NASHUA, NH – Nashua Community College (NCC) serves as an integral part of the economy and the quality of life of Nashua. This is no longer your daddy’s Voc-Tech. The Community College System of NH has adapted to the changing demographics, employment conditions, and lifestyles of students. The Nashua campus leads the way with this evolution.
Construction and the launch of new programs are underway as the new academic year approaches. A new dedicated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) wing is being built and is scheduled for opening this fall. This year NCC will host a Head Start Program on campus that will provide much-needed child care and will provide NCC with a teaching lab for Early Childhood Majors.
The school offers both career-orientated programs with academic programs that lead to four-year degree programs. The student body ranges from recent high school grads to adults returning to school. The majority of students attend part-time to accommodate work and family schedule obligations. NCC embraces these distinctions and works to have programs and services that match diverse needs.
The school deploys resources to support students where they are. From programs for high school students to jumpstart their college career to an extensive ESOL/ESL program to assist multicultural students. Support extends beyond academic needs. For example, they operate a food pantry and a clothes closet and work with outside groups to acquire child care.
Classes are offered online as well as in the classroom, a further adaption to fit with student work and life constraints
Serving a student population with diverse ages, diverse cultural backgrounds, diverse life experiences, and diverse goals for their education is challenging.
Barry Garside, Vice President of Student and Community Affairs, describes the NCC this way: “There are a number of things that Nashua Community College does to support student success. There is no “conventional” community college student. We are well aware of that so we have to build our services for all kinds of different students.”
On the “community” side, they have programs to meet employee demand in local industries. They offer short course non-credit programs like the Micro Electronics Bootcamp that teach in-demand relevant job skills. The Health Science courses and Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) certificate are filling much-needed vacancies in medical services.
On August 20 the college will be holding an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. at their Amherst Street campus.
“The open house is an opportunity for folks in the community to come to Nashua Community College to discover what it is all about,” says Garside. “We welcome everybody to come in to meet the staff and instructors and to see the range of programs we have.”
There will be representatives from all programs available to talk to visitors, and tours of campus throughout the evening. Here is the event website with details.
