Partners in
Maritime Education
 Northwestern
Michigan
College – comprehensive
community college located in
northern Michigan. We serve more
than 50,000 learners annually.
NMC offers associates degrees
and professional certificates
and, through our University Center,
10 partner universities grant
baccalaureate, graduate and
doctoral degrees. NMC's extensive
extended education program
offers a vast array of non-credit
classes to more than 10,000 local
residents annually.
Great Lakes Maritime
Academy
Since 1969 the Great Lakes Maritime
Academy, Michigan’s State Maritime
Academy, has prepared future
Merchant Marine Officers for the
challenge of operating ships of all types.
Curricula range from seamanship,
navigation and piloting to steam &
diesel engineering together with three
semesters at sea aboard commercial
vessels. Along with a USCG unlimited
tonnage license, qraduates enjoy 100%
employment & are fully compliant with
STCW’95 (Standards of Training,
Certification & Watchkeeping).
Ferris State University
Michigan's Fastest Growing
Public University
Students at Ferris State University
get big-school resources with plenty
of extracurricular activities in a
relaxed, small-town setting in the
heart of west-central Michigan.
More than 170 degrees are offered
through the colleges of Allied Health
Sciences, Arts and Sciences,
Business, Education and Human
Services, Optometry, Pharmacy,
Professional and Technological
Studies, and Engineering
Technology.
WHERE WE WERE
Traditional Associates degree program, plus two years at
FSU afterward = 164 credits
Three admission applications for prospective cadets to fill out
Everything done on paper – limited use of technology
available – multiple forms, limited tracking, cadets filled
out the same ‘forms’ every year
Financial aid was split – NMC awarded through completion
of Associates – FSU after that
Scholarships were limited too- after cadets completed NMC
coursework, they were no longer ‘ours’ & they missed out
on university scholarships designed for freshman
One staff member responsible for recruitment, advising and
cadet relationship building
MAKING THE TRANSITION
Realizing the need to recruit and
retain cadets….
Great Lakes Maritime Academy,
NMC and FSU came together
to make compromises – they
are ‘OUR’ cadets.
CURRICULUM
NMC & FSU pared down curriculum requirements
by 17 credits
 NMC & FSU signed a more robust consortium
agreement – not just an ‘articulation’ – they are FSU,
NMC, and Maritime students from day ONE
 Students take a mix of courses from all three areas,
throughout the program, no longer 2 + 2 (or 3 + 2!)
 Instruction happens now on multiple campuses vs.
one site, using the assets of the various institutions
for the cadets

ADMISSIONS & RECRUITING

Developed and implemented a two year
enrollment plan including
Additional staff
 Increased budget
 Comprehensive marketing


Use technology vs. paper processes
ONE Application! Automatic processing
 Less redundancy with internal offices – NMC
admissions, registrar’s

TUITION AND FINANCIAL AID
Implemented differential tuition for Maritime
curriculum – university rate
 Financial aid is awarded to students by FSU for
all four years
 Students now have access to NMC foundation
scholarships, federal and state aid, and some
FSU scholarships
 Now push out bill due dates for NMC/Maritime
tuition to FSU due date for students with aid

RETENTION & STUDENT SERVICES
Coordinated effort with NMC Main campus
– health services, tutoring, student activities
 Advising – created computer based advising
guides, mandatory advisor sign offs, FSU advisor
visits
 Orientation – revamped student orientation to
include financial aid from both campuses,
support services staff and advisors from NMC,
FSU and Maritime
 Cross institutional faculty – NMC math
faculty member teaching FSU math class on
NMC’s campus.

DEALING WITH CHALLENGES
Cultural – institutional and professional
 Political – federal, state and institutional
 Monetary – balancing costs, resources and
student support
 Academic – advising, federal and international
standards
 Technology – Banner is not Banner
everywhere!
 Public Relations – how to maintain ONE
identity of a collaborative program

ROUGH WATERS
A long history of Maritime being its own
entity - they are ‘different’ – separate admissions
recruiters, more rigorous admission
requirements, separate student handbooks,
separate buildings which lead to….
 Lack of understanding and support for what
the Maritime Academy does even though they are
part of NMC – services were disconnected
 The original consortium agreement did not
detail the recruiting, admissions and financial
aid parameters for either institution – left great
confusion of who is doing what for whom.

ROUGH WATERS
Scholarships and financial aid – a real need
to share in this process to help the student, but
lack of communication and understanding of
packaging procedures made it difficult to move
forward
 Technology that talks across campuses – we
all run using Banner, but because each
institution has its own home model, moving data
from one place to another has been difficult.
 Lack of communication…….

CONTINUED WORK





A full commitment by both institutions to help
us recruit – how to tap into FSU students who are
‘unhappy’ with FSU and could come here
Scholarship monies awarded with the same
parameters as current FSU students – continue
to seek ways to make them ‘our’ students
Communication – between all levels; presidents,
academic administrators, faculty and staff
Placement - Discrepancy between FSU admission
standards and placement and NMC placement
parameters
Technology Access – the need to have access across
institutions to ‘see’ and use individual cadet record
data