College moved to its current location on Mill Road in Tannersville, “recycling” a 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) building that had previously been a garment factory^[19]. It was also in 1992 that the site gained “branch campus” status from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Rapid growth in enrollment necessitated the addition of two modular buildings in 1996 and additional expansions in 2000 and 2003, as well as utilization of supplemental space at Fountain Court, Pocono Corporate Center East, the Monroe County Vocational-Technical School, Pocono Mountain West High School, and Pocono Medical Center to meet the demand for education and workforce training^[20].

With enrollment nearing 2000 students and no room for significant additions on Mill Road, in February 2006 the College purchased 72 acres (290,000 m²) of land suitable for the creation of a new full-service campus close to Routes 80, 715 and 611 in the geographic center of Monroe County^[21][22].

Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2011. In addition to classrooms, the facilities will include state-of-the-art science and computer labs, a full-service library, a child care center, public meeting rooms, a food court, and athletic fields^[23]. All buildings will be designed to meet LEED silver standards as models of green construction^[24]

Service Learning

NCC has a strong commitment to civic engagement and encourages, faculty, staff, and students to become involved in the community. Funding for student clubs and organizations at NCC is based in part on their community service record. A growing number of faculty members incorporate service learning in their classes, encouraging students to participate in service projects that meet community needs in areas related to course content^[25]. Sociology students assisting residents of New Orleans in rebuilding their homes after Hurricane Katrina, and biology students planting and harvesting crops at the Cherry Valley Community Supported Agriculture Project in Monroe County are two examples of service learning projects NCC students have undertaken^[26][27]. The College is consistently listed on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll^[28].

NCC's community service initiatives have also been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for The Advancement of Teaching and by the Jenzabar Foundation and by State Farm^[29][30][31].

Athletics

The Spartan Center at NCC's Bethlehem Township, PA, campus

Northampton Community College athletics is affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)^[32], Region XIX^[33], and the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference (EPCC)^[34].

Intercollegiate sports include men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, golf and tennis. Club sports and intramurals are also popular.^[35].

Grants

In 2008 Northampton Community College was chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to receive the largest grant awarded in a highly selective national grant competition. The College’s NEH grant was also given “We the People” designation, placing it among an elite group of projects associated with an NEH initiative aimed at strengthening the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture^[36][37].

The $800,000 award is a challenge grant. It requires the College to raise an additional $1.6 million from other donors^[38]. The funds will create an endowment that will enable public school students, college students, and the community at large to explore a different humanities-related theme each year. Exploration of the themes will include credit and non-credit course offerings, as well as public programming such as a film festival, a “one-community-one-book” series, panels, podcasts, webcasts, and visits by nationally known speakers^[39][40].

Since 2005 Northampton Community College has also received grants from the U.S. Department of State, the National Science Foundation, and from the U.S. departments of education, labor and energy, as well as from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania^[41][42].

Notable faculty

• Vasiliki Anastasakos, a political science professor from NCC, was named the Pennsylvania Professor of the Year at a luncheon in Washington, DC, on November 19, 2009, by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement of Education^[43]. She and other honorees were selected from nominees from public and private colleges and universities all over the United States on the basis of their impact on and involvement with undergraduate students; scholarly approach to teaching and learning; contributions to undergraduate education; and support from colleagues and current and former undergraduate students^[44][45].

• Javier Avila, associate professor of English at NCC, won the Puertorriquena Poetry Award given by the Puerto Rico Institute of Culture for his book of poetry, El papel de difunto (The Dead Man’s Position). The international poetry prize is the most prestigious in Puerto Rico and among the most acclaimed in Latin America. Avila has won honors for each of his four poetry collections. La simetria del tiempo (The Symmetry of Time) garnered the Puerto Rico PEN Club Book of the Year Award in 2006, as did the Criatura del olvido (Creature of Oblivion) in 2008. The Olga Nolla Poetry Award went to Vidrios ocultos en la alfombra (Broken Glass under the Carpet) in 2003. Two years later, Avila became the only writer to ever receive a second Olga Nolla Poetry Award, this time for La simetria del tiempo. Avila is also the author of two novels, Different, published in 2001 and reprinted in 2006 by Wiley, and The Professor in Ruins, published by Wiley in 2006. Different was made into a movie titled Miente. Hailed as “a Latino psychological thriller with a unique visual style," the film is directed by Rafi Mercado. It has been shown both in Puerto Rico and in the continental United States^[46][47]. In 2008, Avila was recognized by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education with the 2008 Outstanding Latino/a Cultural Award in Literary Arts or Publications. In addition to writing poetry and novels,, Avila has been a satirical columnist and literary critic at Puerto Rico’s leading newspaper, El Nuevo Día, as well as a textbook writer and an editor for Ediciones Santillana and La Editorial UPR^[48]

