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Henderson, Nev. March will be a historic month for Nevada State College.
On Tuesday, March 4, Nevada State College and more than 250 community leaders will gather together to celebrate Nevada State College’s fifth year serving the needs of the Southern Nevada community.
Not only is this historic for Nevada State College, this is historic for higher education throughout Nevada, said Dr. Fred Maryanski, president of Nevada State College. The work that has been done over the last five years, and will continue to be done, will long serve this community and the Nevada System of Higher Education.
The curriculum of Nevada State College is based upon the community’s needs, the needs of business and industry, and the desires and demands of the students. Special emphasis has been placed on addressing the state’s need for effective, highly educated and skilled teachers and nurses, and commitment is made to developing and promoting partnerships with Nevada’s public-school system, the state’s health care providers, the private sector, and Nevada’s colleges and universities.
I applaud the college, the City of Henderson and the higher education system for recognizing the need to establish an educational institution, such as Nevada State College, years ago in order to serve the greater need of our community, State Sen. Warren Hardy said. Higher-education institutions, of all tiered levels, are crucial to the economic success of any community and Nevada State College is something all Nevadans can be proud of.
Last year the college celebrated another landmark event the groundbreaking of the campus first building its liberal arts and sciences building. The building, which will house classrooms, offices and meeting areas for students is slated for completion this summer. Last year, the college also received support from the legislature by way of $3.5 million in funding for planning and design efforts for a nursing building on the campus. Some of the college’s most in demand programs will be housed in this building such as business, psychology, law enforcement and biology.
This community is watching the evolution of a state college which has been designed to address the particular needs of that community, Maryanski said. By focusing on educating teachers and nurses, this institution is about protecting our quality of life throughout the state. And as we grow as a school, so will our impact.
The anniversary event will be hosted at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa. There will also be a presentation by Dr. Fred Maryanski, president of Nevada State College, Dr. Lesley Ann Di Mare, provost for the college, a current student, other faculty members and a Nevada State College alumnus.
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 : 702.990.2000 or visit : nsc.edu.

By Rebecca Zisch
On January 17, just days before the start of the spring 2008 semester, a retreat was held to make some decisions about the free academic tutoring program that is available to all students at Nevada State College. Facilitated by Adeste Sipin, Academic Counselor for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and attended by ten students who work as Academic Aides, the retreat resulted in the launch of the newly conceived Student Academic Center, or the SAC.
According to Sophomore Carey Breymann, the retreat gave the students the chance to make [the SAC] their own. Breymann has been at NSC since she was a student at NSC High School and has also been an Academic Aide. Now she works for the SAC coordinating all of the Aides and their schedules. (See the current schedule here.)
To be hired as an Academic Aide, a student must have two professor recommendations from the subject that he or she is interested in tutoring, a strong academic record and GPA. Each applicant also goes through an interview process just as with any professional job.
Free academic assistance has long been available in its own dedicated space in the back of the Great Hall on both by appointment and drop-in basis. And for students looking to study on their own, the SAC is also a place where a quiet studying atmosphere is maintained. There are computers and plenty of work space available.
But there had also been some interest in investigating how that space and the services provided there could more strongly serve the studying needs of NSC students and the retreat helped move that vision forward. Additions to the SAC’s programs include scheduled group sessions and free workshops for academic success and career development organized and led by students working as Academic Aides.
Sophomore Jami Kessler, who is pleased with the positive changes in the SAC, is running group sessions for math students this semester. Nine calculus students attended the first session that Kessler arranged. She thinks group studying is great for interaction with students and the sessions that focus on MATH 181 and MATH 124 are planned to run throughout the semester.
Kessler is also quick to add that the chance to lead these sessions is an invaluable opportunity for her own professional development, since she is planning on becoming a teacher or professor. Public Speaking was not my favorite thing. But after [running group sessions], I’m feeling more confident.
Marikje Blokker is working in the SAC for the first time this fall as an Academic Aide for English and writing and leading free workshops. At her previous school, Hartnell Junior College in Salinas, California, Blokker tutored and led a series of 23 different workshops on study and writing skills.
It was my favorite job, so I’m excited about planning workshops for NSC. Blokker led the first workshop of the semester on January 31 offering techniques for brainstorming and outlining writing assignments. The workshops are fun there are always activities and handouts to take home.
Some of the academic success workshop topics planned for the coming months include stress management, time management and preparing for tests. Other career development topics will include resume writing, interviewing techniques and other subjects that are helpful for students looking for jobs.
