Interest Areas and Advisor Contacts

Programs at NIC can be found within the following six interest areas. Faculty who teach within each interest area can be called upon to advise interested students, in addition to the advisors listed below. 

Arts, Communication, and Humanities

To live as informed and engaged citizens in the world, to better understand ourselves and others, and to meet the unique requirements for employment in the 21st century, courses in the Arts, Communication, and Humanities cultivate critical thinking, problem solving and research skills, empathy and intercultural understanding, decision-making and collaboration, communication, and creativity. Specific subjects of study include art, film, communication, cultures, graphic design, journalism, literature, languages, music, philosophy, photography, theater, and web design.

Programs offered in the Arts, Communications, and Humanities Interest Area

Advisor Contacts
Brenna Dockter (bdockter@nic.edu) Student Success Advisor, Advising Services 
Kelly Nolan (kmnolan@nic.edu) Career and Technical Advisor, Business and Professional Programs Division
Aaron Cloyd (aacloyd@nic.edu) Interest Area Faculty Advisor

Business Administration and Management

The Business Professions fields allow you to develop communication, analytical, and leadership skills that will make you a competitive candidate for a variety of positions across a diverse set of business fields. This interest area offers both college transfer degrees and career-technical certificates and degree options. From Marketing to Management, Economics to Accounting, the college transfer fields of study examine core business principles and practices in a local, national, and international context. Importantly, these disciplines also emphasize the importance of business in today’s society. In addition to the disciplines listed above, students may transfer into advanced programs of study in Business Law, Business Teacher Education, Ethics, Finance, Human Resource Management, Management Information Systems, and Sports Administration.

The career-technical options in this interest area include certificate and degree programs of study in Accounting Assistant/Bookkeeping, Business Management/Entrepreneurship, Computer Information Technology/Cybersecurity/Network Security, Culinary Arts/Hospitality, Fire Service Technology, Graphic and Web Design, Health Information, Law Enforcement, Paralegal, and Administrative and Medical Office Support/Management.

Programs offered in the Business Administration and Management Interest Area 

Advisor Contacts 
Brenna Dockter (bdockter@nic.edu) Student Success Advisor, Advising Services (on leave Fall 2020)
Kelly Nolan (kmnolan@nic.edu) Career and Technical Advisor, Business and Professional Programs Division 

Healthcare 

Interested in Healthcare? Explore this interest area to learn more about programs in healthcare related fields such as Medical Assistant, Pre-Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy Technology, Radiography Technology, Surgical Technology, Medical Billing Specialist, Pre-Physical Therapy, and more.

Programs offered in the Healthcare Interest Area

Advisor Contacts
Jeff Davis (jsdavis@nic.edu) Student Success Advisor, Advising Services (pre-nursing)
Betsy Conery (brconery@nic.edu) Health Professions Advisor, Health Professions Division
Wendy McIntosh (wrmcintosh@nic.edu) Nursing Advisor, Nursing Division

Manufacturing and Trades

Careers within Manufacturing and Trades require both cognitive abilities and direct involvement skills. Fields include a wide variety of technologies associated with creating, building, assembling, troubleshooting and or repairing a variety of items from computer aided design files to the end items such as homes to aircraft. Attraction to these fields include direct involvement, compensation and job satisfaction. Those pursuing a career within a Manufacturing and Trades can expect to be challenged as demands for skills such as problem solving, project managing, and supervising are in high demand. Additionally, most fields require continuing education through apprenticeships, certifications and or licensing to stay current with advancing technology.

Programs offered in the Manufacturing and Trades Interest Area

Advisor Contacts
Kelly Nolan (kmnolan@nic.edu) Career and Technical Advisor, Business and Professional Programs Division
Wayne Cardwell (Wayne.Cardwell@nic.edu) Career & Technical Advisor, Trades and Industry Division

 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

The Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) fields explore the makeup of our world along with the languages used to describe it in order to build a foundation from which to discover new phenomena or apply ideas in new combinations to advance society. STEM fields lay a foundation of analytical problem solving useful in endeavors such as discovering a scientific theory, diagnosing a rare disease, or designing a revolutionary product. Central to STEM study is ethically coming to a logical conclusion with the ability to communicate that to scholars, builders, and the world in general. College transfer programs in areas of discovery include Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Forestry, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, and Physics while areas of application include Computer Science and Engineering.

Programs offered in the STEM Interest Area 

Advisor Contacts 
DeAnn Johnson (drjohnson@NIC.EDU) Student Success Advisor, Advising Services
Jeremy Kingma (jqkingma@NIC.EDU) Interest Area Faculty Advisor 

Social Sciences and Human Services 

The Interest Area of Social Sciences and Human Services includes programs that have similar educational and/or career outcomes. Programs found in Social sciences are a group of academic disciplines dedicated to examining society. This branch of science studies how people interact with each other, behave, develop as a culture, and influence the world. Social science examines the relationships between individuals and societies, as well as the development and operation of societies. Programs in Human services are interdisciplinary fields of study with the objective of meeting human needs through an applied knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations. Academic programs in this interest area include Anthropology, Criminal Justice, Child Development, History, and Outdoor Recreation, among several others. This interest area also includes Career-Technical Degrees and Certificates in programs such as Fire Service Technology and Law Enforcement.

Programs offered in the Social Sciences and Human Services Interest Area 

Advisor Contacts

Marita DeBoard (mcdeboard@nic.edu) Student Success Advisor, Advising Services

Kathleen Miller Green (kmgreen@NIC.EDU) Interest Area Faculty Advisor

Guided Pathways 

Resources about the guided pathways model 

EAB - Achieving Pathways Goals with Student-Centered Design

EAB - Achieving Pathways Goals with Student-Centered Design (Implementation Toolkit)