News, information and events from Thomas Nelson Community College

RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Education Wizard has now served more than 200,000 unique visitors since its introduction last spring. Virginia’s Community Colleges launched the Wizard in March as a one-stop resource to help students and parents explore career paths, identify college programs to reach those goals and find ways to pay for continued education.

“I’m delighted that the Wizard has reached this milestone so quickly but I’m not surprised,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “The worst economy since World War II is pushing people to really think about how to begin or even re-start their career. The Wizard puts a wealth of information right and their hands and makes it so easy to use.”

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Nearly 20 Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) students are officially part of United States aerospace history. A product of their work at NASA Langley Research Center soared into the stratosphere on October 28 when NASA’s newest craft – its Constellation Program’s Ares I-X test rocket – roared off Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

With more than 12 times the thrust produced by a Boeing 747 jet aircraft, the Ares I-X lifted off for a six-minute flight test. The launch was the first from Kennedy’s pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program’s Saturn rockets were retired, according to NASA officials. This project is among several initiatives that are part of NASA’s new vision for space exploration to replace U.S. space shuttles that have been in flight since the 1980s.

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Thomas Nelson Community College’s (TNCC) Department of Performing Arts, TNCC Players, and Iron Street Productions (ISP) will present “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Dr. Mary T. Christian Auditorium (MTCA), Templin Hall, on the Hampton campus. Performances will take place November 13-15 and November 20-22 at 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Open to the public, the play is about a hapless florist shop assistant who discovers and raises a mysterious plant that craves fresh blood. As the story unfolds, the blood-thirsty plant named Audrey II grows into an ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore who offers the main character, Seymour, fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite. Featured songs composed by Ashman and Alan Menken in the style of early 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, include “Skid Row (Downtown), ” “Somewhere That’s Green,” and “Suddenly, Seymour” as well as the title song. The classic musical is one of the longest running Off-Broadway plays and is based on the 1960 dark comedy film of the same title.

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Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) President Alvin J. Schexnider will welcome business and civic leaders from throughout the TNCC service area to the Hampton campus on Wednesday, November 18 for a presentation on the topic “A Post-election Analysis.” Founder and President of Virginia Tomorrow Dr. Robert Holsworth is guest speaker for the 7:30 a.m. session at the Espada Conference Center located in Moore Hall.

The breakfast meeting is part of a Speakers Series launched this year at TNCC to give community leaders an opportunity to convene with area educators and discuss important regional and national issues.

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The SGA wants to support our TNCC families in need during the holiday season. We will decorate holiday trees with our children’s printed names on stars at the Hampton and Historic Triangle campuses.

The trees will be displayed in Gators Café, Griffin Hall – Hampton and Student Commons – Historic Triangle Campus. Offer is limited to the first 100 TNCC children signed up to participate (up to 16 years old), so please respond quickly.

Gifts will be distributed during:

• SGA Holiday Party for Hampton Students on December 11, 2009 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm in Gators Café, Griffin Hall – Hampton Campus
• SGA Holiday Party for Historic Triangle Students on December 17, 2009 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm in Room 229 – Historic Triangle Campus

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According to reports, more people have been killed in motorcycle accidents this year in Hampton Roads than in 2008. As the fall season rolls in with its beautiful mild weather, many motorcycle owners are planning scenic rides to enjoy wonderful autumn views. Now is the perfect time for new and advanced riders to consider taking a Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) motorcycle safety course to reduce their risks on the road.

Motorcycle riders face many more dangers on the road than automobile drivers. TNCC offers year-round Virginia Rider Training Program motorcycle classes to provide riders with the opportunity to continually enhance their knowledge and driving ability while operating a motorcycle.

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Patricia Taylor, TNCC’s Dean of Mathematics Engineering and Technologies, has announced an exciting offer from the University of Virginia (UVa) that TNCC Engineering students can explore. UVa is giving students an opportunity to complete a bachelor’s degree in engineering without traveling to Charlottesville.

Taylor asks all TNCC faculty and staff to share this great news.

UVa is now offering one of its undergraduate degree programs fully at a distance. Graduates of an Associate of Science in Engineering degree program (or equivalent) are potentially eligible for the program. For more information, visit the following web site: http://www.seas.virginia.edu/producedinva.

Those interested may contact Dr. James Groves at jgroves@virginia.edu or (434) 924-6261. Groves is an associate professor, Assistant Dean for Research and Outreach and Director of the Engineers PRODUCED in Virginia program at UVa.

HAMPTON, Va. – Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) students have the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom thanks to a new Engineering Club founded by Jason Colley, a student at TNCC. The organization invites students in Engineering, Mathematics and other Technology-related areas of study to share ideas, collaborate on various projects, and learn the newest technology and more.

Ji Hyon Mun, Associate Professor and Engineering Department Head, serves as the faculty advisor for the club. “They wanted to form a club so that they can do engineering applications outside [of] the classroom because you can know in the classroom they are pretty much confined to what I tell them and what I expect them to do; but out of the classroom they can apply whatever they’re learning from their other classes and have fun with it,” she said.

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