According to statistics collected in fall 2007, only about 20% of students who visit the SAC are looking to study on their own. It seems that a lot of students are seeking help from their peers, whether through drop-in hours or scheduled appointments.
Blokker said, I hope the workshops are helpful for students to realize that they’re not the only ones that have questions some students might feel embarrassed that they didn’t know something… I admit it when I don’t know something. Nobody has to have all of the answers.
With its new name and energy, the SAC better reflects how genuinely committed NSC’s students are to their education. According to Sipin, the SAC is more than a just tutoring center. It’s an academic community. A place to study. It’s a conducive environment for the learning process.
This spring is Raymond Rust’s third semester helping peers with Chemistry and Biology at NSC. He agrees that the transformation of the SAC is something important for students who want to succeed. We’re creating an atmosphere where you can meet other students who are serious about their education if you’re serious about establishing yourself as a professional, this is where you want to be, and these are the people you want to around.
There is a lot of excitement about the future of the SAC. Breymann said, I m really looking forward to the new [Liberal Arts and Sciences] building. We’ll have a much bigger space and offices and it will be less noisy than it is now for students trying to study. With the changes this spring and the new building in the fall, it looks like the SAC is here to stay and the students who work there will be positive advocates for learning success at NSC for a long time to come.
If you re interested in applying to work as an Academic Aide at the SAC or would like to schedule an appointment, call the SAC Hotline at 702-992-2990 or send an email to: thesac@nsc.edu
For more information on Nevada State College, call : 702.990.2000 or visit : nsc.edu. 

Henderson, Nev. The Clark County School District is about to gain a powerful new tool in helping kids succeed in life, thanks to a new partnership with Nevada State College called Crossroads.
Beginning Feb. 20, 80 selected at-risk 8th grade students in 13 middle schools throughout the Southeast region of the valley will participate in the Crossroads program, which helps young people, identified by their counselors as being at extremely high risk of dropping out of school.
The brainchild of Dr. Rene Cantu, vice president of Multicultural Affairs at Nevada State College, the program is designed to re-engage students in seeing the value both in their education, as well as a high school diploma, before it’s too late.
Although many students don’t officially drop out of school until high school, the student’s disengagement with their schoolwork can almost always be traced back to an earlier age, Cantu said. If the problem isn’t addressed prior to attending high school, those students will almost surely be overwhelmed once they enter high school and are very likely to give up and drop out. That’s why we chose to target the 8th grade.
And the Clark County School District has been eagerly onboard since.
“Dr. Cantu came to one of our middle school principals’ meetings and presented his idea of partnering with middle schools to see if there wasn’t something that Nevada State College couldn’t do to help our struggling students, CCSD Southeast Region Assistant Superintendent Dr. Patrice Johnson said. Our principals were so excited about the Crossroads Program and endorsed the program right away. It is extremely evident that our principals in the Southeast Region are absolutely willing to do whatever it takes to help our students succeed at every level.
Over the course of four months, each of the selected youth will receive mentoring, tutoring and motivation training to help them recover from their current academic path and be able to successfully graduate from high school. Students are selected for the program if they had been retained in the eighth grade the previous year.
The process will come in the form of one-on-one, once-a-month mentorship provided by trained college students from Nevada State College, involvement of the school counselor who identified the student as being at-risk and participation in the Success Highways program, a national program that will be administered by college personnel and has been shown to effectively increase the GPAs of at-risk students. Through the Success Highways aspect of Crossroads, students will learn non-academic skills such as time and stress management and will focus on skills such as motivation, resiliency, and self-esteem and decision-making tactics.
Students will be paired with Peer Mentors, volunteer students from Nevada State College, who will provide young people with positive role models who have stayed in school and are now fully engaged in college.
Funding for the program has come from Randy Garcia, founder and CEO of the Investment Counsel Company, an investment management consulting firm.
A resident of Las Vegas since 1957, Garcia is invested in the community and has sponsored several enrichment programs for at-risk youth through the Clark County School District and the Nevada System of Higher Education. He also serves on the board of directors for several community organizations including, the Nevada Community Foundation, Scoutreach Program for the Las Vegas Area Council of the Boy Scouts and the Council for a Better Nevada.
Nevada State College opened its doors to students in September 2002 after the Nevada Board of Regents and Nevada State Legislature determined the need for enhanced educational opportunities in Southern Nevada in 1997. The college currently enrolls more than 2,050 students.
Nevada State College provides progressive bachelors programs in several in-demand fields of study. Nevada State College offers a low student-to-professor ratio and competitive tuition rates.