by Rebecca Zisch
Nevada State College began the 2007 school year with a series of entertaining and fun events, thanks to the efforts of the Nevada State Student Association (NSSA). Welcome Week has become a tradition at NSC, and this year the NSSA put together a packed schedule of activities that included exciting prizes and free food, above all, enough pizza for the whole student body, delivered to the academic buildings throughout the week.
NSSA President Ryan Crowell saw everyone having fun. I think these were some of our most successful events ever. I overheard a lot of students saying how much they enjoyed themselves and I’ve already been asked when we’re going to do it again.
On Monday, August 27, the first day of classes, NSC students were welcomed back with the opportunity to enjoy complimentary back and neck massages in the Great Hall. Three professional massage therapists were on hand to help everyone feel relaxed about the forthcoming semester.
Tuesday of Welcome Week saw the debut of a brand-new event: Speed Mingle. Inspired by the speed dating concept, NSSA create an amusing and 
stress-free atmosphere where students, faculty and staff could all get to know each other. Over 40 people gathered around tables and sat across from each other in pairs with a list of prepared questions to help them get acquainted. Cameron Robinson, NSSA Chair of Programming, rang a cowbell every minute so everyone would rotate seats and meet another person. In this way, almost everyone there got to introduce themselves to each other.
Senior Erin O Leary took part in the Speed Mingle and got to meet a lot of new people. It was nice to see all of the activity in the great hall during Welcome Week and it was great to see students getting involved. During the Speed Mingle, I met some of the newer students and now I see them frequently in the great hall and say Hi to them.
Every Speed Mingle participant left with a bag of candy and was also entered into a drawing with scores of prizes. The grand prize for students was an iPod nano. Not to be left out, there were restaurant gift certificates that faculty and staff had a chance to win.
On Wednesday, the Great Hall was transformed into a movie theatre with a big-screen TV for a mid-day screening of Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End. NSSA was able to arrange for a special screening since the DVD release of this popular film isn’t scheduled until December 2007.
Welcome Week culminated on Thursday with Boogie 4UR Books, a laid-back, student talent show with coveted prizes: textbook scholarships redeemable at the NSC Bookstore. Students dared to share their wide-range of talents in front of the crowd in the Great Hall and the judges: Vice Provost of Student Experience Jim Labuda, Nichole Miller from Student Experience and Rebecca Zisch from College Relations.
The audience was treated to singing, acting, dancing and even a demonstration of Renaissance clothing that was entirely handmade. Two NSSA members, Ryan Crowell and Zhiqi Feng, weren’t eligible to win, but wowed the crowd with their talent anyway: rapping and hula-hooping respectively.
In the end, Senior Ashley Brown took second place for a hilarious pantomime, winning $100 to spend in the bookstore.
But it was Sophomore Elia Bell who won the $200 grand prize for her exquisite traditional hula dance. I was nervous about sharing my dancing with so many other students, but I’m glad that I was able to encourage other students to perform, too. But mostly I’m excited about winning the money to 
help me pay for my books for the spring semester.
NSSA is happy with how well Welcome Week was received, according to Cameron Robinson. We’re really happy with the success of these events and looking forward to more in the near future.
For more information on Nevada State College, call: (702) 992-2000 or visit: nsc.edu.
Month:
Nevada State College selects Dekker/Perich/Sabatini to Design Nursing Building
Henderson, Nev. Nevada State College has selected Las Vegas-based architecture firm Dekker/Perich/Sabatini to program and design the college’s nursing building the second building on its more than 500-acre campus.
Design work on the nursing building is slated to begin November 2007 once the Nevada State Public Works Board has finalized its contract with Dekker/Perich/Sabatini. The Nevada Legislature in 2007 allocated $3.3 million to Nevada State College to begin designing the building. Dekker/Perich/Sabatini was selected from a group of five firms by the Nevada State Public Works Board and Nevada State College a 5-person panel including Connie Carpenter, Dean of the School of Nursing, and Spencer Stewart, Associate Vice President of College Relations.
