TMCC students commending their majors: clockwise from top left is Crystal Manning, Kimberley Kuhos, Gail Sparks and Amanda Montgomery.
Nick Freed: First Student to Complete P3 Program
Truckee Meadows Community College student Nick Freed is the first to complete the Panasonic Preferred Pathway (P3) Program.
The P3 Program is an employment credential that instructs and prepares students in the safety practices, terminology, and skills preferred by Panasonic and a number of other companies.
Freed has now been hired and will begin at Panasonic on April 2.
New scholarships are also available for prospective P3 students. The Board of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) approved on Jan. 19 grant funding of $175,000 for students enrolled in the P3 training program at TMCC. The funds are provided by the state’s Workforce Innovations for the New Nevada (WINN) program. The WINN funding will be distributed in partnership with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) through Nevada JobConnect offices.
P3 is set up with a flexible scheduling model, and students may start at any time, working at their own pace through text-based and hands-on training modules.
Students Talk about Fulfilling Majors
“Something cool about my major is that I get to take cars apart and put them back together,” said Crystal Manning, who is enrolled in automotive technician courses. “A really great thing at TMCC is that everyone is very nice (both at the William N. Pennington Applied Technology Center and at Dandini Campus).”
Gail Sparks is studying Community Health Science and will be migrating to the Nursing Program. She enjoys helping people and hopes to eventually work in pediatric rehabilitation.
“The instructors are willing to help as needed—they challenge you to think outside the box at times,” she said.
Amanda Montgomery is also interested in the health care field and is progressing toward her Associate of Science before transferring to a university.
“TMCC provides a gateway to students who are traveling down all kinds of paths,” she said. “The AS transferrable degree helps me organize my path and take the classes I need to work on becoming a pharmacist.”
The medical field that appeals to Kimberley Kuhos is medicine, taking care of children’s health care needs.
"I'm a TMCC High School student and am interested in majoring in biology," said Kimberley Kuhos. "I'd like to be a pediatrician someday.”
She added that it’s also nice to study at TMCC because of its beautiful campus.
Dr. Ellen House Receives QM Certification
TMCC Nursing Professor Ellen House, DNSc, has received Quality Matters (QM), certification for her online course NURS 212: Cultural Aspects of Nursing.
Professor House first taught the class online in Spring Semester 2008.
“Dr. House has been an active member in our WebCollege Advisory Committee and often attends professional development trainings related to online learning and our annual summer Distance Education Institute,” said Brandy Scarnati, Program Director of WebCollege. “She has presented NURS 212 at a one-hour breakout session at the Nurse Educator Conference.”
Online courses approved by Quality Matters verify them nationally as superior Web-based classes. QM is a nonprofit organization that provides an academic peer-review process to recognize excellence and certify courses. Professors proposing courses are trained in Quality Matters procedures and requirements, and then develop their curriculum to be considered and approved by the organization.
“I’d like to say ‘Thank you Dr. House for your commitment to your quality of teaching on behalf of our students,’” Scarnati added.
TMCC Online Education Programs Named to Top 50 in U.S.
The Community for Accredited Online Schools is an online resource, providing information on two- and four-year collegiate programs in many disciplines. It has recently recognized TMCC for excellence, ranking the College in the top 50 U.S. programs for these additional areas of study:
- Best Online Associate Criminal Justice
- Best Online Associate Early Childhood Education
- Best Online Teaching Degrees (Two-year Colleges tab)
“We wanted to highlight schools like Truckee Meadows Community College, who are providing exceptional education programs online,” said Doug Jones, CEO and founder of the Community for Accredited Online Schools. “These colleges offer an outstanding educational experience, upholding rigorous accreditation standards and show an overall commitment to maximizing student success.”
Community for Accredited Online Schools compiles its rankings based on IPEDS data, the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). From that data, it has developed a methodology to rank higher education programs.
TMCC also ranks in the top 50 U.S. programs for disciplines ranging from visual and performing arts, to dental hygiene, to HVAC and a number of other studies.
Contributions to TMCC Good News are Welcome
Additional contributions for good news are welcome. If you have an achievement, volunteer experience or award to share with the TMCC community, please let us know.