Overview of North Shore Community College

This section describes the makeup and responsibilities of North Shore Community College.

Table of Contents

Overview

North Shore Community College (NSCC) is authorized by Section 5 of Chapter 15A of the Massachusetts General Laws and operates under the direction of a board of trustees, whose members are appointed by the Governor. The board is responsible for operating under the regulations promulgated by the Commonwealth’s Board of Higher Education; this includes setting policies, approving annual budgets, monitoring quarterly performance, and participating in the approval of internal audits. The president of NSCC is the administrative head of the college and reports to the board of trustees. The vice president of administration and finance, vice president of academic affairs, vice president of student affairs, vice president of human resource development, and executive director of external and public relations support the president.

NSCC is a member of the Massachusetts public higher-education system, which consists of 15 community colleges, nine state universities, and five University of Massachusetts (UMass) campuses. It is located at 1 Ferncroft Road in Danvers and has an additional location in Lynn.

NSCC had 8,487 students in fiscal year 2018 and 7,979 in fiscal year 2019. The college employs 121 full-time faculty members and 362 credit-adjunct and non-credit instructors.

NSCC received appropriations from the Commonwealth in the amounts of $21,618,575 and $22,327,516 for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, respectively.

MassTransfer Program

The Commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education have partnered with the Department of Higher Education (DHE) to develop the MassTransfer Program, which includes the MassTransfer Block, the A2B Degree Program, and the Commonwealth Commitment Program. The A2B Degree Program and the Commonwealth Commitment Program have course pathways for different degrees.

DHE’s “MassTransfer Policy Guidelines” describe the MassTransfer Program as follows:

MassTransfer seeks to provide a broad population of students with straightforward and understandable options toward the completion of associate and baccalaureate degrees, clearing the way for student access and student success in Massachusetts’ public higher education system.

MassTransfer has two main purposes:

  • to provide community college students who complete approved associate degrees under MassTransfer with the benefits of the full transfer and applicability of credit, guaranteed admission, and a tuition waiver (each benefit based on the student’s final grade point average) to linked baccalaureate programs; and
  • to provide any student in the Massachusetts public higher education system the intermediate goal of completing a portable transfer block (“MassTransfer Block”) which satisfies general education/distribution/core requirements across institutions (with the receiving institution able to add no more than six additional credits/two courses).

A2B Degree Program

Students who complete their associate’s degrees at one of the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges, and transfer to a state university or UMass campus within one year of graduation from community college, receive guaranteed admission (space permitting in the major and college) and transfer of credits. In addition, they are not required to pay application fees or submit application essays and are eligible to receive tuition waivers.

Commonwealth Commitment Program

To provide students of the Commonwealth’s public higher education institutions with additional financial incentives to complete their bachelor’s degrees in a timely manner, DHE, in partnership with those institutions, has implemented the Commonwealth Commitment Program. In this program, students commit to completing their associate’s degrees within two and a half years, transferring to a state university or UMass campus, and completing their bachelor’s degrees within two more years. They must also maintain full-time continuous enrollment and earn a cumulative 3.0 grade point average. In return, they receive a tuition freeze while enrolled and a 10% rebate of tuition and mandatory fees in addition to the benefits of the A2B Degree Program.

Date published: January 7, 2021

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