NVCC’s competition title is "Inter-professional Simulation Education for Allied Health and Nursing Programs." Inter-professional education (IPE) focuses on collaboration, communication, and teamwork among programs to connect student learning and improve healthcare outcomes. The winning program includes faculty from the Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, and Radiologic Technology disciplines. Program leaders have organized a team for their one-hour presentation at the consortium.

The team will be led by Monica Pirotta, MSN, RN, CHSE, who said, “We responded to the need for learning collaboratively among our three programs. The IPE approach focuses on critical competencies.”

Each finalist team will provide a 60-minute presentation with Q&A to an audience of their peers and an anonymous team of national judges selected as subject-matter experts, policy leaders or respected practitioners in higher education. Presentations will include a one-minute program video and a Digital Binder of related materials. Among other factors in scoring, judges will look for innovation, sustainability, and replication.

This is the second time NVCC has been named a Bellwether Award finalist. The college’s 2019 finalist entry, “Addressing the Skills Gap,” featured the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center in the competition’s Workforce Development category. Regarding this latest recognition, college CEO Dr. Lisa Dresdner said, “This year’s award is yet another wonderful example of NVCC’s valuable contributions to curriculum excellence and workforce responsiveness.”

Bellwether Awards are widely regarded as one of the nation’s most competitive and prestigious recognitions for community colleges. Finalists represent leading community colleges whose outstanding and innovative programs and practices were selected among competitive submissions as exemplary. Award applications undergo a rigorous second and final round of review.

NVCC is a finalist in the Instructional Programs & Services category which recognizes programs and services that foster or support teaching and learning in the community college. The consortium honors community colleges with awards in two other categories: Planning, Governance & Finance, and Workforce Development.

As a Bellwether Finalist, NVCC is also invited to become a member of the prestigious Bellwether College Consortium. As a member college, NVCC may attend the Bellwether College Consortium Policy Summit which addresses pertinent issues facing community colleges. The policy summit brings higher education researchers, national and institutional leaders and industry experts together to discuss current higher education issues and to determine effective policy solutions.

The 27^th Annual Community College Futures Assembly (January 25-26, 2021) will be a virtual gathering and include the final round of presentations and announcement of the three 2021 Bellwether Award national competition winners.