• Douglas Heath, a geography and geology professor at NCC, is an expert on physical geography, international affairs and war ethics, and environmental management. He received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Council for Geographic Education and is included in Who's Who Among American Teachers. He has lectured on American Reporting on the War in Georgia and US-Russian Relations, and George W. Bush Administration’s policies in Iraq. He is widely published in various journals including Professional Geographer, Journal of Geography and Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation. Heath is a member of the Association of American Geographers, the National Council for Geographic Education and the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. He received his bachelor’s degree in geology from Bucknell University, his master’s degree in geology from Syracuse University and his Ph.D. in geography from Syracuse University.

• Sharon Lee-Bond, an associate professor of biology at Northampton, has been chosen to receive the 2010 Two-Year College Biology Teaching Award by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT). She is one of two teachers nationwide to be chosen for this honor^[49]. The NABT award is one of many accolades Lee-Bond has earned, for both teaching and research. She received NCC’s Christensen Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009, the Teleweb General Biology “Best of the Best” award, the Sigma Xi award, and many fellowships and grants to further her important studies in cancer and juvenile diabetes research. She is a member of the NABT and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has been a judge for the Science Olympiad competition held annually at NCC, and is a co-principal investigator in the SMaRT (Science, Math and related Technologies) Scholars for Success program funded by the National Science Foundation^[50][51]. She is also a member of the project team for the National Science Foundation to develop programs to strengthen math and science education in public schools. Lee-Bond received her bachelor’s in microbiology from Pennsylvania State University, her Ph.D. in immunology from Thomas Jefferson University during which she conducted research regarding gene therapy for bladder and skin cancer, and has completed postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Davis.

• Sholomo Levy, a history professor at NCC, was a research editor and contributor to the most recent edition of the African American National Biography, published by Oxford University Press^[52]. In addition to teaching at Northampton, he is an ordained rabbi who leads the Beth Elohim congregation in St. Albans, New York^[53]. He is also the president of the Israelite Board of Rabbis, which prepares rabbis for service in black communities through the United States and the Caribbean. His areas of expertise include Black Jews in America and Black Jewish relations. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Middlebury College, a master’s degree in African American history from Yale University and a master’s of philosophy degree in history from Columbia University.

• James Von Schilling, an English professor at NCC, is a nationally known expert on the history and sociological impact of television. He authored the book, The Magic Window: American Television from 1939-1953^[54]. He is also an expert on other aspects of popular culture. He has written or presented on baby boomers (including boomers as grandparents), the Boswell Sisters singing group, Muhammad Ali ^[55], and actor James Dean. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, his master’s degree in education from New York University, and his Ph.D. in American culture from Bowling Green State University.

Notable alumni

• Brian Ajhar, whose illustrations have been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and Rolling Stone
• Michael Andretti, race car driver and team owner
• Dr. Michael Babyak, faculty member, Duke University Medical Center.
• Michael Bentt, actor-in-residence, who was five-time US amateur national heavyweight boxing champion, a former WBO world heavyweight champion, and co-star in Ali as Sonny Liston, Public Enemies as Herbert Youngblood and State Property 2 as Biggis (El Plaga)
• Carol Guzy, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and three time Photographer of the Year award-winner in the National Press Photographers' annual contest. Guzy is a photographer at The Washington Post.
• Chris Martin, CEO of C. F. Martin & Company, manufacturer of Martin guitars
• David Shaffer, co-CEO of Just Born candies
• Andy Thom, award-winning animator whose credits include Jumanji, Godzilla and Little Einsteins
• Roger Ross Williams, television writer and producer whose work has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, VH1 and Comedy Central. In 2010 Williams won an Oscar for his short documentary "Music by Prudence"^[56][57][58].

