Academic Services and Opportunities

Office of Student Success Services

Since its founding in 1946, New England College has emphasized its small classes and its student‐centered education. Student Success Services provides NEC students with comprehensive academic support services that focus on individualized student attention and meaningful academic support. Student Success Services provides a wealth of support options that assist students in their quest to become independent, motivated and successful learners. 

Academic Advising and Success Coaching

Email: advising2@nec.edu

Students wishing to improve their ability to be academically successful during their collegiate experience can receive supporting instruction through the Academic Advising Office. Advising staff can provide course requirements needed for graduation, help students track their progress, discuss academic policies, as well as connect students with appropriate campus resources. Students having academic difficulties are encouraged to meet with the advising staff to develop a plan to achieve academic success.

In addition, first-year students can work with their faculty advisor and staff advisor in creating a first year, student success plan. This plan will assist students to understand their choice to pursue an education at NEC, enhance educational experiences, and the tools students can use to be successful. It will also assist students to recognize their strengths and discover areas that can be improved, and set-up specific academic achievements in coursework at NEC.

NEC has also implemented a Peer Success Coaching Program. The purpose of this new program is to provide peer-supported guidance for undergraduate students throughout their entire NEC experience. This program places emphasis on helping students identify obstacles to academic performance and assisting them in creating solutions for overcoming those challenges. These positions aim to forward New England Colleges commitment to engage students not only academically, but socially and civically as well.

PASS  (Positive Academic Support System)

email: ebrooks@nec.edu

PASS provides guidance and support to students who have been placed on academic probation. Students in the program meet with a member of the Student Success team on a weekly basis and are encouraged to take advantage of support services available on campus.

Mentoring Program

email: ebrooks@nec.edu

The Mentoring Program is designed to facilitate reaching academic and personal goals. Through their relationship with an Academic Mentor, students gain the academic skills and confidence to achieve inside and outside the classroom. Mentoring is intentional and tailored to individual needs. Mentoring includes multiple scheduled meetings, systematic communication with faculty and staff, and engagement with families.

Students who thrive in Mentoring are interested in academic success, managing time and staying organized. Mentors encourage students toward thoughtful, intentional actions and decision making. Enrollment in the Program requires an additional fee. Students interested in enrolling in the Mentoring Program can do so by completing the following form:

Mentoring Program Enrollment Form

Writing and Academic Support Center (WASC)

email: wasc@nec.edu

The Writing and Academic Support Center provides academic tutoring and writing coaching services, free of charge, to all student populations of New England College in a welcoming and supportive environment. The Center provides a variety of academic services including professional and peer support and skill building workshops.  Working closely with faculty and staff, tutors and coaches encourage students to excel at their academic goals. The primary objective of academic support is to foster student academic success while encouraging independent learning.

The Center offers writing development, time management, study techniques, test‐taking strategies, and goal-setting processes, as well as select content tutoring in a number of academic disciplines. At the core of our services are the following:

Writing support: We assist students in all facets of the writing process: brainstorming, critical thinking development, organization of ideas, thesis development, outline preparation, revision strategies, and editing strategies.

Critical reading skills: We model active reading strategies and teach summarizing, paraphrasing, and analytical skills.

Time management and study skills: We review course syllabi and co‐curricular activities with students and help them learn to create schedules that will lead to the most effective use of their time. Additionally, we teach effective study strategies tailored to individual student needs.

English for Speakers of Other Languages: We assist students for whom English is an additional language with reading and writing skills and facilitate small group conversation practice sessions.

Office of Career and Life Planning

With the help of the CLP team, students can develop comprehensive career and life plans consistent with their skills, interests, values and personal characteristics; acquire skills by engaging in co-curricular, work and service activities successfully, and; effectively articulate and demonstrate their skills, interests, values and characteristics to contacts in the world of work and further study. 

Career and Life Planning works with the entire College community in order to accomplish its mission. CLP actively engages students and ensures students access to services in the following areas, consistent with their interests and abilities: 

• Career development, choice of major and interest “testing” 
• Resume and interview preparation, the job search and employer contact 
• Internships 
• Community service work-study 
• Graduate school application and acceptance 

Career & Life Planning is open from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. every day. 

Internships 

What are internships? 

• A field-based setting to expand your network, knowledge, and skills 
• You are an active member of a company’s professional staff 
• Work with experienced professionals capable of teaching and evaluating your progress 

Career and Life Planning can help every step of your way to search, apply, and interview for an internship. We LISTEN TO YOUR individualized goals and pathways to jumpstart your career! Appointments are only an email away. 

Community Service 

Career & Life Planning offers a variety of volunteer service placements in the local communities. These placements include opportunities in public schools, a private school for challenging teens, after‐school programs, a daycare center, a senior center, a public library, a teen center and an equine therapy center, among others. Volunteering in the community not only helps those in need, but enables NEC student volunteers to acquire additional skills and a sense of confidence. With approval of a sponsoring faculty member, volunteer work can be undertaken for academic credit as an internship. Under Federal Work Study regulations, students with work‐study funds as part of their financial aid package can also be paid for working in the community. 

