Founded in 1951, Northwestern Michigan College, known as NMC to local residents, is a community college in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Its annual enrollment is around 5,100 (Spring 2010) students. NMC offers associate's degrees and professional certificates, bachelor's degrees through the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and Great Lakes Water Studies Institute, and eight partner universities grant bachelor's and master's degrees through NMC's University Center.
NMC has a branch campus on Grand Traverse Bay that houses the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Great Lakes Water Studies Institute and Hagerty Conference Center. Another branch campus near Cherry Capital Airport is home to NMC's aviation and automotive service technology programs, and offers training in manufacturing, construction, renewable energy and information technology. NMC also has an observatory, and a nursing program in conjunction with Munson Medical Center. The campus is home to WNMC-FM, a community-supported radio station which broadcasts at 90.7 FM. This station began as a student organization in 1967 and still receives significant funding through student fees.
Programs
NMC offers Associate in Applied Science degrees in the following fields:
- Aviation
- Business Administration
- Computer Information Technology
- Culinary Arts
- Dental Assistant
- Freshwater Studies
- Law Enforcement
- Legal Assistant
- M-TEC: Michigan Technical Education Center
- Maritime Deck or Engineering Officer (Great Lakes Maritime Academy)
- Visual Communications
NMC offers the associate degree in Nursing.
In addition, NMC also offers a liberal arts Associate in Science & Arts degree, designed for students who plan to transfer to a four-year college.
Dennos Museum Center
The Dennos Museum Center is a museum of fine art affiliated with Northwestern Michigan College. The museum consists of an outdoor sculpture garden, several galleries for temporary exhibits, and the Inuit Gallery. It offers an array of exhibitions and programs in the visual arts, sciences and performing arts.
The Museum's signature collection is Inuit art of the Canadian Arctic, one of the largest and most historically complete collections of these distinctive sculptures and prints in the United States.
Opened in 1991, the Museum Center features three changing exhibit galleries and a sculpture court; a hands-on Discovery Gallery and an Inuit Art Gallery; and the Milliken Auditorium.
A significant collection of outdoor sculptures by international and Michigan artists surround the Museum on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
Great Lakes Maritime Academy
NMC is home to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, one of six State Maritime Academies that receives aid from the federal Maritime Administration¹. As NMC is located on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay, a long protected water of Lake Michigan, Great Lakes Maritime Academy is the only U.S. Maritime Academy on fresh water.
In 2013, Northwestern Michigan College won approval from the Higher Learning Commission to offer a bachelor of science degree in maritime technology through the academy, becoming the first community college in Michigan to be able to offer its own fully accredited bachelor's degree. The college awarded its first bachelor's degrees to two academy students in January, 2014. The Detroit News covered the story, and the broader story of Michigan community colleges offering four-year degrees, in an April 16, 2014 article.
Notable alumni
- Bart Stupak
- Glenn Wolff
- Richard Benedict
- Jim Hay
- John Robert Williams
- James DeLupa
- Corey Thiel
Notes
1. A division of NMC, Great Lakes Maritime Academy is also a partner of Ferris State University. Ferris grants an Academy graduate a bachelor's degree in Business Administration (maritime concentration), while NMC simultaneously grants an associate degree in Maritime Technology. Academy enrollees who have already received a bachelor's degree may choose not to complete the four-year Business Administration Degree, if they so desire.
2. The college has renovated some of the buildings in which classes are conducted and recently built two new buildings. The new Maritime Campus is a striking architectural landmark on West Grand Traverse Bay. The campus also contains a convention center and a culinary arts program.
References
External links
- NMC Website
- Great Lakes Maritime Academy website
- Great Lakes Water Studies Institute website
- Osterlin Library website
- Dennos Museum website