NPC_news_and_notesNews & Notes from around the college:

Bicycling Adventure!

The Petrified Forest National Park in Holbrook, AZ is a beautiful place for a bike ride. Every year in September, Northland Pioneer College hosts a 36- and 60-mile tour ride called Pedal the Petrified through the park to help raise funds for student scholarships. This year’s ride will be on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015.

Previous riders have come from all over Arizona, California and New Mexico and ranged in age from 11 to 90 years old. Last year’s ride raised nearly $12,000 in scholarships. The ride is run by NPC Friends & Family and an all-volunteer crew made up of NPC employees.

“I meet many different and interesting riders from all over the southwest and we marveled over the scenery and the unforgettable experience of the ride,” said 2014 rider Bill Waters from Flagstaff, Arizona.

Registration for the ride is online and the cost per rider is $80, which includes a t-shirt, baseball cap and drawstring bag. Be sure to register early as the number of riders is limited to 200 by the National Park Service.

For more information and to register go to:
www.npc.edu/pedal4scholarships

Success Doesn’t Break For Summer
NPC Fast Track Scholarship

Students graduating from Navajo and Apache county high schools are eligible for free tuition scholarships for up to 12 credits during the summer session immediately following their graduation. Students are still responsible for paying for textbooks and any fees.

Details at www.npc.edu/scholarships/npc-fast-track-scholarship.

Summer ’15 Tuition Is Half Off

NPC already has the lowest tuition of any Arizona community college, but for the summer ’15 semester, it’s just $33 a credit for in-state residents. NPC’s summer session offers a wide variety of general education credits that are guaranteed to transfer to a state university. Even some skills training courses transfer. Check the online class schedule at www.npc.edu/class-schedule for details. Most summer classes begin June 1.

Building Homes – Building Futures
A community partnership where everyone wins!

In a little more than a year from now, a family will be moving into an affordable, energy-efficient house in Holbrook, built by youth and adults who have obtained their high school equivalency credential (GED®) and earned national construction trade skills credentials through Northland Pioneer College.

Partnership is the key to the grant-funded Building Homes – Building Futures project. “Building Homes – Building Futures brings together a collaboration of
community involvement – the donation of land for the project; a strong relationship with the Navajo and Apache County Workforce Partnership (WIA); and integrated college involvement across multiple departments,” explained Mark Vest, NPC’s vice president for Learning and Student Services.

Targeting youths and adults, 16 and older, with below-college-level skills in math, reading and writing, Building Homes – Building Futures integrates academic preparation and career skills training. Both NPC and WIA are recruiting up to 30 participants for the program.

“The goal is to help these individuals acquire their GED® while reinforcing the practical application of those skills in a construction project,” explained Ricky Jackson, NPC’s director of Developmental Services. Skills acquired in the NPC classroom will be used in constructing an affordable, energy-efficient house, using green building materials and techniques.

Holbrook community member and former NPC board member Bill Jeffers generously donated a large tract of land to the college for this house and others that may follow. Actual house construction is expected to begin in summer 2015.

NPC will enlist another partner, the regional office of Housing and Urban Development, on the sale of the house. The proceeds will be the seed money for subsequent house building, thus continuing the initial project.

“This is a great example of how community members, local organizations and NPC can work together to better people’s lives. We hope to be able to partner with more local communities in this way,” said Dr. Jeanne Swarthout, president of NPC.

Once the house is completed, NPC and WIA will work together to find entry-level construction jobs for the program’s completers. “It’s our hope that this project will enable participants to find lasting employment in the field of construction,” said Susan Tegmeyer, Executive Director of Navajo and Apache Counties Workforce Partnership.

Persons interested in participating in this program should contact an area representative from the Navajo and Apache Counties Workforce Partnership: in Southern Apache County, contact Jennifer Smale at 333-4260, x222; in Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Snowflake/Taylor and Heber/Overgaard areas contact Holly Nelson, 532-4316 and in the Winslow, Holbrook and Joseph City area contact Andrea Harings at 289-4644, x103.

www.npc.edu/iBest

Dino Discovery

Many people find learning about dinosaurs interesting, but for David Smith, faculty member at Northland Pioneer College, studying dinosaurs is a passion. His work has helped shape how we see one dinosaur in particular: the Nothronychus (nahth-ROH-nye-KUSS).

Smith’s specialty is in the study of vertebrae (the back bone and skull) and nervous systems in dinosaurs, the Nothronychus and Falcarius in particular. His most recent work that was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE and the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Smith researched the areas in Nothronychus where muscle ligaments from the neck connected to the back of the skull. Through his research, in collaboration with other professors across the country, scientists and paleontologists have been able to understand more on how this dinosaur moved and acted millions of years ago.  “I’m interested in how these animals lived, how they worked… and I contribute through providing research in vertebrate paleontology,” said Smith.

“It was commonly perceived that this dinosaur was closer to resembling a ground sloth…but after our research, we can now say that it was more closely related to an ostrich.” Nothronychus is thought to be a bipedal plant eater, standing about 10-12 ft. tall, 15-20 ft. long and weighing about a ton. Currently, Smith teaches Anatomy and Biology at NPC, but continues his work on the Nothronychus and Falcarius dinosaurs.

Yes, NPC courses do transfer.

There is a misconception that credits earned at Northland Pioneer College won’t transfer to Arizona’s three state universities.

That simply isn’t true.

The Arizona Legislature charged the state’s universities, community colleges, and Board of Regents to develop ways for students to seamlessly transfer from community colleges to universities. From that charge the Arizona Transfer System was born.

Students attending NPC can easily see which courses are guaranteed to transfer to the state universities using the course equivalency guide at www.aztransfer.com. Use this site to match NPC up with the university you plan to attend to ensure you select transferable courses.

In addition to the course equivalency guide, the AZ Transfer System developed the SUN course numbering system to make it easier to find direct transfer general education courses. Look for the SUN icon  in NPC’s college catalog course descriptions to quickly find general education courses with direct university equivalencies.

AZTransfer.com has everything you need to plan a smooth and seamless transfer from NPC to ASU, NAU, or UofA without losing your hard-earned credits.

www.npc.edu/college-catalog

 

College Bound Scholarships for High School Students

  • Open to all high school and home school students in Navajo  and Apache counties (must be AZ resident and at least 14  years of age)
  • Must have at least a 3.0 grade point average or meet required placement test scores
  • Scholarship covers up to 7 general education (AGEC) credits per semester with a total award cap of 28 credits per  student. (see application form for complete list)
  • Students must pay any placement test costs, course fees,  media fee and book costs
  • Applicants are required to take a placement test(s) before enrolling in NPC classes
  • Scholarship is available in the fall and spring NPC semesters (and summer if funding is available)
  • Funds are limited and awarded on a first-come, first-served basis

Find out more about this scholarship and how to apply at: www.npc.edu/CollegeBound

Small Businesses Are in Excellent Hands

NPC’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides no-cost quality educational programs, resources and confidential one-on-one counseling to small businesses in Navajo and Apache counties, including reservation areas. In 2014, the SBDC helped small businesses in northeast Arizona create 120 new jobs, save 21 jobs and open 22 new small businesses!

Every year, the Arizona SBDC Network honors small businesses throughout the state
for the vital role they play in our economy. This year, the state’s Master Award
(highest honor) went to Arizona Log and Timberworks located in Eagar. The NPC
SBDC has worked with them for over 10 years and is proud to be a part of their success.

Find out more about the SBDC at: www.npc.edu/sbdc