English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) Transitional Programs at New England College

English Language Programs

New England College offers a range of both credit and non-credit bearing ESOL courses designed to target the specific needs and abilities of the incoming English language learner. These courses focus on the skills necessary to succeed in an academic environment. Coursework and experiential learning are combined to speed the acquisition of the academic English language skills needed to succeed in the classroom.

The ESOL language course sequence at New England College is for students who meet a minimum TOEFL (or equivalent) proficiency, but do not meet the minimum requirement for acceptance into a college major. These courses are designed to improve English communication in an academic setting across four areas: listening, oral communication, reading comprehension and written communication. Students are placed in the appropriate course, based upon their TOEFL (or equivalent) score.

The goal of NEC’s ESOL courses is to prepare students for academic success. All courses in NEC’s ESOL sequence are highly participatory. Our program is designed to immerse students in the study of academic English and our faculty are committed to student success. The college provides tailored academic advising, support, and course referral for all international students throughout their studies.

Our graduate ESOL classes also provide vocabulary, reading, research, listening, and writing skills in the context of each graduate program. Students frequently take a semester of ESOL before beginning their graduate courses. New England College’s ESOL program is committed to facilitating the successful transition to your academic program.

Our ESOL classes also provide opportunities to utilize English outside of class through campus life activities, field trips, and cultural events to introduce students to their new surroundings - Henniker, New Hampshire, the Boston metropolitan area, and New England.

Admission Process

International students follow the same procedure as domestic students if they do not require English as an additional language (native English speakers or 80 minimum on the TOEFL IBT). Our EAL Transitional Program accepts students with low to intermediate English proficiency, expressed by a TOEFL IBT 45 or the equivalent on comparable English proficiency tests. Students must show proof of financial support before the College issues an I‐20 (Certificate of Eligibility for Non‐Immigrant [F‐1] Student Status). We look at each applicant on his/her own merits and evaluate all materials, including coursework, recommendations, extracurricular activities, and an essay to determine acceptance.

Honors Program

Introduction 

The New England College Honors Program (NECHP) offers special challenges and opportunities to a limited number of academically talented and highly motivated undergraduate students.  Working in the tradition of the liberal arts, students seeking an honors diploma will be provided opportunities to broaden and deepen their studies through an intensive, collaborative, and interdisciplinary approach to knowledge. Reflecting the values and mission of the College, the Honors Program takes its focus from our Institution’s goals, mission, and identity, as stated in our commitments to the Natural and Civic Environments and Experiential Learning.  Drawing from honors work in the disciplines, each year honors students will participate in a student-led Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar, The Public Search for Truth, engaging in rigorous and reflective collaborative learning, that recognizes the communal nature of thought and knowledge in the tradition of the liberal arts.

Eligibility 

Prospective students may be admitted to NECHP as Honors Candidates based on their academic achievements prior to their entry into the College. Criteria for admission to NEC as an Honors Candidate might include, but may not be limited to, one or more of the following:

• High School GPA (3.25 or better) 
• Recommendations from two qualified referees aware of the competitive nature of the program. 
• Application essay (specific to the NECHP application process) 

Candidates will fully enter the program upon earning a minimum GPA of 3.25 in no fewer than 16 credits in their first semester.

NEC Enrolled students who have maintained a minimum GPA of 3.25 may also apply to the program either at the end of their first semester, having successfully completed 16 credits of work, or as late as the fall semester of their sophomore year, having successfully completed a minimum of 32 credits.

• Criteria for acceptance includes the program application essay and recommendations from two qualified faculty aware of the competitive nature of the program.

Note: Qualified students who wish to participate in the Honors Program beginning in their third year, though ineligible for receiving an Honors Diploma, may proceed and be recognized for an Honors Certificate.

Transfer Student Eligibility 

• Transfer GPA of 3.25 or above in a minimum of 16 credits
• Recommendations from two qualified referees aware of the competitive nature of the program 
• Application essay (specific to the NECHP application process) 

Why should students aspire to become Honors Scholars at NEC?

• Pursuing subjects with academically motivated peers
• Opportunities for visiting museums, galleries, and other relevant events available to students in the program
• Priority registration for classes

Post-graduation,

• Transcript notation of Honor’s Diploma can have practical benefits: prospective employers and graduate admissions committees often look carefully at an undergraduate record for evidence of extra initiative and genuine intellectual strength. 

Honors Curriculum 

Honors Scholars must complete a minimum of 5 four-credit honors courses and enroll in 4 Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars before graduation.  This is not an alternative curriculum.  With the exception of the Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars, all of the course work can be taken in classes that fulfill requirements in the Liberal Arts and Sciences program (general education), a major, or electives.

