District & Regional Initiatives

Education Innovation Partners - March, 2013

Northeastern Minnesota has a proud tradition of investing in education to prepare children for a successful future. Early immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s sacrificed to invest in education so their children could take advantage of opportunities to make a better life in the 20^thCentury.

Building upon the strong foundation of the Applied Learning Institute, 17 school districts, the Northeast Higher Education District and its five community college campuses formed Education Innovation Partners in 2011.

Download the Education Innovation Partners Plan

NHED 2010-2015 Strategic Plan

The NHED Strategic Action Plan was developed by a committee representing a broad spectrum of constituents from each of the five colleges and their communities. The Office of the President thanks you for your thoughtful assistance and input in developing this final version of the plan.

Download the 2010-2015 Northeast Higer Education District Strategic Plan

NHED Institutional Profile

November, 2011

Download NHED Institutional Profile, November, 2011

NHED Plan for Shared Business Services

October, 2010

Download the NHED Plan for Shared Business Services, October, 2010

Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) Diversity Plan 2010 - 2012

Download Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) Diversity Plan 2010 - 2012

IT Shared Services

NHED President Sue Collins, in conjunction with MnSCU CIO and Vice Chancellor Ken Niemi, asked Insight Solutions Group, Inc. to conduct a high-level inventory and assessment of the District’s information technology (IT) assets. Insight made a number of recommendations including infrastructure centralization, combined purchasing, collaborative support, and standardization of hardware, software, and services.

Jim Dillemuth, System Director of the ITS Portfolio Management Office, was asked to serve as the MnSCU lead because of his prior work and familiarity with the colleges in the District. The district CIOs were then tasked with creating this workplan describing how these recommendations will be delivered, when they will be delivered, and the costs and benefits associated with each recommendation.

The CIOs identified ten recommendations. The workplan is divided into these ten sections, plus a Gantt chart giving a high-level schedule of activities.

The workplan is available below in pdf format.

Please Send your feedback and comments to: scollins@nhed.edu

IT Commitment Statement

IT Assessment Workplan

IT July, 2011 CIO Meeting

IT September, 2011 CIO Meeting

IT October, 2011 CIO Meeting

IT January, 2012 CIO Meeting

Center for Workforce and Advanced Learning

Download Center for Workforce and Advanced Learning Plan - February, 2012

Download CT FAQs - April, 2012

Download CT Meeting Summary - May, 2012

Applied Learning Institute (ALI)

Applied Learning Institute (ALI) was formed in 2006 to enhance the curriculum in northeast Minnesota by providing experiential learning that combines hands-on training and technology. ALI's goal is to prepare students to be highly trained, knowledgeable workers who are equipped with the technical and problem-solving skills needed by employers everywhere.

ALI is a partnership connecting 16 northeastern Minnesota school districts, five colleges of the Northeast Higher Education District (NHED), Iron Range Resources (IRR), Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS), and Minnesota Center for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (MNCEME). ALI currently offers courses in seven area: Industrial Technology, Construction Trades (carpentry), Healthcare, Pre-engineering, Advanced Automotive, Business and Entrepreneurship and Natural Resources.

ALI is funded through a Minnesota legislative appropriation to NHED, funds from Iron Range Resources, and membership dues from partner institutions. More information is available at www.alimn.org.

ALI Annual Report 2012

TRiO Student Support Services

The Northeast Higher Education District TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) grant is 100% funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is at $1,387,251 for the 2011-2012 academic year. Having the distinction of being the only SSS grant in the nation of that magnitude, this District grant has grown to serve 1,000 students annually for over the past 23 years.

The legislative intent of TRiO SSS is to increase the college retention and graduation rates of its participants and help students make the transition from one level of higher education to the next. Required services provided at our community colleges include academic advising, tutoring, financial literacy education, Federal financial aid information and application assistance, and assistance in applying for admission and obtaining financial aid at 4-year institutions. TRiO SSS is an integral component on each campus of the District, and by collaborating together, foster a campus climate supportive of student success and academic achievement.

Further information can be obtained by contacting: a.horvat@vcc.edu

Link to NHED TRiO – SSS website

Campus Entrepreneurship

Northeast Entrepreneur Fund

The mission of the Campus Entrepreneurship Initiative (CEI) is to create an entrepreneur culture on the campuses of the Northeast Higher Education District community and technical colleges by providing education and resources to foster innovation and inspire the spirit of entrepreneurship in our communities.

Through a partnership with the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund (www.entrepreneurfund.org), a campus entrepreneurship coordinator is working with each campus to develop a committee (or "E-team") comprised of faculty, staff, students and community leaders. Each campus E'team is responsible for identifying areas where entrepreneurship education can inspire students, developing new events and activities that help to increase awareness and knowledge about entrepreneurship, and instilling entrepreneurship education into existing programs.

The Campus Entrepreneurship Initiative will include community and business links, certificate programs and curriculum choices, events and activities, student-led entrepreneur clubs and alliances with K-12.