We determined Dekker/Perich/Sabatini took to heart our desire to establish a sense of academic mission and place, said Dr. Connie Carpenter, dean of Nevada State’s School of Nursing. We went through a lengthy interview process, and now we’re just excited to move forward so we can get our nursing students into a new building as soon as possible.
The college also plans to incorporate sustainable design features that promote an interconnected, holistic approach to the nursing profession, Carpenter said.
Dekker/Perich/Sabatini was selected based on its extensive experience working on higher education projects, including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Science & Technology building the University of Nevada, Reno’s Science & Math Center and University of New Mexico Health Sciences Education building.
We’re very pleased to have been selected to work with Nevada State College on such an important project, said Chris Larson of Dekker, Perich, Sabatini, principal-in-charge for the building. It’s a rare opportunity to help a new institution like Nevada State College design a campus for the 21st century.
Nevada State’s nursing program currently enrolls 512 nursing students nearly one quarter of the college’s total student population. Nevada State College currently enrolls nearly 2,200 students.
The number of students in pre-nursing is continuously on the rise, Carpenter said. We anticipate those numbers to increase once our nursing building becomes operational.
The college’s nursing school is currently located in its campus on 303 S. Water Street.
Nevada State College opened its doors to students in September 2002 after the Board of Regents and the Nevada Legislature determined the need for enhanced educational opportunities in Southern Nevada in 1997.
NSC offers progressive bachelor’s programs in several in-demand fields of study as well as a low student-to-professor ratio and competitive tuition rates.
For more information on Nevada State College, call: 702.992.2000 or visit: nsc.edu.
NSC Offers Southern Nevada’s First Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Science
Henderson, Nev. – Nevada State College (NSC) has launched its Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Fire Science degree, which is Southern Nevada’s first bachelor’s degree in fire science.
The new degree, which trains students to hold a managerial position in a fire department, allows students to transfer and apply 100 percent of their associates of applied science (AAS) degree credits from any regionally accredited community college fire science program toward a BAS degree.
The degree came as a result of a joint collaboration between many local organizations, including Nevada State College, the Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, North Las Vegas Fire Department, Henderson Fire Department, Nevada Test Site and the Bureau of Land Management.
“The degree program is the direct result of a very effective collaboration among a number of agencies,” said John Rynes, deputy chief of the NTS Fire Department. “The NTS is very pleased to have been a part of this and look forward to some of our own staff completing the program.”
To further assist in establishing the need for the new degree, fire chiefs throughout Southern Nevada conducted their own unofficial surveys among their battalions. As a result, an overwhelming majority of the firefighters surveyed indicated that they were interested in the new degree as well.
“There is always a risk in becoming a firefighter, and it’s our job as a state college to provide Nevada’s fire science students with as much training as possible before they ever fill out an application,” said Nevada State College President Dr. Fred Maryanski. “We determined that a bachelor in applied science degree is best suited to provide all potential firefighters, regardless of rank, with the practical knowledge and leadership skills that will help keep them and others safe.”
Courses for the degree are based on the National Fire Administration’s Fire and Emergency Service Higher Education strategic direction and include:
Advanced Fire Administration
Analytical Approaches to Public Fire Protection
Applications of Fire Research
Disaster and Fire Defense Planning
Managerial issues in Hazardous Materials and Personnel Management for the Fire Science
The fire science degree will pilot this fall with two classes.
Nevada State College opened its doors to students in September 2002 after the Board of Regents and the Nevada State Legislature determined the need for enhanced educational opportunities in Southern Nevada in 1997. The college currently enrolls 1,950 students.
NSC offers progressive bachelor’s programs in several in-demand fields of study as well as a low student-to-professor ratio and competitive tuition rates.
For more information on Nevada State College, call: 702.992.2000 or visit: nsc.edu