At the end of the Spring Semester, students enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar (IDHS), The Public Search for Truth, will organize/facilitate a community event relevant to the subject/topic they have been exploring.

Honors Diploma 

Program Requirements for an Honors Diploma: 

A student will receive an “honors diploma” by completion of the following 

• A total of 5 designated Honors classes which may include LAS seminars  and/or honors eligible courses in their major. 
• 4 Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars (total of four semesters)
• Final GPA of 3.25 or above 

Honors Certificate

Students who have completed a minimum of 16 credits in honors but who, for whatever reasons, are unable to complete the program’s requirements may be recognized by the Honors Advisory Board, receiving an Honors Certificate to be presented at an end of year Senior Honors event.

Honors Committee 

The Honors Committee consists of the Director of the Honors Program and one faculty member from each of the College’s academic divisions.

International Study

Telephone: 603.428.2241 

New England College promotes international programs as an important part of its efforts to foster an awareness of world citizenship. We believe in the importance of exposure to different cultures in the personal development of our students. The College maintains cooperative relations with many study abroad program providers and foreign institutions, and provides information on a wide variety of academic opportunities abroad. 

Eligibility Criteria 

• Students wishing to participate in study abroad opportunities must first seek approval from the Academic Advisor and reach out for information and application to the International Students and Programs Office. Students must meet the following criteria:
• Students should have successfully completed a minimum of 30 credits in residence at New England College. Transfer credits from other colleges will not normally be applied to this credit total; 
• Students should have achieved sophomore status or above; 
• Students must have good academic and social standing, including a cumulative grade point average of no less than 2.5 in credits earned at New England College; 
• Any student not meeting these conditions may petition the Students Committee. 

Application Deadline 

The priority date for semester‐long study abroad applications is the end of the second week of the preceding semester of the intended study. Deadline dates for regular applications to study abroad programs are no later than October 15 (for the Spring semester) and March 15 (for the Fall semester). The application fee for study abroad programs is set at $250 (of which $50 is non‐refundable). 

Costs for Study Abroad 

Normally, New England College students enrolled in semester‐long study abroad programs will continue to pay tuition, room, and board to New England College, which will in turn pay the tuition, room, and board expenses at the study abroad location. Enrollment in study abroad credits approved by New England College may be considered enrollment at New England College for federal financial aid purposes. As such, New England College students studying abroad in an approved program continue to be eligible for most of their institutional and federal financial aid. Please contact Student Financial Services for further details. Additional scholarships may be available through our study‐abroad partners. 

Study Abroad Opportunities 

New England College sponsors study abroad programs with English as the language of instruction all over the globe. Students may study abroad in Asia, in the Middle East, in Latin America and South America; in Western Europe and Eastern Europe, and in the South Pacific. NEC students are discovering countries like South Korea, Japan, and the Czech Republic in addition to the traditionally popular countries, Italy, Ireland, and England. Students may choose semester long programs or summer programs. Contact the ISP office to learn all the possibilities to make your study abroad dreams come true.

Office of Academic Affairs

Telephone: 603.428.2235

The Office of Academic Affairs is responsible for creating and maintaining a dynamic learning environment for undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students at New England College. Specific areas of responsibility include designing and implementing academic policy and programs, hiring and evaluating faculty, integrating new learning technologies, and monitoring student academic progress. The Office of Academic Affairs oversees the undergraduate and graduate divisions, the division of Student Development, the NEC Galleries and Libraries, the Registrar’s Office, Academic Support Services, and the Center for Civic Engagement. As well, the Office of Academic Affairs supports student learning and achievement. Responsibilities include developing and implementing policies related to campus life, promoting co‐curricular programming, and providing student services which enhance the NEC learning environment.

The Center for Civic Engagement

The Center for Civic Engagement focuses on broadening and deepening traditional civic engagement through Town Hall Series which organizes and hosts U.S. presidential candidates, campaign leaders and elected officials, Speaker Series which hosts a variety of high profile speakers as well as election debates, and, to coincide with the presidential primary, College Convention, in which college students from across the country meet for a week and enjoy access to presidential candidates, campaign staff, political experts and media. CiviCorps also provides an opportunity for students to take an active role and organizing and supporting the Center’s civic engagement activities.

Project Pericles

Project Pericles is a vibrant consortium of colleges and universities that promote civic engagement within higher education. Building on the innovative vision of Eugene M. Lang, Project Pericles works in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community. Project Pericles is at the forefront of civic engagement and social responsibility in areas including faculty and course development, curricular coherence, and research into best practices. We empower college students by giving them the tools they need to solve society’s grand challenges: Climate Change, Economic Justice, Education Access, Immigration, Mass Incarceration, Public Health, Race and Inequality, and Voter Engagement. 

Office of Disability Services