NMCC course focuses on County adventures

PRESQUE ISLE – Northern Maine Community College officials are hoping that a new course – designed to give students a chance to try everything from fly-fishing to rock climbing – will help keep students in college and graduates in Aroostook County.

Discover Aroostook, a three-credit elective, which will be offered this fall and again next spring, is being billed as an adventure-based course that will introduce students to the region’s recreational and cultural opportunities.

William Egeler, NMCC dean of students, said Wednesday the project, his brainchild, will help address issues of student retention and out-migration.

“We want to challenge the myth held by some students who attend the college, both from within and outside of Aroostook County, that there is nothing to do here,” he said.

The course will introduce students to many outdoor recreation activities, such as canoeing, ice fishing and alpine skiing, as well as expose them to regional cultural opportunities, such as the Acadian Village in Van Buren, the Francis Malcolm Science Center in Easton and the Can-Am Sled Dog Races in Fort Kent.

Prior to the field trips, students will hear classroom lectures and complete assigned readings to provide a deeper understanding about their experiences. They also will be required to keep updated entries in a reflective journal, and document – through photos and videos – their experience for a final presentation.

Egeler said the course was designed by Brad Barbarula, an authority on outdoor recreation and part-time NMCC faculty member, and Dan Hotham, who serves as director of NMCC’s first-year experience program. Barbarula will provide instruction for the course, which will have room for 20 students each semester.

Egeler said that because students will enjoy these experiences out in the community, officials believe it will help students engage in and out of the classroom. They believe the change in student engagement, in turn, will help reduce the attrition rate of first-year college students and reverse out-migration trends.

“The more people are engaged with work and family, as well as recreation and culture here, the more likely they are to stay in The County,” Egeler said, citing a 2004 report that discusses out-migration in the region.

The course, which Egeler said will cost the college about $9,000 to administer for the year, is being supported by tuition, fees, and grant funding from the MELMAC Education Foundation and the Lighthouse Fund, one of the Gauvin Family Funds. Egeler said officials are seeking additional funding for transportation, which they see as the course’s biggest, long-term expense. They hope to garner enough money to purchase a bus.

They also want to keep the course running in future years, though they will conduct a detailed analysis along the way to see whether it creates positive changes in student retention and out-migration. Meanwhile, they are looking for students to have a great time during the first session in the fall.

“We are hoping that they find the value of what they’ve gone through,” Egeler said. “We hope they think it’s something they’d recommend to other people, that they share their knowledge of this class with other students who were not enrolled, and start to appreciate the recreational and cultural activities in Aroostook County.”