External links

• Northampton Community College's official website
• The official site of NCC athletics
• Like Northampton Community College on Facebook
• Make friends with "Sam Spartan" on Facebook
• Catch the action on "Sam Spartan's" YouTube Channel
• Follow Northampton Community College on Twitter
• Join the Northampton Community College group on Flickr

References

1. ^ Maps and Directions Retrieved February 18, 2010
2. ^ Fact Sheet Retrieved February 18, 2010
3. ^ Fact Sheet Retrieved February 18, 2010
4. ^ Fact Sheet Retrieved February 18, 2010
5. ^ Fact Sheet Retrieved February 18, 2010
6. ^ Tuition and Fees Retrieved February 18, 2010
7. ^ Office of the President Retrieved February 18, 2010
8. ^ Fact Sheet Retrieved February 18, 2010
9. ^ Achieving the Dream Initiative Retrieved May 12, 2010
10. ^ NCC Hailed as Leader in Helping Students Succeed Retrieved September 13, 2010
11. ^ Seven Community Colleges Emerge as Leaders in the National Student Completion Movement Retrieved September 13, 2010
12. ^ Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges Retrieved September 13, 2010
13. ^ A COMMEMORATIVE BOOKLET, 1967-1987 by Dan Larimer
14. ^ NCC History Retrieved February 18, 2010
15. ^ The Express-Times, Easton, Pennsylvania - December 28, 2006 - "College building legacy of learning"
16. ^ The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania - October 31, 2002 - "NCC president to retire next year"
17. ^ The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania - October 3, 2003 - "Arthur Scott lauded at NCC inauguration"
18. ^ 40 Years, published by the NCC Foundation in 2007, written by Jim Johnson
19. ^ Building expands college's Monroe campus September 30, 2003
20. ^ NCC-Monroe seeks 71 acres for expansion December 2, 2005
21. ^ Plans for new NCC-Monroe campus unveiled April 11, 2008
22. ^ Northampton Community College to expand its Monroe campus May 10, 2007
23. ^ Money for new NCC-Monroe campus OK'd in table games bill January 7, 2010
24. ^ Monroe Eyes Retrieved February 18, 2010
25. ^ Service Learning at NCC Retrieved May 12, 2010
26. ^ Service Learning Projects at NCC Retrieved May 12, 2010
27. ^ NCC Student Research Presentations Retrieved May 12, 2010
28. ^ President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll Retrieved July 7, 2010
29. ^ http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/downloads/2008-community_engagement.pdf
30. ^ Northampton Community College students, faculty, committed to rebuilding New Orleans Retrieved September 13, 2010
31. ^ The Bethlehem Press, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - March 5, 2008 - "State Farm Grant"
32. ^ National Junior College Athletic Association
33. ^ Region XIX
34. ^ Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference
35. ^ NCC Spartan's Athletics Page
36. ^ NEH Challenge Retrieved February 18, 2010
37. ^ National Endowment for the Humanities Awards and Offers, December 2008 Retrieved February 18, 2010
38. ^ Grant for $800,000 challenges Northampton Community College to raise $1.6 million for educational program open to community members January 7, 2009
39. ^ NEH Challenge Retrieved February 18, 2010
40. ^ Grant News - Community College Times Retrieved February 18, 2010
41. ^ A Special Group K'NEX at NCC August 14, 2008
42. ^ NCC Wins Federal Grant to Help Adult Students October 16, 2009
43. ^ Northampton NOW - Pennsylvania Professor of the Year November 19, 2009
44. ^ Northampton Community College professor named 2009 Professor of the Year November 19, 2009
45. ^ NCC professor's personal take on politics nets her prestigious award November 20, 2009
46. ^ Miente: New Puerto Rican film July 27, 2009
47. ^ House Of Mercado Entertainment, LLC Retrieved February 18, 2010
48. ^ English Professor Receives International Award August 18, 2009
49. ^ National Association of Biology Teacher Retrieved September 22, 2010
50. ^ Sharon Lee-Bond, Associate Professor, Biology - Northampton.edu Retrieved September 22, 2010
51. ^ SMaRT Scholars Retrieved September 22, 2010
52. ^ Professor Sholomo Levy chooses field of study close to home June 5, 2006
53. ^ Black Jews Retrieved February 18, 2010
54. ^ The Reporter, Somerville, New Jersey, “Business of television got off to a slow start” – January 22, 2004
55. ^ New York Daily News – November 14, 2008
56. ^ Music by Prudence Retrieved February 18, 2010
57. ^ Oscar.com Retrieved March 8, 2010
58. ^ NCC's Big Night at the Oscars Retrieved March 8, 2010