Message from the NMC President regarding Retirement Incentive Program
Dear NMC Campus Community:
After reading the article in the Record Eagle on Sunday, May 28, regarding our proposed retirement incentive program I need to comment on certain statements that do not reflect my or NMC’s position. The article reported that the vice president of the NMC faculty union asserted by not replacing full-time faculty, or replacing them with adjunct faculty, a decline in quality would occur at NMC. I believe this reported assertion is patently false. While I hope this was misreported, I still am compelled to comment.
I have consistently stated publicly, and on campus, my belief that every individual that works at and volunteers at NMC is a member of a team committed to learner success. I want to specifically recognize all of NMC’s adjunct, part-time faculty, and teaching staff and administrators for all you do for our learners and our college. Your dedication to your discipline and commitment to student success at NMC is critical to our future.
Rhetoric of the type reported can feed into a perception that the way to enhance one’s own value is to diminish the value of others. This path is not the path that we should expect or accept at NMC. Our collective task is to find ways to celebrate the value each of us bring to our efforts in pursuit of learner success.
Our most innovative employees include people from all employee classifications. Many in our full-time faculty started their NMC careers as adjunct faculty or staff members. Our adjunct faculty and teaching staff include retired generals, retired university faculty, national authors and presenters, nationally known staff members, and more. What they add to our campus and our student experience is significant and cannot be discounted.
I value each individual who works for this college – full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, part-time faculty, staff, administrators, maintenance, custodial, supplemental, executive, and volunteers. It takes all of us to make NMC a great place for learning. We do not live in a zero sum world. We are all responsible to show respect for each other and value everyone’s contributions.
Thank you all for everything you do to help our learners succeed.
Tim
Timothy J. Nelson, President
1701 E. Front Street
Traverse City, MI
Phone: (231) 995-1010