Greetings! It’s College Fair season, and recruiters traveled the state this week. During the College Fair in Council Bluffs on Wednesday, a reporter from the Daily Nonpareil asked Norma Azpeitia a few questions regarding students’ questions regarding scholarships and college costs. The article states, “Those financial questions come as no surprise to Norma Azpeitia, an enrollment management advisor for Northwest Iowa Community College. She stressed her institution’s high placement rates – 97 percent for the 90 percent of students who graduate – to show the value of traveling to Sheldon for a two-year college education.” Read the entire article at

http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/students-look-at-post-high-school-options/article_f047d346-4f7b-58ea-80d0-88bc9a56f118.html Good job, Norma, stressing

the value and quality of NCC!

ACCREDITATION CORNER: Thank you to all for being engaged in good conversations on Monday regarding the Higher Learning Commission visit scheduled for October 6 – 8. Sheila sent out invites for all of the meetings on Tuesday. If you did not receive an invitation, please let us know. If you have NOT responded to an invite, please do so as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding the meeting schedule, please contact your supervisor or dean. At the meeting on Monday, I asked; “Why do we need go through the accreditation process?” Staff and faculty provided the correct answer: “We go through accreditation so we can assure our students’ access to quality education and services, to Federal Financial Aid, and for transfer of credit.” We ARE ready for the visiting team!

Weekly Updates:

The Same Day Train and Test to get your Class A CDL has remained popular as we begin our fourth year of offering this course. This past Monday, September 22, the 400th person successfully completed the training and obtained his Commercial Driver’s License.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, September 23 and 24, Twyla Vogel conducted Word 2013 training for faculty and staff. In total, 24 people attended, and other Office 2013 programs (Excel, Outlook, etc.) will be offered soon. Remember to contact Twyla if you have any questions regarding Office 2013.

On Wednesday, September 23, Randy and Janet Grey of Northland CDL from Mason City were here on campus to conduct the initial informational meetings for the 80-hour CDL Driver Prep program. The course will consist of online instruction and driving skills practice and testing that will take place the first week in November. Northland met with the NCC Heavy Equipment students in the

afternoon and Continuing Education participants in the evening for a total of 16 indivials enrolled.

On Thursday, September 24, the CEU Authority of Des Moines (previously known as Johnstone Supply) provided four 2-hour Continuing Education state-approved classes for our area Plumbing & HVAC professionals. The sessions provided CEUs for Iowa plumbing and mechanical licenses and also Iowa HVAC or refrigeration licenses.

Four area direct care givers attended the 2014 Iowa Caregivers Annual conference with Marilyn Stille. They won this trip during the 14th annual Caregivers Conference sponsored by NCC in June. Pictured left to right (see attached caregivers picture) are Lois Salazar, Patty Amerson, Vicki Lammers, and Elaine Stevens. They were very appreciative of the opportunity.

Marilyn Stille received notice from Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals that after an evaluation survey of NCC’s 75-hour Nurse Aide training and competency testing program in August, the program has been approved for two years.

Frank DeMilia attended the Regional Workforce Investment Board meeting in Spencer on Thursday, September 24. The new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was discussed including how changes from the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) would affect our service area. WIOA was created to provide flexibility to collaborate across systems in an effort to better address the employment and skills needs of employees, jobseekers, and employers through a stronger alignment of the workforce, education, and economic development systems.

Jason Anderson, along with several members of the NW Iowa Developers group, attended the Professional Developers of Iowa conference at Honey Creek Resort.

On Friday, September 26, approximately 50 or more students from Welding, Diesel, and Automotive programs played an Ultimate Football SkillsUSA game. The battle was waged on the grass field south of the residence halls, and it was a great day for football. The students were divided into 4 equal teams of mixed programs. After a double elimination tournament, Team 2 emerged victorious! All students were treated to a grill out of brats, chips, and cookies, and the winning team will get a pizza party. The students always look forward to this day, and it is fun to see all the social interaction and bonding between them. The 14 high school Automotive students did not participate in the game but were treated to the grill out.

Alethea Stubbe attended the RCCA (Rural Community College Alliance) Conference this week hosted by Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ. Dr. Penny

Wills, former Northeast Iowa Community College president, is the president of Yavapai. Keynote speakers were Mark Mitsui (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges) and Lucy Johnson (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rural Outreach) from the US Department of Education and Barry Goldwater, Jr.

Elections were held for the Business Officers Club this week. Congratulations to these elected officers:

President – Hannah Wielenga Vice President – Joel Gonzalez Secretary – Cinda Vande Griend Treasurer – Casey Vermeer

SkillsUSA serves 351,833 students, teachers, and alumni. The 2014 Skills USA Championship held in Kansas City, MO, last June was the largest in SkillsUSA’s history. Thank you to Steven Youngs, Denny Wallace, and Cher Vollink for their involvement and contribution to SkillsUSA and our SkillsUSA students. (See attached letter.)

LLRC Membership Update (as of September 25, 2014): September 2014 Numbers (compared to August 2014): Total LLRC Members: 1,297 (1,269) NCC Students: 226 (198) NCC Student Visits: 764 (638) Community Memberships: 589 (584)

A.L.I.C.E. – Out of a possible134 employees, 129 personnel were part of the excellent training sessions that were offered. That leaves only 5 that have not signed up, which gives a 96% involvement in the offered training. Thank you to those that led the training (Chuck Ball, Doug Rodger, and Nicole Runia) as well as everyone that participated in the sessions. We hope we never need to put that training into practice.

2014 School of the Year Contest - sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts and WIX Filters

http://www.tomorrowstechnician.com/2014-school-of-the-year-contest-underway/

NCC was once again named as one of the Top 20 Schools (the list can be found in the September issue of Tomorrow’s Tech). NCC has submitted its video about our automotive program. The Top 20 are narrowed down to four regional finalists that will be named in October issue of the magazine

A winner will be selected from four finalists (last year NCC was one of the four finalists) and announced at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in November.

Just for your information:

You may see Texas Governor Rick Perry on campus next Friday afternoon, as the Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola and Sioux County Republican parties have rented the LLRC for an area fundraiser.

Next Sunday, October 5, our four HLC visiting team members will fly into the Sioux Falls, SD, airport and travel to their hotel in Sheldon. On Monday morning, October 6, they will arrive on campus before their first meeting at 8 a.m.

Hopefully I will see many of you at the Reds, Whites, and Women Foundation fundraiser Monday evening at Calico Skies! Last I heard there were approximately 160 registered. It should be fun! In the meantime, enjoy the weekend.

Regards, -- Alethea F. Stubbe, Ph.D. President